Ford Levacar Mach I

The Ford Levacar Mach I, also called the Ford Mach I, was a single seat concept car hovercraft developed by the Ford Motor Company in the 1950s. It rode on pressurized air rather than wheels, using air pressure of 15 to 100 pounds per square inch for lift and propulsion; in experiments at 50 to 60 psi it needed 15 horsepower to levitate and 2.5 horsepower to move at 20 miles per hour. The name was inspired by the speed Mach 1, which no vehicle had yet reached. A 1960 advertisement in Boys' Life gave its dimensions as 94 inches long, 48 inches high and 54 inches wide. The Levacar project was led by Andrew A. Kucher and David J. Jay, and Gale Halderman, later the initial designer of the Ford Mustang, was among the lead designers. A similar Levascooter was also built, and the Mach I was displayed in Dearborn, Michigan, for about two years in the late 1950s.