Great Scott! Lexus Hoverboard Takes Flight

Toyota Motor Corp. has gone back to the future of the 1980s with a prototype hoverboard that can actually float above the ground as long as it's operated in a specially designed controlled environment.

The luxury brand has no plans to market the technology. But it's making the most of the publicity generated from an online video that went viral shortly after its release on Wednesday. The spot, the fourth installment of Lexus' "Amazing in Motion" advertising campaign, shows a young skateboarder approaching the futuristic hoverboard as it slowly rises an inch off the ground and steam pours out from its side vents.

The video ends just as the skateboarder places his foot on top of the floating hoverboard and the words "There is no such thing as impossible" are replaced with the quote "It's just a matter how," which is attributed to Lexus Chief Engineer Haruhiko Tanahashi.

An unnamed European company developed two prototype hoverboards for the Lexus campaign. The devices employ liquid nitrogen cooled superconductors and permanent magnets to achieve what Lexus describes as magnetic levitation and frictionless movement. With a nod to several Lexus styling elements, the hoverboards also employ high-end materials and bamboo trim utilized by the luxury nameplate.

Hoverboards were made famous in the 1989 film "Back to the Future II" in which Michael J. Fox's Marty McFly character pilots one to dramatically escape from his nemesis Biff Tannen. The film, a follow-up to the classic 1985 hit "Back to the Future," uses a flying DeLorean to time travel ahead 30 years to 2015.

In addition to hoverboards, the sequel depicts organic biofuels, self-lacing shoes, adjustable clothes, fingerprint-enabled payment systems, video conferencing, unmanned news drones, wearable tech gadgets and even the hapless Chicago Cubs winning the World Series.