Photos: MiniCat car runs on compressed air

MDI got started in 1991, and work on various engine designs progressed through the middle of the decade. By the end of the 1990s, it settled on a business plan involving small, geographically dispersed production lines turning out between 2,000 and 8,000 cars per year, with the pilot factory in southern France. The current engine was developed toward the end of 2001, and the first prototypes of the MiniCat appeared in 2003.

Photo by SIPA