A quirky chapter in aviation history is now parked at the Auburn Municipal Airport.

The 1956 Aerocar flying car is one of five of its type built and the only one currently able to fly, said its owner, Colorado’s Ed Sweeney.

Sweeney bought the flying car 21 years ago. He’d known Aerocar creator Moulton Taylor as a teenager and flew in it just before TV star Bob Cummings bought it. The flying car was featured in Cummings’ TV show and later sold to a burger stand owner in the Midwest.

Sweeney said he picked the Aerocar up for $150,000 and brought it back to flying condition. Today, he estimates the rare bird would fetch maybe $1 million.

But Sweeney isn’t selling and said he plans to hand it down to his two sons to keep it in the family.

“It’s a family treasure,” Sweeney said. “I’ve turned down many, many offers for it.”

Sweeney’s Aerocar is being housed over the summer at Auburn Airplane Works, a new service and repair shop at the North Auburn airport co-owned by Sweeney’s sons, Eric and Michael Haisten.

On a recent day, Meadow Vista’s Gloria Perry had been eating breakfast with friends at the airport’s Wings restaurant, glimpsed the unusual shape of the green and yellow Aerocar and had to pop over for a look.

“I’ve seen documentaries on TV about it and when I saw it here I had to see it,” Perry said. “It’s really a cute little airplane.”

But it’s more than an airplane. On the highway, with its wings tucked behind it trailer-style, the four-wheeled wonder can zip along at up to 60 mph. At 1,550 pounds, it can lift off and speed along in the air at up to 150 mph.

While strong crosswinds kept the plane grounded on Friday, the flying plane was due to appear at the Golden West Regional Fly-In this past weekend in Marysville. In September, it’s slated to be part of the Capital City Air Show.

The younger Sweeney, a mechanic and pilot who’s hoping to fly the Aerocar soon for the first time, said he welcomes visitors who want to check out a living piece of air history. He’s also interested in telling people about his new business at the end of Rickenbacker Way. It specializes in odd and unusual aircraft – like the Taylor Flying Car.

“We can make anything fly,” Eric Sweeney said. “We like to say, if it flies or drives, we’re your guys.”

The Journal’s Gus Thomson can be reached at gust@goldcountrymedia.com or comment at Auburnjournal.com.