The Departments

DARTZ PromDrone Black Bee: The Designer Drone for a Car's Roof

By DARTZ Editorial · 4 November 2026

The DARTZ PromDrone Black Bee is a designer drone shown in December 2020, co-developed with the drone maker Fixar on its 007 Outdoor model and styled by designer Alexander Isaev. It takes off and lands vertically like a helicopter and uses wing lift for long range, switching seamlessly between the two. It was made to launch from the roof of the DARTZ Black Alligator MMXX, and led to DARTZ's Drone Protection Standard.

Most drones are tools or toys. DARTZ wanted one that looked like it belonged on a DARTZ.

A department revived

In 2020 DARTZ decided to relaunch the Aeronautical Department in Riga. Its ancestor, the aviation department of the Russo-Baltic works, was run by Igor Sikorsky, who built the world’s first four-engine aircraft there. DARTZ’s ambition was more modest, as it admits, but just as particular: to change the image of drones from toys or industrial assets into accessories that express the owner.

The Black Bee

The first result was shown in December 2020: the PromDrone Black Bee, which DARTZ calls the world’s first designer drone. It was co-developed with the drone specialists Fixar and based on their 007 Outdoor model, with styling by Alexander Isaev, who later redrew the Black Alligator for its Black Tiger edition.

The DARTZ PromDrone Black Bee in flight above the clouds

It combines the strengths of a helicopter and a plane without the weaknesses of tilting rotors. It takes off and lands vertically, like a helicopter, then flies on the lift of its wings for range, and the transition between the two is seamless.

Made for the roof of a DARTZ

The Black Bee was designed to fly from the roof of the new Black Alligator MMXX, presented at the same time. DARTZ gave the car a drone pad, turning it into what it called both a defensive vehicle and an aerial command centre.

The DARTZ PromDrone Black Bee resting on grass beside a football

From drone to anti-drone

The Black Bee pointed DARTZ in a new direction. As drones became a threat as well as a toy, its Aeronautical and Security Departments developed the DARTZ Drone Protection Standard, a set of classes for protecting a vehicle against them. “We’ve made drones,” DARTZ says, “and now we focus on anti-drone protection.”

The DARTZ PromDrone Black Bee over Riga’s railway bridge and National Library

About DARTZ

DARTZ is a Riga carrosserie that builds bespoke, opulent vehicles, armoured or non-armoured, in strictly limited numbers. It calls them BONDs: Bespoke Opulent Noble Drives.

Its heritage runs back to the Russo-Baltic Wagon Factory (RBVZ), founded in Riga in 1869, whose automobile department built its first car in 1909. Leonard F. Yankelovich revived that heritage as DARTZ in 1988. The group, DARTZ Grupa OÜ, is registered in Tallinn, Estonia.

Its Prombron’ models, from the Iron Diamond and Black Dragon to the Black Shark, Black Alligator and Black Stallion, have been covered by Top Gear, Forbes, Robb Report and Fox News, among many others.

Questions we are asked

What is the DARTZ PromDrone Black Bee?

A designer drone from DARTZ's Aeronautical Department, co-developed with Fixar and styled by Alexander Isaev, shown in December 2020.

How does the Black Bee fly?

It takes off and lands vertically like a helicopter, then flies on wing lift like a plane for range, with a seamless switch between the two modes.

Can the Black Bee fly from a car?

Yes. It was presented to launch from the roof of the DARTZ Black Alligator MMXX.

Why does DARTZ make drones?

DARTZ descends from the works where Igor Sikorsky led the Aeronautical Department. DARTZ relaunched that department in 2020 and wanted drones to be accessories that reflect their owner, not toys or industrial tools.