Seen here in action is a new amphibious 4WD, made by
Gibbs Technologies, the same company who's Aquada
recently made headlines when it made a record crossing of the English
Channel navigated by flamboyant Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson. The 'Humdinga'
concept vehicle is a full time four wheel drive High Speed Amphibian (HSA).
Powered by a 350 BHP engine, the 5-seater 'Humdinga' is capable of
travelling on land at 100 mph and on water at 40mph.
Although the new application utilises the same patented HSA
technological platform as the Gibbs Aquada, it shares no common
component parts or systems with its predecessor. It has been designed
specifically to access remote and hostile terrain. The Gibbs Humdinga
can comfortably transport 5 people complete with luggage/supplies on at
least twice as much of the world’s surface as previous vehicles.
Following on from the highly successful introduction of the
Gibbs Aquada,
the first application of HSA technology, the Gibbs Humdinga illustrates
the scalability and versatility of HSA technology. As research and
development continues apace at Gibbs Technologies' Nuneaton
headquarters, it is anticipated that vehicles ranging from passenger
cars to SUVs to buses and trucks will soon become High Speed Amphibians.
The Gibbs Humdinga transfers from land to water at a touch of a button.
The wheels retract, the power train switches from the wheels to a jet
propulsion system and the vehicle is in amphibious mode. In just a few
seconds the driver is planing at a speed of forty miles per hour.
"This 4WD HSA demonstrates that the technology is adaptable for a whole
range of applications. It took us 7 years, a million man-hours and tens
of millions of pounds to develop HSA technology. With this latest
vehicle, I'm sure that the technology's potential is clear for all to
see.", comments Alan Gibbs, Chairman of Gibbs Technologies.
On land the Gibbs Humdinga can accelerate from 0-60 in 9.2 seconds and
on water can reach the 'plane' in less than 10 seconds. It has a curb
weight of 2000kg, has all wheel independent air suspension and runs on
regular unleaded petrol. The vehicle is 5400mm in length, 1850mm in
height and 2000mm in width.
As a concept vehicle, it is not intended that the Gibbs Humdinga will be
manufactured in its current form. Work is currently underway to further
enhance the vehicle and a production model will be introduced in due
course.
