Not quite Doc Brown’s DeLorean, but it flies. Image: Terrafugia.

Once relegated to the realm of science fiction books or movies with Michael J. Fox, the flying car could be commercially tenable sooner than you might think.

Terrafugia has successfully test-flown the Transition, an airplane with four wheels that folds up into something resembling an origami car with a propeller.

The Transition will be able to achieve highway speeds and runs on unleaded gasoline, so drivers wouldn’t have to find that ever-elusive aviation gas station. 

According to the Telegraph of London, Terrafugia has already convinced the FAA to give them a special exemption so they can still fit in the lightest airplane weight class but have the necessary safety requirements of cars. The company says it hopes to start selling them to the public in 2011.

The Transition is expected to cost nearly $200,000 and 70 people have already put $10,000 down to reserve their space on a waiting list.

Maybe the next iteration of Market Street trials can be a Mid-Market regional airstrip?