The 21st century has seen a lot of ideas that sound like the stuff of science fiction become reality, including self-driving cars, bionic limbs, and real-time language translation devices. But one futuristic invention straight out of The Jetsons actually existed before that classic sci-fi series even aired: flying cars.

The first prototype of what was called the Aerocar was completed in 1949, the brainchild of pilot and former naval engineer Moulton Taylor. It wasn’t the first airplane-car hybrid ever built, but unlike its predecessor, the Airphibian, which had to leave its wings behind to hit the road, the Aerocar could tow all its equipment along. The conversion process took less than 15 minutes.

Taylor staged the Aerocar’s first test flight for investors in December 1949 in Longview, Washington. He pulled up to the demonstration driving the Aerocar in its road configuration, drove a couple of miles away to Kelso, Washington, and then flew it back. The investors were delighted, but the car was ultimately a commercial failure. After it was certified by the Civil Aeronautics Administration in 1956, Taylor managed to build only six units and never found a path to mass production, although Ford considered taking it on.

Still, the invention attracted a good deal of attention at the time, and was featured in glossy magazines and television programs. The design evolved through four models (Aerocar I-IV), with most of the six cars produced being the Aerocar I. Two of the six Aerocars produced went on to modest fame: One featured prominently in the sitcom The Bob Cummings Show, which ran from 1961 to 1962, and another was used for weather reporting by a radio station in Portland, Oregon, from 1962 to 1963.