IN July 2005, Jon Spallino; his wife, Sandy; and their two daughters became minor celebrities — at least in California, and mostly in their hometown of Redondo Beach. They were the first family to enter into a two-year, $500-a-month lease of a Honda FCX fuel-cell car.

Driving the FCX meant being behind the wheel of one of the company’s priciest ventures in alternative fuels. The neighbors just thought the car was weird.

Honda will release the next-generation FCX in about six months and will make a limited number available to more customers. While the company said that many improvements would be made in performance, fuel economy and looks, the thought is likely to remain: people are driving something weird. So who better to describe living la vida fuel cell than the Spallino family?

No strangers to alternative fuel, the Spallinos brought home the FCX, which the company said was worth $1 million, when they already had a natural-gas Honda Civic in the driveway. However, the hydrogen car came with a special challenge.

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