The Amphicar

[dazzleman]

Does anybody else remember the Amphicar?  It was a car that could travel both on land and on water.  Apparently, it was good at neither.  I vaguely remembered my parents pointing one out to me when we were driving along a body of water when I was a small child.  I had mostly forgotten it, or thought maybe I didn't remember it right, until the Amphicar turned up on a list of the worst cars ever made.  They said it was made from 1961-68, which would have been the right timeframe for me to have seen it.  Interesting piece of automotive history.

http://www.amphicar.com/

http://www.amphicars.com/

[cawimmer430]

I remember it. One famous owner was US president Lyndon B. Johnson, who was a bit of a prankster with it. According to Wiki...

President Lyndon B. Johnson was known as an owner of an Amphicar. Johnson, a known practical joker, was said to enjoy frightening visitors at his Johnson City, Texas ranch by driving them downhill in his Amphicar, directly into his property's lake, all the while shouting that he had malfunctioning brakes.

[dazzleman]

I remember it. One famous owner was US president Lyndon B. Johnson, who was a bit of a prankster with it. According to Wiki...

President Lyndon B. Johnson was known as an owner of an Amphicar. Johnson, a known practical joker, was said to enjoy frightening visitors at his Johnson City, Texas ranch by driving them downhill in his Amphicar, directly into his property's lake, all the while shouting that he had malfunctioning brakes.

LBJ was a sicko...   I had never heard before that he had an Amphicar.

[Soup DeVille]

Yeah, one of those ideas that sounded better than it actually worked. It basically came down to buying either a decent boat And a nice car, or spending the same money and getting something that could be bad at doing both.

[shp4man]

Leno did a show segment about them. Him and some other dude raced around a lake. I think top speed on water was something like 10 knots. 

[Soup DeVille]

Leno did a show segment about them. Him and some other dude raced around a lake. I think top speed on water was something like 10 knots. 

Short, full displacement hull, and wheels hanging down. That's better than I would expect.

[93JC]

Anybody else remember the Gibbs Aquada? It looked a little like an NB Miata:





Top speed was 27 kt on the water.

[Soup DeVille]

Anybody else remember the Gibbs Aquada? It looked a little like an NB Miata:





Top speed was 27 kt on the water.

Lol, yeah.

I almost went to work for them when they were working on the quadski.

[cawimmer430]

Another option (good luck finding one!). 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Schwimmwagen

[Soup DeVille]

One of the members of my father's military vehicle club has one of those. Interesting car. 4WD in first gear and reverse only.

[cawimmer430]

One of the members of my father's military vehicle club has one of those. Interesting car. 4WD in first gear and reverse only.

I own one.

1:35 scale from Tamiya. 

[Speed_Racer]

I saw one in really great condition at a car show last year. It was my favorite of the cars they had, so quirky!

[Gotta-Qik-C7]

Leno did a show segment about them. Him and some other dude raced around a lake. I think top speed on water was something like 10 knots. 

They also raced some type of converted Jeep on water!

[68_427]

They also raced some type of converted Jeep on water!

Wasn't that US Top Gear

[Gotta-Qik-C7]

Wasn't that US Top Gear

NOPE! It was Jay!