Amphicar

Navigation lights, a foghorn, twin screws at the stern, a bilge pump and a high mounted exhaust; the German Amphicar has all the equipment needed to sail, except a rudder.

In the water, changing course is done with the front wheels, just like on the road. Needless to say, this does not work optimally. So as a boat it is not really suitable, but even as a car it has its shortcomings. The Amphicar can hardly be called comfortable and, partly because of the special bodywork, its road handling is rather unpredictable. On land the Amphicar reaches about 100 km/h, in the water 12 km/h. Despite its poor sailing qualities, the Amphicar has crossed the Channel. The Amphicar is a design by the German engineer Hans Trippel, who had already been involved during the Second World War in building amphibious vehicles for the German army. In 1959 he presented the Eurocar, the first amphibious car for consumers. The car had an Austin A35 engine mounted in the rear. Two years later production started. At that point the car was called Amphicar and was fitted with a Triumph Herald engine. Up to 1967, around 4,000 Amphicars were built.