Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Return of the Amphicar

This is topic Return of the Amphicar in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by William Hooper (Member # 71) on 09-04-2003, 01:32 AM:

Sports Car Doubles As Boat

"The Aquada can hit speeds of 100 miles an hour on land — and once it hits water, the wheels retract into the wheel arch, jets kick in, and the car is suddenly a boat. Once waterborne it can reach speeds of 30 miles per hour, according to Gibbs Technologies, the British firm that designed it."

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The original, & the first car to swim the English Channel:

More Amphicars

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 09-04-2003, 08:17 AM:

30 mph is too slow. It needs to be fast enough to chase criminals and save the day, which is what it was designed for. Though if I had one of these, I'd make a movie where it would at least look like it was going faster than 30. Gotta make a movie with this.

Posted by Bob Maar (Member # 763) on 09-04-2003, 09:54 AM:

Joe stop twisting my arm.....I will star in that movie for you.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 09-04-2003, 10:05 AM:

Well 30 MPH on water isn't too bad, actually. You're not going to win any hydroplane races with that but for everyday use, it's a decent speed.

Making a vessel go fast on water isn't just a matter of putting a bigger engine in it. The design of the hull is key. A craft that can go very fast on water but still look like a car is likely to be an extreme design challenge.

The bottom of a car is wide and flat. A boat needs to be narrow and pointy. Unless you designed the bottom of the car with a big pointy front end like the bow of a ship, the only other desigh that I can imagine would work would be a "Tri-Hull" design.

It still wouldn't be that much faster but it'd be better than a flat bottom.

How about making an amphicar where the wheels retract, like the one above, but THEN make it so the driver can extend a set of hydrofoils from the bottom of the car. That's the only way that I can think of to get a car to achieve fast speeds on water. The thing might end up looking like something out of the TV show, Johnny Quest!

The amphicar is really just something you would use to shock the hell out of people at the public marina. You just nonchalantly drive down the boat launching ramp and into the water. By the time the people on shore have realized your car is aflloat and you have retracted the wheels you would have caused one hell of a comotion! [evil]

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 09-04-2003, 02:15 PM:

Did you people read about the illegal immigrants that were trying to get to Florida? This is true. They fashioned an old Chevrolet pick-up truck that could float. The drive shaft had a propeller attached. They almost made it to Florida, but they got caught. After they were forced to disembark their truck (or boat - what ever you want to call it) the US Coast Guard fired at it and sank it because it was considered a "navigation hazard."

This was a couple of months ago. Anyone remember that?

Posted by Jon Miller (Member # 163) on 09-04-2003, 02:27 PM:

Oh yes, Paul, I remember...

CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather made a priceless comment on the scuttling of that 1951 Chevy "pontoon boat"..."it sank, 'like a rock'". [Big Grin]

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 09-04-2003, 02:42 PM:

Jon, That reminds me of a Ford commercial some time ago. The owner of a Chevrolet truck was launching his boat into the water and the Chevrolet and the trailer with the boat also launched with it. Next scene was a Ford pickup truck dragging it out of the water and back up on the ramp.

The Chevrolet owner's wife commented "That sure sank fast" - to which the Ford owner quipped, "Like a rock." [Big Grin]

Another commercial was Chevrolet blowing up new Ford pick-ups to the tune of "The Blue Danube" with the sound bite of "We are going to blow the competition away."

In a couple of weeks, Ford ran the same commercial (without the sound bite Chevrolet used). Ford's sound bite was, "We at Ford would like to thank General Motors for helping us become No. 1." (or words to that effect) [Big Grin]

Posted by David Favel (Member # 1125) on 09-04-2003, 09:12 PM:

From New Zealand Herald

Inventor enjoys Aquada away from the limelight

05.09.2003
By FRAN O'SULLIVAN assistant editor
Half a world away from the London launch of the Aquada, the New Zealand inventor behind the James Bond-style car is delighting at the realisation of his 15-year-old dream.

In Britain, New Zealand multi-millionaire Alan Gibbs is savouring the international media spotlight after the car's launch this week.

But 20,000km away, inventor Terry Roycroft is also revelling in the occasion.

Mr Roycroft's share of the limelight is small. But he has no regrets at staying home while Mr Gibbs runs the international media circus.

The Kiwi inventor is "chuffed" his two technical breakthroughs have paved the way for the world's first high-speed amphibious sports car, which comes with a £150,000 price tag ($413,000) for the first 100 of the three-seaters.

In the 1990s Mr Roycroft sold to Mr Gibbs critical intellectual property that is key to Aquada's success. And now he's busy working on other inventions at his Manukau Heads workshop on the back of his profit.

"Alan treated me very honourably," Mr Roycroft said. "I'm very comfortable."

The former marine engineer began thinking in the late 1980s about "building a car that could perform like a full speedboat".

He developed a wheel-retraction concept and a nifty power train system to eliminate drag and increase the car's speed in the water.

His Sealander - a chunky, primitive-looking thing - made headlines at the time.

It reached about 20 knots but was never driven flat out. "I established all the principles to make a car become a speedboat," he said. Patents were issued to protect his ideas.

It was not until Mr Gibbs discovered the Sealander at a design display in a Wellington art gallery that the two paired up.

Seven years later Mr Roycroft is pursuing ideas such as a mechanism to reduce emissions from engines ("everyone's working on that") and a lighter lawnmower.

And then there's a "top-secret" project. "I won't be letting on about that."

Posted by Jon Miller (Member # 163) on 09-04-2003, 09:51 PM:

I've never seen any of the commercials you mentioned, Paul. Maybe they were regional ads?

Getting back on topic, maybe some enterprising soul could use the Aquada to offer to wealthy tourists personalized land/sea tours, sort of like what a number of companies do with renovated and modernized World War II-era DUKWs ("Ducks") and other vehicles of that sort. There's something to be said about going on a tour of the city, then going "off-roading" right into the water... [Smile]

Posted by Don Bruechert (Member # 1538) on 09-05-2003, 10:47 AM:

We have that right here in the land of cowshit and beer farts... It is called the "Wisconsin Ducks" and is a feature of the Wisconsin Dells area. You hop in this nifty contraption and they drive you around giving you a tour, and then dump it into the water and give you more of a tour, usually with quips of "I hope this thing floats" or "Fast or Slow?" when it's time to hit the water.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 09-08-2003, 01:30 AM:

There's one tinsy problem with this Aquada thing... the cost. £150,000 according to an article in yesterday's paper. Somehow I don't expect to see too many wannabe James Bonds haring up and down my local river...

Posted by Rachel Gilardi (Member # 1016) on 09-08-2003, 06:37 PM:

They have the ducks in Gloucester, Salem, & Boston MA too...The Moby Duck advertises: "MOBY DUCKs ARE NOT THE OLD WORLD WAR II - DUKWs." Our "MOBY DUCKs" are the newest, safest, integrally designed U.S.C.G. certified amphibians in the country.

Moby Duck -Gloucester & Salem MA,
It's a Whale of a Ride!®
It's all it's Quacked up to be!®

Boston Duck Tours -Boston