Air Car Factories has been working to develop and manufacture a vehicle driven by a compressed air engine that does not simply function but provides a level of performance equivalent to that of a diesel or petrol engine. They claim to have perfected the prototype, which will be used initially in an urban transport vehicle due to see the light of day next year.

With this in mind they have rebranded the vehicles with names that will be stamped across their lightweight panels. The overall brand will be called "FlowAir", instead of the unofficial and rather clearer shorthand of "AirCar". 

Compressed-air vehicles go back a long way in France. The first was built by Andraud and Tessie de Motay in 1838. Their car ran successfully on a test track at Chaillot on 9 July 1840, but no one was prepared to finance the idea to full production. 

www.aircarfactories.com

From our November 2008 e-newsletter