Tesla's new Roadster flipped in mid-air, and the internet turned it into a meme factory
Tesla's flying, flipping Roadster reveal on October 15 set off a flood of memes about traffic, speed bumps and Back to the Future. The best jokes explained.
Elon Musk has been promising a new Tesla Roadster since 2017. When it finally appeared on October 15, 2026, it didn’t just drive. It flipped upside down and flew. The internet did what the internet does.
What Tesla actually showed
The livestreamed event took place at SpaceX’s test site in McGregor, Texas. In the demo, the car drove up a curved ramp until it was upside down, took off, fired thrusters, did a mid-air flip and landed. In a second stunt it jumped over a line of cars in a kind of kickflip.
According to the reports:
- The standard version is a two-seat road car with a claimed top speed above 230 mph (about 370 km/h).
- A second version uses SpaceX-developed cold-gas thrusters fed by a high-pressure air tank.
- A special rocket version has 10 thrusters and room for one person.
- Musk says the car should reach buyers in 2028.
Musk posted the video with the line “Turns out the future does have flying cars.” Reports also note that the flips were short hops on a controlled course, not proper flight over traffic, and that the flying version isn’t approved for public roads.
The memes
Within minutes, X was full of jokes. Some favourites:
- The left-lane meme: “Slow driver in the left lane” vs “Me in the new Tesla Roadster”, with the car vaulting right over them.
- Motorway signs: jokes that overhead signs leave room for tall trucks, but not for flying cars.
- Back to the Future: “Doc Musk testing the flying car” posts, and calls for Back to the Future 4.
- The Jetsons: posts saying we now live in the cartoon future.
- Police chases: a parody of a police car taking off after a flying Roadster.
- Insurance: one user simply asked how anyone would insure it.
- Monday mood: “Me next Monday”, with the car launching into the air.
A few viral posts claimed 0-60 mph in 0.81 seconds, but that number came from social media, not a confirmed Tesla spec sheet.
How it took off
It’s a perfect meme recipe: a famous billionaire, a promise that’s years late, and a video that looks like a video game. Whether you love Musk or not, a car doing a backflip is funny to imagine on your daily commute.
Pakistani users had their own take, with flying Mehrans and potholes. We have rounded those up in a separate story.
Sources
This story was researched and drafted with AI assistance, then checked and edited by our editor before publishing.
