Elon Musk and Tesla finally delivered on years of promises with the next-generation Roadster. In a demonstration at a SpaceX facility in Texas, the car drove up a curved ramp until it was hanging upside down, held by underbody suction fans. It then launched off, flipped in mid-air with the help of cold-gas thrusters developed with SpaceX, and landed under control. In another run it cleared a lineup of other Teslas—including a Cybertruck and Semi—before touching down. Musk’s caption was simple: “Turns out the future does have flying cars.” Variants are planned for 2028, from a road-ready Performance model to thruster-equipped versions capable of short aerial maneuvers and claimed sub-second 0-60 times.

Not everyone is celebrating. Some responses treat the stunt as an insult rather than an engineering feat—another chance to sour on Musk, call the car a pointless toy for the rich, or insist the effort should have gone toward housing, healthcare, or something more “practical.” The video circulating with Vince Langman’s post captures one such reaction: a woman appearing visibly displeased or dismissive while discussing the car and its creator. To the rest of us it looks like being triggered by a flying car. It must be exhausting.

The complaints are predictable. The full flying capability is limited and not yet street-legal for everyday use; the project was delayed; the price will be high; and Musk himself remains polarizing. Those observations are fair as far as they go. The demo used an unoccupied vehicle, and the top Rocket trim is invitation-only. None of that erases what was shown: a collaboration between car and rocket engineers producing controlled flight, extreme acceleration, and inverted driving in a production-intent sports car. Early automobiles, aircraft, and even the original Tesla Roadster were once dismissed as toys or extravagances. They advanced the state of the art anyway.

Peter Thiel once noted that the future was supposed to bring flying cars and instead delivered 140 characters. The response here was to build the car. Whether or not every owner ever takes it airborne, the systems demonstrate what is possible when private companies solve hard problems without waiting for consensus. Most people watching reacted with awe. A minority chose resentment, often rooted less in the vehicle’s limitations than in dislike of the man behind it. That is a choice, not a requirement.

Progress does not stop because some observers find it insufficiently egalitarian or insufficiently hostile to the person who funded it. The engineers who made the thrusters, suction system, and control software work did something difficult. The resulting clip is worth noticing on its own terms.

If you could say something to this hater, what would it be?

Imagine being triggered by a flying car! It must be exhausting being a crazy liberal ?? https://t.co/2d71SOpP8a

— Vince Langman (@LangmanVince) October 16, 2026