Cars and airplanes have always shared a quiet rivalry with the air around them. One is meant to conquer it at ground level, the other to escape the surface of the earth entirely. That shared obsession has led car designers to look toward aviation whenever they wanted to rethink speed, safety, or simply the feeling of control. Aviation-inspired cars tend to feel different the moment you sit inside them. The view matters more. The controls feel deliberate. Even the odd decisions start to make sense once you realize they were borrowed from cockpits rather than sedans.
Some of the cars on this list were everyday machines shaped by aircraft logic. Others were bold experiments that never cared about practicality. A few were rolling fantasies built to show what was possible when engineers stopped thinking like car people and started thinking like pilots. They span decades, continents, and wildly different price points, but they all share one thing: their designers looked up before putting pencil to paper. Here are ten cars that carried aviation ideas back down to Earth and turned them into something you could drive.
Saab 99 / Saab 900
Designed By People Who Built Planes
Saab’s aviation influence wasn’t a branding exercise. It was simply who they were. Saab began as an aircraft manufacturer, and when it entered the car world, it brought aviation logic with it. The Saab 99 and 900 featured wraparound windshields that felt like jet canopies, dashboards angled toward the driver, and interiors designed around visibility and focus. Even the choice of green instrument lighting came from aviation research meant to reduce eye fatigue during long missions.
Under the hood, Saab favored turbocharged four-cylinder engines that delivered smooth, usable power rather than brute force. These cars weren’t about speed records. They were about confidence and control in bad weather and long drives. One of Saab’s quirkiest features was the ignition placed between the seats, a safety-inspired decision meant to protect drivers’ knees in a crash. It felt strange at first, but like most Saab ideas, it made sense once you stopped thinking like a car owner and started thinking like a pilot.
Ford Mustang
A Name Borrowed From The Sky
The Mustang didn’t borrow its name from a horse first. It borrowed it from the P-51 Mustang fighter plane. That aviation connection shaped the car’s early identity, even if it later became synonymous with American muscle. The long hood, short rear deck, and aggressive stance echoed the proportions of a warplane designed for speed and agility. Early marketing leaned into the idea of freedom and open skies, even when the car was firmly stuck to asphalt.
Engine choices ranged from humble inline-sixes to thunderous V8s, making the Mustang accessible to almost anyone who wanted one. The power delivery was straightforward and emotional, less refined than European sports cars but full of character. Driving a Mustang never felt clinical. It felt expressive. Much like its namesake aircraft, it wasn’t about perfection. It was about giving ordinary people access to something fast, exciting, and a little rebellious.
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Aerocar 2000 (Early-2000s Concept)
When The Car Tried To Become The Plane
ZLEA via Wikimedia Commons
The Aerocar 2000 took aviation inspiration to its logical extreme. It didn’t just look to airplanes for ideas. It wanted to become one. This early-2000s concept envisioned a car that could transform into a light aircraft, complete with wings and a propeller. The design was clean and functional, prioritizing aerodynamics over traditional automotive styling. It looked more like a small plane that happened to have wheels.
Mechanically, the Aerocar 2000 was ambitious and wildly impractical. It relied on lightweight construction and aircraft-style controls to make the transformation possible. Performance figures were secondary to the concept itself. The real quirk was its optimism. It represented a recurring dream in automotive history: the idea that personal transportation could finally escape traffic altogether.
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Chrysler Turbine Car
Powered By Jet-Age Thinking
The Chrysler Turbine Car looked like it had rolled straight out of the Jet Age. With its turbine-inspired styling and futuristic interior, it felt more like a concept aircraft than a road car. Chrysler leaned heavily into aviation aesthetics, from the smooth body lines to the turbine-themed badging. Even the driving experience was meant to feel different, quieter, and smoother than conventional cars of the era.
Instead of pistons, the car used a gas turbine engine similar in principle to those found in aircraft. The Chrysler Turbine Car could run on a variety of fuels, including diesel and kerosene. The engine was smooth but thirsty, and throttle response lagged behind traditional engines. The program was never meant for mass production. It was a rolling experiment. Most of the cars (save nine) were later destroyed, making it one of the boldest and strangest examples of aviation thinking ever applied to an automobile.
Spyker C8 Aileron
A Cockpit With License Plates
Spyker leaned unapologetically into aviation heritage. The brand’s roots trace back to aircraft manufacturing, and the C8 Aileron wore that influence proudly. The name itself references aircraft control surfaces, and the interior looked like something pulled from a vintage cockpit. Exposed metal, visible linkages, and mechanical switches made the cabin feel handcrafted and purposeful rather than luxurious in a traditional sense.
Power came from a naturally aspirated V8 sourced from Audi, delivering strong performance without overwhelming the experience. The real charm of the Spyker wasn’t its numbers. Every drive felt ceremonial, like strapping into a machine rather than simply sitting in a car.
Bugatti Type 57S Aérolithe
Aircraft Materials, Art-Deco Speed
The Bugatti Type 57S Aérolithe was aviation-inspired long before it became fashionable. Its teardrop shape and dramatic dorsal seam were influenced by aircraft construction techniques of the 1930s. The seam wasn’t decorative. It existed because the magnesium alloy body panels couldn’t be welded, much like early aircraft materials. The result was a car that looked organic, futuristic, and unlike anything else of its era.
Mechanically, the Bugatti featured a supercharged straight-eight engine that delivered impressive performance for its time. It was light, fast, and incredibly rare. Only prototypes and very limited examples existed, making it more legend than production model.
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Bugatti Veyron
Built Like An Aerospace Program
The Veyron was engineered like an aircraft program disguised as a car. Every decision revolved around stability at extreme speeds. Aerodynamics weren’t optional. They were essential. Active wings, adjustable ride height, and carefully managed airflow kept the car stable at velocities that most road cars never approach.
Its quad-turbocharged W16 engine produced immense power, yet delivered it with surprising calm. Cooling required an entire network of radiators and ducts, more reminiscent of aerospace systems than automotive ones. What made the Veyron special wasn’t just its speed, but how normal it felt at those speeds.
Cadillac Cyclone (1959 Concept)
A Fighter-Jet Future That Never Landed
The Cadillac Cyclone looked like a concept straight from a sci-fi runway. Its twin nose cones resembled jet intakes, and the clear bubble canopy made it feel more like a fighter cockpit than a car interior. Radar-based collision detection was envisioned long before such technology became real, further reinforcing its aircraft-inspired ambition.
The Cadillac Cyclone was powered by a V8 engine, but performance wasn’t the point. It imagined a future where cars borrowed heavily from aviation technology, including autonomous safety systems and advanced aerodynamics. While it never reached production, the Cyclone captured the optimism of the Jet Age, when designers believed technology could solve everything and cars might soon rival aircraft in sophistication.
McLaren F1
A Pilot’s Seat At The Center
The McLaren F1 approached car design with aerospace discipline. Weight reduction was treated as sacred. The central driving position placed the driver exactly where a pilot would sit, maximizing visibility and balance. Everything about the layout felt intentional and precise.
Power came from a naturally aspirated V12 built by BMW, chosen for its reliability and smoothness. The engine bay was lined with gold foil to manage heat, a solution borrowed directly from aerospace applications. The F1 wasn’t loud or flashy by design. It was focused, and driving it feels like operating a finely tuned machine rather than showing off.
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Aston Martin Lagonda
Jet-Age Dreams On Four Wheels
The 1970s Aston Martin Lagonda looked like it belonged in the same era as Concorde. Its sharp wedge shape and digital dashboard felt futuristic to the point of absurdity. The interior was filled with electronic displays that mimicked aircraft instrumentation, even if the technology of the time struggled to keep up.
Underneath the dramatic styling sat a large V8 engine designed for smooth cruising rather than outright speed. The Aston Martin Lagonda was heavy, complex, and famously unreliable, but that’s part of its charm. It represented a moment when designers were willing to take big risks in pursuit of the future.
Sources: Bring a Trailer, Various Manufacturers