Cheese yes, supercars no. With strict laws concerning noise and emissions, Switzerland isn't the ideal breeding ground for supercars. Not to be deterred though is Rinspeed, based in Zumikon, Switzerland.

With the Geneva Motor Show on their doorstep, they've taken the opportunity to showcase their latest mad sportscar concept, the R One. The R1 is designed for 'guilt free' motoring apparently. With Swiss Big Brother breathing down their neck and sniffing at their emissions, Rinspeed have set out to build an environmentally friendly sports car. This is the first 'biofuel' sportscar to run on garbage. The alternative fuel is Kompogas, mostly made up of kitchen and garden waste.

The Advantige R1 with its 'bivalent drive concept' (petrol/biofuel) is the cleanest sports car in the world. Fueled with compressed natural gas the environmental advantages speak for themselves, exhaust emissions are 60 to 95 percent below today's stringent emission limits and even cleaner when using Kompogas.

The R1's styling is very much inflenced by true sports racers, with the overall height a GT40 ducking 38 inches, apparently low enough to drive under a flat bed trailer (useful should you get stuck in a traffic jam). Environmentally friendly the car may be, but it's not a passenger friendly car.  The single seat is placed in the middle of the cockpit, room only for the solitary driver.

This is partly explained by the fact that the cockpit is 'dynamic'. The whole unit drops 30cm lower in the chassis at speeds over 40km/h and even angles itself in corners motorbike fashion. Adjusting the mirrors whilst being hurled around in the cockpit isn't necessary since Rinspeed have opted for the ever more popular rearward facing cameras displaying images on a cockpit mounted screen.

Sadly the dramatic styling and dynamic cockpit hint at more power than is offered in reality. A weight of only 750kg helps to address the power deficit as the rear mounted 1800cc garbage guzzler only spews out around 120bhp. That's good enough to take the R1 to 60 in under six seconds though. The handling should be very entertaining though, with the incredibly low centre of gravity and tilting cockpit providing thrills not available in other road cars.

Link: www.rinspeed.com