For a brief moment in 1960, the future of transport looked smooth, loud and versatile.

You could glide a hover scooter over a fresh-mowed lawn or a backyard pond, but that’s about it. Try steering or stopping a recreational vehicle that moves without friction over the surface of the earth and try not to get caught in the hover scooter’s massive, man-eating turbine.

Perhaps it’s no surprise that the hover scooter, half hovercraft, half motor scooter, didn’t take off. It’s nowhere near as practical as a motorbike, or horse for that matter. Nor is it safe enough for widespread use, as it wasn’t until 1962 that the first commercial hovercraft went into operation in the UK.

Just because these old ingenious chaps couldn’t bring their dream to reality, however, doesn’t mean there’s no room in suburbia for cars in air skirts. Or at least lawnmowers…