Italdesign VAD.HO

The Italdesign VAD.HO is an extreme hydrogen-powered two-seater super-sports car that Italdesign introduced at the 2007 Geneva Motor Show, built along aeronautical lines as a laboratory vehicle for alternative propulsion. Italdesign presents it as its response to the need to promote eco-friendly propulsion and to explore how a more flexible layout of engine, mechanical and electronic systems can change design. The name is a play on words: Vado is the industrial area of Moncalieri where Italdesign has been based since 1974, and vado on H, Italian for I go on hydrogen, refers to the fuel. A Russian review in the magazine Avtomobili described the two-seat cockpit offset to one side under a transparent canopy, with flight-style EFIS displays and joysticks in the armrests in place of a steering wheel thanks to by-wire controls, and a hydrogen V12 from a special version of the BMW 7 Series beside the cockpit; it reported that the car was a running prototype meeting current safety standards.