Well the chances of me or anyone else in the UK being able to remove their cycling masks let alone learn to drive in a long-range N.I.C.E car and gain a 100% 'clean' driving licence seem as remote as ever. The cars and the technology are there of course and ready 'to go' like the 120 mpc Toyota RAV4 EV, the 120 mpc Nissan Altra EV, the 373 mpc Solectria Sunrise or the Ford e-Ka. How many more excuses can car companies invent before finally putting these 1p a mile eco-wonders onto the High Street and at an affordable price?

So imagine my euphoria on hearing that the long-awaited launch and worldwide sales of the 1p a mile 120 mpc/68.75 mph air car for a mere £6.200 +VAT will finally take place in Jan 2002. In spite of having been recently made redundant as a result of yet another dotcom closure, before you could say Have a N.I.C.E Day I had packed my rucksack and tent for a spot of cheap camping (£4 a night!) on the Cote d'Azur to make my pilgrimage to a hot dusty industrial estate 20 minutes outside Nice. Funnily enough as I queued at the information desk in Nice to get info on how to reach my destination, the American woman in from of me asked how to get to Lourdes!

Once the bus had reached the 4eme rue on the 'zone industrielle' I was tempted to get back into the bus as I stepped out into the furnace-like heat outside. Ouch! It hurt. I pulled on my sweatshirt, donned my by now no longer white hat - several days of camping had taken its toll and braced myself for an uncomfortable walk. It was to be more uncomfortable and a lot longer than I had thought for I had mistakenly descended at the 4eme rue not avenue. The estate was huge. I cast a mindful eye over my half-empty water bottle which I carried at all times in the relentless August heat. The thought that I may well pass out in the middle of nowhere from dehydration, never making it to my destination persuaded me to switch from walking to a gentle jog. The estate had a rather eerie feel. Not a soul in sight for obviously people simply drove here to work and then go home. Needless to say I got a few stares from passing cars as I trekked like Beau Geste through the blistering heat.

'That is one very lost and confused tourist. Nice is thataway' you could see them thinking! Half an hour later I caught site of the 4eme avenue. I still had 3 quarters of an hour until my appointment at 3pm. I felt a mess. My short tasseled sarong, a recent and necessary purchase during my stay as the clothes I had brought simply were not cool enough in the August heat looked too frivolous. Not that the alternative I had brought looked any more elegant or glamorous but the sarong was stuck to my legs giving me the appearance of having been caught in a monsoon. I looked for a phone box to make a quick 'superman' change of clothing. I looked in vain so made do with a tall tree.

After running a brush through my hair and finishing off the tiny drop of by now lukewarm water I felt still very much a mess and desperate to plunge into cold water. Perhaps they wouldn't notice?

'Ah vous etes en vacances?' (you're on holiday? ) said the polite, smiling, immaculate woman dressed in white who was to be my guide around the site. I felt foolish. What did it matter what I was wearing. I was never going to kid anyone in a million years I had the £6 million or so to set up a manufacturing base in the UK so I relaxed. I'd come all the way from the UK to see this revolutionary air car. I was going to explain how I'd got lost and had not arrived in an air conditioned car in fact I couldn't drive but decided to leave that for later. Besides my French was pretty rusty.

Madame Negre, wife of the the air car's inventor French engineer Guy Negre who has more than 30 years of experience working combustion engines immediately set about explaining the intricacies of the development of the air car showing me every aspect of the manufacturing process including a full scale model of the proposed site which should be completed by October. One car will be produced every 56 minutes. 'So this,' she said, 'will be quite a small operation at first. But interest in the car has been massive. The sales office in Barcelona which I was to visit later, confirmed this, showing me faxes from leading politicians around the world including one from the Minister of the Environment in Croatia.

The air car was originally designed to replace taxis but a report in The Guardian several years ago sparked massive worldwide interest from private consumers wanting one for their own personal use.

'We get hundreds of faxes, emails and letters and phone calls every day,' said Madame Negre. So far there are plans to set up manufacturing centres in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Mexico, Portugal and Spain. All investment has come from diverse private entrepreneurs with interests in property , sugar or olive oil. The IT company IndraNet is bringing the car to New Zealand and Australia.

'Have car companies showed interest?' I asked, knowing full well what the answer was but wanted to hear her say it?

'Ah, car companies don't like us at all.'

Israel too has expressed interest but the current Middle East situation has halted progress there. Several businesses have also expressed interest in the UK but for some reason it didn't work out. Why the reticence to invest in this 1p a mile eco-wonder in $5.50 a gallon? If only I were a millionaire!

This invention, which uses high pressure (300 bar) compressed air to store the energy needed for running the engine, is protected world-wide by more than 20 patents owned by MDI.

At last Madame Negre guided me into the piece de resistance. A plain, simple, large white space. Hard to imagine such a space was housing such a life changing piece of technology. 5 of them were lined up as if standing for attention, ready for inspection, all brightly coloured: red, yellow, white, orange and a bright blue pickup truck.

The yellow one is a car designed specifically for mothers and was still in the design stages. I was surprised and pleased by their size. Bigger than a black taxi cab inside with 5 seats. But of course it is the revolutionary engine which is of prime interest. It has a range of 120 miles using 300 litres of compressed air (300 bar) stored in either carbon or glass fibre tanks.

A compressor driven by an electric motor connected to a standard electric outlet does the recharge of the compressed air tanks. A rapid 3 minute recharge, using a high-pressure air pump, is also possible. And get this: this car actually cleans the air! For the air that leaves the exhaust pipe is even cleaner than the air that entered the cylinder for compression! .

I spent the next few minutes touching the car, sitting inside the car, getting Madame Negre to take a picture of me next to the car, everything but drive it which was a little disappointing.

'Come back in September . The cars should be ready then . We are working on the noise levels at the moment with the intention of reducing it to a gentle sound like a breeze. We look forward to seeing you again.'

And with that I said goodbye, pausing for moment at the door, my attention grabbed by the odd rather incongruous sight on the adjacent desk to Madame Negre of an ashtray full of cigarette butts. I wondered if they were aware of the irony. MDI has produced the most environmentally friendly car in the world yet they will not abandon the cigarette while the Americans well known for their anti-smoking stance drive everywhere in their air-polluting petrol cars. And with that thought, I stepped outside and braced myself for an unpleasant walk in the sweltering heat to the bus stop to make my way back to camp.

I had a few more thoughts on the bus of course. Would the oh-so-keen-to-be-seen-as-green BP deign to live up to its claim to be beyond petroleum beyond petroleum of course means zero-emission NOT cleaner engines and install industrial strength compressors at its petrol stations enabling air car drivers the means to recharge and double the range from 120 to 240 mpc? Hmmm... don't hold your breath.