Luigi Pellarini was about 30 years old when in 1944 he partnered with Carrozzeria Colli, a Milan motor vehicle and coach-building company, to build his first prototype flying car, the PL 1.

He kept improving his prototypes and put out a new and improved model each of the next several years. L’Ala, an Italian magazine, published a description of his PL-2C, dubbed the Aerauto, in its October 1946 issue.

The PL 2 C is an entirely metal touring aircraft, with folded wings, its dimensions are about 2.20 m width for 6 m of length it can easily move on normal roads, always with the propeller thrust.

The PL 2C structure is the fuselage, with a real chassis, consisting of a tubular beam in welded sheet steel and durall bodywork. On the beam are welded the castle in tubes that support the wing and the engine, as well as all the controls, the undercarriage, the seats and the empennages.

There durall fairing covers the front of the beam and provides a to connect the wing to the engine and to the beam, as well as to form the cabin equipped with two side doors and is easily removable. The wing is cantilever monoplane divided into a fixed centre, and in two collapsible semis. The folded wing remains suspended with the front attachment to the central trunk of the wing. Structure the wing is entirely durall and the cover is 8/10 mm. The attachments are steel. Rivets were widely used in the wing tubulars, rather than bolts. The ailerons have a metal frame in durall and a cover in canvas; they can be simultaneously lowered so as to work as flaps. The horizontal plane is of a similar structure to the wing; there fixed part (whose incidence is adjustable in flight with handwheel) is covered in durall. The vertical plane, split, is structurally similar to the horizontal. The undercarriage is tricycle with low pressure wheels, the rear wheels are equipped with brakes, while the front is connected to the pedals for steering.

The prototype engine is a 60-hp Valter that drives a fixed propeller. The controls are of the usual bar and pedal type, the instrument panel the usual equipment of instruments, the brake is a pedal. The cost is 460,000 L without engine.

The following year’s PL-3C also got magazine coverage, this time in Wing.

The Aerauto PL3 C is a small-powered tourism aircraft, single engine, high wing with propeller and tricycle undercarriage. It is a two-seater side by side, with the possibility of a third place. The fuselage beam, in high strength steel sheet with a circular section, formed by two half-shells welded is of simple and easy construction, it represents the longitudinal frame of the aircraft and comes to it welded directly, support for controls, undercarriage, ribs for the support of the fairing, engine frame that also makes to the connection to the wing.

The power train consists of a Walter Micron III engine from 80hp air-cooled, operating a two-bladed propeller with variable pitch. The motor is installed behind the side member of the central trunk, raised from the tail beam in order to allow the propeller rotation. It is supported by the same framework in pipes of welded steel that supports the wing. The tail is built with two side members covered in durall sheet and canvas. The rudders are statically balanced. The undercarriage is tricycle with independent rear wheels and wheel front adjustable.

The aircraft is equipped with the regulatory instrumentation for in-flight and the landing light, installed at the bow of the aircraft, taillights and signalling etc are powered by a 12V battery.

The PL-4 was publicly known as the Aerauto AER-1. L’Ala had a more consumer-oriented article in its July 15, 1948 issue.

By 1949, Pellarini thought that his new model, the PL-5C, was ready for the public. Piloted by Leonardo Bonzi and Maner Lualdi, the Aerauto drove and flew across Italy from late 1949 to early 1950, 1800 km in the air and 2200 km on the ground, stopping at Turin, Florence, Pisa, Rome, Naples, Bari, Ancona, Rimini, Venice, Treviso, Vicenza and Milan. The Aerauto would fly to a location outside of a city, fold up its wings, and drive into the city proper, exactly as a commercial flying car was supposed to work. At the end, Pellarini grandly presented the Aerauto to the Archbishop of Milan, Cardinal Schuster.

Naturally, this great stunt garnered even more publicity, with Tempo magazine displaying a picture of the Aerauto, Pellarini, Bonzi, and Lualdi on a public street, taking up no more room than the cars behind them.

A British Pathé newsreel documented the Aerauto on the ground and in the air.

Pellarini immediately filed a U.S. patent application for a “Folding Wing for Roadable Aircraft,” which was granted after much delay in 1954.

Flying cars are hard to sell at the best of times, and with Italy’s economy in 1950 Pellarini got no orders at all. He gave up and emigrated to Australia. The Australian press showered him with articles as soon as he arrived.

PL 2C
Wingspan: 9,80m
Wing area: 12sq.m
Length: 5,70m
Height: 1,60m
Empty weight: 340kg
Payload: 210 kg
Total weight: 550kg
Wing load: 45.8kg / sq m
Maximum speed: 190 kph (at 2000m)
Cruise: 160kmh
Stall: 70kmh
Road speed: 60kmh
Ceiling: 4000m
Range cruise: 600km
Max range: 750km
Take-off dist: 120m
Landing dist: 60m
Fuel consumption: 15 lt/ hr

PL-5C
Engine: 85 hp Continental C85
Max speed: 112 mph
Cruise: 100 mph
ROC: 535 fpm
Service ceiling: 13.120 ft
Range: 500 mi
Empty weight: 1012 lb
Loaded weight: 1540 lb
Wingspan: 33 ft 5.5 in
Length: 20 ft 4 in
Height: 5 ft 9 in