Boat-car makes a splash
Remember the Amphicar, that rather strange looking part-car, part-boat that got a lot of magazine attention in the 1960s?
It's back!
In concept, anyway, in the form a vehicle called the Aquada, developed by British-based Gibbs Technologies.
Gibbs says it's forming three companies to produce and market a range of amphibious vehicles in North America.
Aquada reportedly combines the handling of a sports car with an ability to travel up to 50 km/h on water. It has been publicly demonstrated on the Thames River in central London.
A production-ready prototype, planned to be introduced in the U.S. in 2009, was displayed at a news conference in Detroit last week.
"Our plans for North America are ambitious, aggressive and achievable," says Alan Gibbs, the firm's founder and chairman.
A New Zealander, Gibbs trained as an engineer and, in his first commercial venture during the '60s, built a prototype of what was intended to be his country's first indigenous car, though it never went into production.
"Our market research indicates that a lineup of high-speed amphibious vehicles similar to the Aquada could generate annual sales volumes of 100,000 or more within five years," Gibbs says.
Fewer than 4,000 Amphicars were sold over several years.
Developed at a cost of more than $100 million (U.S.), the Aquada is already homologated for sale in Europe. A fleet of 10 is undergoing tests in Michigan.
A commercially viable, high-speed amphibious vehicle has long been a dream of inventors. Advances in lightweight materials, engine technology and vehicle architecture "have enabled us to accomplish what many believed to be impossible," Gibbs says.
Aquada design work began in Detroit in 1997, later shifting to Coventry in the U.K.
In 2004, a Gibbs prototype crossed the English Channel in less than two hours. Prototypes have travelled at more than 175 km/h on land and 70 km/h on water, the firm says. Aquada is said to be able to move between the two in five seconds.
Gibbs also plans to build and market an amphibious all-terrain vehicle called the Quadski in the U.S. and make amphibious vehicles for military applications.
Canadian plans have not been released.
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