An amphibious vehicle is a car that turns into a
boat, Army's often use large amphibians to
move troops and a few commercial designs have entered the marketplace
before with little success. Now a new Amphibian is about to hit the car
market promising great performance on land and on water.
The Gibbs Aquada incorporates some interesting features and also provides
good performance from its 2.5 V6 engine, when cruising the streets it has
a top speed of 100mph, drive into the water and switch over to jet power
with a top speed of 34.7 mph.
All 4 wheels raise when in the water turning the car into a real boat that
can achieve speedboat functionality and powerful enough to tow a water
skier. The Transition from land to water is achieved very easily in a few
seconds by the push of a button.
The vehicle has exceptional safety standards on both road and in the
water, and is designed
to meet European road and marine safety requirements. It has undergone an
extensive safety testing programme and full crash test analysis. When in
the water it has a low centre of gravity which means that it is
exceptionally stable and it will not capsize even when all
three passengers are standing on the side step. There are hydrocarbon
sensors in the engine
bay, an automatic fire extinguisher system and most composite surfaces
have a fire retardant treatment. There is a manual override safety power
switch to disconnect all electric current. The jet is fully enclosed and
cannot harm swimmers or pedestrians and has full road and marine lighting
system.
The stylish convertible car will seat 3 people and is expected to go on
sale in the UK for around 150000 pounds which would probably buy a lot of
people a nice car and boat with change left over to buy a few nice fishing
rods, but who could beat the convenience of taking to the water when the
roads get a bit busy.
Recently a Gibbs Aquada was driven across the
English Channel by flamboyant Virgin boss Richard Branson. Branson
completed the trip in around and hour and forty minuets slashed almost
four and a half hours off the world record for crossing the channel in
an amphibious vehicle. So impressed by the Aquada Branson is considering
buying a few for pickup of VIPs in London. When traffic gets busy his
plan is to whisk the VIPs down the Thames to Heathrow airport.
