Have you seen the AIR CAR?!

[peabody71]

It goes 50MPH and runs on only compressed air.
Starting productiopn in France.
I recently saw it on a Discovery channel show "Future Cars".
Awesome!

Check it out: http://www.theaircar.com/

[formerrepuke]

1. Cool...I just hope there isn't an 'accidental' fire in their factory.....n/t

[meegbear]

2. Can't they make a enviromental car that looks cool?

[peabody71]

4. No shit. They could look like any other.

[Poiuyt]

5. I once heard someone say that all "green" cars look like they were designed by

people who hate cars (except the Tesla). While I do think this Air Car is kind of cute, it certainly isn't like a classic Jaguar

[Lurking Dem]

13. Well, it IS France.

They also gave us the Citroen and the Simca.

[meegbear]

15. And Le Car ...

[tech3149]

16. Hey I take offence

I actually had one and it was fun to drive. Except when you overrevved it and threw off the distributor cap.

[Poiuyt]

20. I had one too

I had it one winter when we had terrible blizzards, but it was great in the snow. I sold it after a year to a friend and it was promptly recalled! Everything fell apart for him. Probably the worst engineered car ever made.

[Nabia2004]

33. Me too, we had a Renault Dauphine and Caravelle, great MPG

They were fun to drive and got better gas mileage than the VW bug.

Found these pictures on wikimedia.

Image: Renault Caravelle Floride
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Renault_Floride_1.JPG

Image: Renault Dauphine
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Renault_Dauphine.jpg

[Lurking Dem]

19. wince

Ouch. I forgot about that one.

My family did have a Renault at one point (~1970). It had the nasty habit of stalling every time you made a left turn.

[ChrisCat]

21. That brings back memories.

My brother drove one when he was in high school until he rolled it in a cornfield. He was okay, thankfully, but there was not much left of "Le Car".

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

30. The Citroen DS was the most innovative car of its era

All hydraulic suspension, headlights that turn as you corner, no jack needed to change a tire, unibody construction. And personally, I think it was beautiful.



I think French cars have been among the most beautiful ever built, like the Bugatti, the Delage, the Delahaye, the Talbot, the Simca Sport, the Panhard 24CT, the Facel Vega, and the Renault Alpine Gordini (the greatest sports car of its era). At one of the world's greatest mountain road rallys, the Monte Carlo Rally, the Renault A110 came in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in 1971 and 1973, beating the ass of any Porsche. It was formidable on mountain roads in its era and it one of the most sought-after sports cars ever built.



And if you like old Jaguars, check out this old French-made Delahaye:

[Lurking Dem]

35. I'll give you Bugatti.

The Veyron is one sweet machine. Of course, it's also a million bucks!

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

38. I own a 1969 DS 21

Best car I've ever owned. The Ford Taurus I had was a piece of crap by comparison. And its engine has well over 250,000 miles on it and is still running strong. The problem is that American mechanics don't give a crap about their craft and take no pride it in, with a few exceptions. Their entire thing, like a lot of other trades in our society, is to make the most amount of money possible in the least amount of time. They love the cookie-cutter Japanese cars for this reason. They don't want to learn how to work on special cars and that's one reason why French cars have not fared that well in the U.S. One mechanic wanted to put regular red transmission fluid in the hydraulic suspension of my Citroen, which is a real no-no. There's a reason that Rolls Royce has leased the Citroen patent for its suspension and uses it on the rear wheels of its cars. It's the smoothest ride in the world.

[angstlessk]

39. I always thought the Citroen looked like a cockroach, but that

was when we were all 'American Made Cars Only' snobs...while the Citroen has become a classic, those American made cars are all in a junk yard somewhere in America!

[Lurking Dem]

14. weird double post

[Clark2008]

12. LOL!

I just said the same thing.

[ContraBass Black]

27. It wouldn't sell as well.

One of the reasons the Prius is more popular than the Hybrid Civic is that people driving hybrids often want others to notice.

[merh]

3. I want one!

you tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-A3XHFT5qc

[Double T]

6. This kind of technology should be the main goal of automobile manufacturers...........

and sadly is NOT as they continue to bow to the big oil criminals.

[peabody71]

7. You mean the President?

Convict!

[Czolgosz]

8. I Heart Future Cars

[Nimrod2005]

9. I thought Air Car was going to be something capable of flying above traffic jams?

[Poiuyt]

31. That's what I want! A flying car!

[liberalEd]

37. Oh sure

Most people can't drive in two dimensions, and you them to be able to crash into you from above and below too? :)

[Poiuyt]

41. How did George Jetson ever do it?

[seriousstan]

10. Hiding the fuel usage does not reduce it, actually it increases it.

How is the air compressed? Energy.

[peabody71]

17. No. Almmost perpetual. Charged with another compressor.

Very little energy used.

[seriousstan]

26. You are wrong. Air compressors are notoriously inefficient.

Besides the obvious energy usage there is also the leakage that all compressors suffer from. Most air compressors function at a 10%= 20% efficiency rate. Compressed air is one of the most expensive uses of energy in a manufacturing plant. About eight horsepower of electricity is used to generate one horsepower of compressed air.

[ContraBass Black]

28. There is no approximation of perpetual motion.

More machinery means more friction and more fuel consumption.

How is compressed air and fuel drive different from a supercharger?

[Clark2008]

11. Why are all the fuel-saving cars so UGLY (and itty bitty - no

match for the semi's I have to drive with)?

I'm sure it's a great invention, but I wouldn't put my kids in that thing. Huh-uh, no-way.

When are they going to make an affordable fuel-efficient car? You know, one that doesn't look like a bubble, but doesn't cost an arm and a leg, either. I'd like a hybrid Mustang, thank you!

* pout *

[peabody71]

18. I guess they need to keep you in mind.

Too bad culture is such a distructive factor.

[redqueen]

24. Culture? Is that the right word?

I thought fashion might work better.

I wonder how safe they are though, in crashes.

[gravity]

23. Less weight uses less energy

Many alternative energy cars can't store as much energy as gas powered vehicles with current technology, so they need to be build light to compensate for this giving a the car practical range.

[OwnedByFerrets]

22. I am extremely interested in the "skateboard" concept..........

and am very bothered that more isnt being done in this direction.

http://www.autointell.com/nao_companies/general_motors/gm-autonomy/gm-autonomy-02.htm

[ileus]

25. I'd have no problem driving on on the interstate.

Great to see something like this.

[muriel_volestrangler]

29. It is *really* 'starting production'?

Because nearly all of that site looks the same as it did a couple of years ago. The one new item I can see is the agreement with Tata for further research in India.

Note that their prototype only covered 7.22km. They have great claims for what it will be able to do in the future - as far as I can tell, those tests were in 1998 - and they don't appear to have done any more since.

[TX-RAT]

32. How much pressure in the main tank?

[muriel_volestrangler]

34. 200 bar in the prototype, 300 in the planned car (n/t)

[TX-RAT]

36. 4350 Psi? That's a rolling bomb.

Definitely don't want to get hit in that thing.

[angstlessk]

40. Well, the kids'll love it..it looks like a Disney ride!

I like it. Only the steering whell is on the 'wrong' side!