aircar n.

= aerocar n.

Vehicles

  • 1871 New-York Times 7 Aug. 4/4

    A like ignominious end befel [sic] that pretentious air-car which so long excited the curiosity of our citizens in the neighborhood of Houston and Mercer streets, where it was housed.

  • 1910 Washington Post Dec. 25 5/6

    Ready for trial in the spring will be the first type of a machine which one might call an aircar.

  • 1934 H. Bates Matter of Size in Astounding Stories Apr. 52/1 page image Harry Bates bibliography

    In several scattered places were other roof doors like the one he had emerged from, and straight ahead stood a row of transparent objects that had to be the air-cars.

  • 1935 A. M. Phillips Martian Gesture in Wonder Stories Oct. 566/1

    In the direct rays of the brilliant sun, and with but the rare Martian atmosphere to shield it, the interior of the air-car was getting uncomfortably warm even for the insensitive Martian.

  • 1946 I. Asimov Evidence in Astounding Science Fiction Sept. 136/2 page image Isaac Asimov bibliography

    Byerley brought his ‘teacher’ back the week before election. The air car dropped quickly in an obscure part of the city.

  • 1950 J. Vance Dying Earth (1977) 97 Jack Vance

    Three air-cars rested on the terrace, and the metal was as bright, the glass as clear, the enamel as vivid as if the cars had just dropped from the sky. They went to the nearest; Ulan Dhor pressed the entry button, and the dome slid back with a thin dry hiss of friction. The interior was like that of the other car—a long cushioned seat, a globe mounted on a rod, a number of switches. The cloth of the seat crackled with age as Ulan Dhor prodded it with his hand, and the trapped air smelt very stale… Cautiously he touched the switches, ready to throw them back at any dangerous manifestation. The dome snapped over their heads; relays thousands of years old meshed, cams twisted, shafts plunged home. The air-car jerked, lofted up into the red and dark blue sky. Ulan Dhor grasped the globe, found how to turn the boat, how to twist the nose up or down. This was pure joy, intoxication—wonderful mastery of the air! It was easier than he had imagined. It was easier than walking. He tried all the handles and switches, found how to hover, drop, brake. He found the speed handle and pushed it far over, and the wind sang past the air-boat.

  • 1952 F. Pohl & C. M. Kornbluth Gravy Planet in Galaxy Science Fiction June 8/1 page image C. M. Kornbluth Frederik Pohl bibliography

    ‘They listened to the safety cranks and stopped us from projecting our messages on aircar windows, but Lab tells me—’ he nodded to our director of research across the table—‘that soon we’ll be testing a system that projects direct [sic] on the retina of the eye.’

  • 1958 P. Anderson We Have Fed Our Sea in Astounding Science Fiction Aug. 13/1 page image Poul Anderson bibliography

    Down at the landing was a modern shelter for a sailboat, a family submarine, and a battered aircar.

  • 1959 R. A. Heinlein Starship Troopers (1987) 156 Robert A. Heinlein

    There’s an air car waiting on the roof and your boat boosts in twenty-eight minutes.

  • 1967 P. K. Dick Counter-Clock World (1990) 59 Philip K. Dick

    He slapped Lindy on the back, then strode up the stairs to the roof field parking area, where his aircar reposed.

  • 1970 F. Herbert in Worlds of If Science Fiction Jan. 16/1 Frank Herbert

    ‘Why didn’t you bring us by aircar?’ ‘People here on Cordiality are used to seeing me in a groundcar unless I'm on official business and require speed.’

  • 1977 H. M. Hoover Delikon (1986) vii. 27

    When their aircar landed in early afternoon he was waiting for them.

  • 1981 N. Peart Red Barchetta (song, perf. ‘Rush’) page image Neil Peart

    A gleaming alloy air-car shoots towards me, two lanes wide.

  • 1982 I. Asimov Foundation’s Edge (1991) 221 Isaac Asimov

    There were other ground-cars moving in both directions and an occasional air-car above, but Pelorat was studying the trees.

  • 1988 N. Gaiman Don’t Panic: Official Hitch-hiker’s Guide to Galaxy Companion 84 Neil Gaiman

    I had to change a lot of things in production to make it stronger, like Slartibartfast’s aircar: anyone who had seen Star Wars would think we’d stolen it from there, so I changed it to a bubble, and he was upset about that.

  • 2007 M. Hughes Helper and His Hero in Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction Mar. 85 page image Matthew Hughes

    The young man swung around and looked to the sky behind them, where the noise of the aircar grew louder.


Research requirements

antedating 1871

Earliest cite

New York Times, 1871

Research History
Enoch Forrester submitted a 1946 cite from Isaac Asimov's "Evidence".
Enoch Forrester submitted a cite from a reprint of Pohl & Kornbluth's "The Space Merchants"; Mike Christie verified the cite in the 1952 magazine version.
Enoch Forrester submitted a cite from a 1987 reprint of Robert Heinlein's "Starship Troopers".
Enoch Forrester submitted a cite from a 1981 reprint of Larry Niven's "Ringworld"; Treesong verified the cite in the 1970 first edition.
Enoch Forrester submitted a cite from a 1991 reprint of Isaac Asimov's "Foundation's Edge".
Mike Christie submitted a 1988 cite from Neil Gaiman's "Don't Panic".
Mike Christie submitted a cite from a 1990 reprint of Dan Simmon's 1990 novel "Hyperion".
Mike Christie submitted a 1970 cite from Frank Herbert's "Whipping Star".
Mike Christie submitted a 1958 cite from Poul Anderson's "We Have Fed Our Sea".
Fred Galvin submitted cites for "air-car" from a 1949 reprint of Alexander M. Phillips' "Martian Gesture", and later verified them in the 1935 first publication.
Fred Galvin submitted a cite for "air-car" from a 1957 reprint of Harry Bates' "A Matter of Size"; Alistair Durie verified this in its 1934 original publication.
Fred Galvin submitted a cite from a 1977 reprint of Jack Vance's 1950 "The Dying Earth".
Roberto Labanti submitted a cite from a news story in the Washington Post, Dec 25, 1910.
Roberto Labanti submitted a cite from an anonymous story, "Icarus in the West" in the New York Times, August 7, 1871.

Last modified 2020-12-16 04:08:47
In the compilation of some entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries in OED.