World Water Day: Cars that drive on water
Swiss sportscar tuning firm Rinspeed built an amphibious car in 2004. The vehicle can go with speed 31 mph (50 km/h) on water. On land, the Rinspeed, has a top speed of 124 mph (200 km/h).
This hydro car is powered by natural gas, and it’s the first amphibious vehicle to be fueled by this environmentally-friendly resource.
It has a 750cc, two-cylinder, turbo-charged engine, and its integrated hydrofoil design can be deployed at water depths over four feet.
Photo & Text: Wonderslist.com
On land, its full-length articulating sponsons are raised and become the car’s fenders. Upon entering the water, the sponsons are lowered nearly eight inches to transform the car into a tunnel-hulled watercraft within a matter of seconds.
It’s main body is made of type 304 stainless steel, so rust will not be a problem. Under the hood, it has a fully dyno-tuned Chevrolet engine that produces 762 hp at 5,800 rpm.
It is priced at $4,95,000 (around Rs 3 crore).
In water it has top speed of up to 45mph, and comes equipped with custom-made 3.7 litre V6 engine mated to 4-speed manual transmission.
The Panther is currently offered in two states of completion; Turnkey Minus ($1,26,000 - around Rs 86 lakh) and Complete Custom ($1,55,000 - around Rs 1 crore).
“If it’s got wheels, I’ll make it float!” boasts Ryan, who has also converted jeeps, motorcycles, a London taxi cab and even an ice-cream van into water-going vehicles.
According to Ryan, the glass alone cost $3,007 (around Rs 2 lakh). In the water, a hydrofoil at the front of the car lifts the nose of the Countach, while hydraulic activators compress its Formula 1-style suspension system.
Text: Wonderslist.com
On the road, the Sea Lion clocks in at 125 mph (201 km/h). In the water, meanwhile, it can reach respectable speeds of as much as 60 mph (96 km/h).
The body of the Sea Lion was made by using TIG-welded 5052 aluminum and CNC-milled. It took six years for Witt to develop the car. It has been priced at $2,59,500 (around Rs 1.7 crore).
Photo & Text: Wonderslist.com
It is produced and marketed by Cool Amphibious Manufacturers International, LLC.
The vehicle can seat four people and is powered by a Corvette LS2 6.0 liter V-8 engine rated at 400 hp, 6000 rpm, and 400 ft. lbs of torque at 4000rpm. The model also includes a 5-speed manual high performance.
It comes equipped with 4 cylinder 1300cc 16 valve DOHC, and has a ground clearance of 225mm.
On both land and water it has a top speed of up to 45mph. It is available in four standard colours - Blue, Red, Yellow, and Silver.
On water the Humdinga can reach the 'plane' in less than 10 seconds. It has a curb weight of 2,750 kg.
This amphibious truck boat (which Gibbs' calls an Amphitruck) is constantly in four wheel drive, and can can seat six occupants, along with supplies and baggage. The vehicle is run by a powerful 300 bhp (220 kW) engine. It took 15 years to develop the amphibious technology used, according to Alan Gibbs, co-founder.
It was a limited production concept car produced in 2003 and 2004, and was powered By 2.5L Rover V6.
In 2004 Richard Branson, owner of the Virgin Group, used a Gibbs Aquada to set a new record for crossing the English Channel in an amphibious vehicle. Branson cut 4 hours 20 minutes off the previous record of 6 hours, which had stood since the late 1960s.
The Aquada was developed in Auckland New Zealand. The successors to the Aquada are the Gibbs Humdinga and the Gibbs Quadski.
Launched at the 1961 New York Auto Show, it was manufactured in West Germany and marketed in the United States from 1961-1967.
Designed by Hanns Trippel, the amphibious vehicle was manufactured by the Quandt Group at Lübeck and at Berlin-Borsigwalde, with a total of 3,878 manufactured in a single generation.
A descendant of the Volkswagen Schwimmwagen, the Amphicar name is a portmanteau of "amphibious" and "car".
It came with Triumph four-cylinder engine of 1147 cc, 8.0 compression ratio, rated at 38.3 bhp.
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