DeLorean: constructor or famous sponsor?
Year one is a DeLorean livery on a standard aircraft. The real test is the student-designed machine due in 2027–28, says a Backfire Racing analysis.
DeLorean’s move into flying-car racing comes with a big word attached: constructor. An analysis by Elle Puckett for Backfire Racing, published on Yahoo Sports on 17 October, asks how much that word means in year one.
In Formula 1 a constructor designs its own chassis. Airspeeder works differently. The series says its hardware comes from Alauda Aeronautics as a turnkey package, so every team starts with the same aircraft. In 2026–27 DeLorean races the Mk3C with the company leading its design identity, which the piece reads as styling and livery rather than airframe engineering.
That is no knock, it argues. A spec aircraft keeps costs predictable and the field close in a young series. But it puts DeLorean’s first season closer to a Formula E customer team than a works operation.
The real test is the 2027–28 aircraft, to be designed with student engineering teams at US universities including UC Berkeley and Georgia Tech. If the rules let a constructor change propulsion, battery packaging or aerodynamics, DeLorean becomes a genuine engineering entrant. If it is only bodywork, the label stays mostly marketing.
At the time of writing, neither DeLorean nor Airspeeder had named the team’s pilots. (Update, 27 October 2026: Airspeeder has since named Mason West.) The piece points to the series’ own slogan, “Remote today. Piloted tomorrow.”, and suggests assuming the DeLorean is flown from the ground in November until the series says otherwise.
What to watch before November: the pilot line-up, a calendar for the opener, and the sporting regulations, especially penalties for boundary infringements and pit-stop errors. Airspeeder lists its current battery-swap stop at 55 seconds, so the pit crew is one area where a new team can make an early difference.
“That second aircraft is where we find out whether DeLorean is a constructor or a very famous sponsor.”
Elle Puckett, Backfire Racing, via Yahoo Sports