We now have the first car in space. Really.
SpaceX conducted the first test of their Falcon Heavy launch vehicle. It's twice as powerful as any other currently operational rocket booster.
Elon Musk is the founder & CEO of SpaceX. He is also the founder of Tesla. The payload for the launch was Musk's own 2008 Tesla Roadster. It's carrying a dummy in a spacesuit named Starman. The car is in a long elliptical orbit between Earth & Mars.
After liftoff, the dash display came on with the well known "DON'T PANIC!" from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
I wonder if Musk was inspired by the space-fairing 1960 Corvette from the movie Heavy Metal. The good news for Starman is that it won't be any harder for him to get parts than it is for Earth-bound Tesla owners.
http://earthsky.org/space/elon-musk-spacex-red-tesla-mars-asteroid-belt