It barely require saying that amphibious motor vehicles like the 1961 - 1968 Amphicar have not exactly been uncouth over the years . There are several intellect , include certain purpose via media dictated by their duple - function nature and , typically , a result purchase price much higher than that of comparable machine or sauceboat .
But the Amphicar is an elision . Introduced by inventor Hans Trippel at the 1959 Geneva Salon , it saw fairly high production — 3,770 units — over a comparatively lengthy period : eight years . And it was successfully marketed in both Europe and the United States at a price that was surprisingly sensible for a machine that could do almost everything but fly sheet .
Unfortunately , that terms was so fairish that the venture could never fly very far , but it has left us with an appealingly versatile little vehicle that had come into its own as a bona fide payable within two ten .
The Amphicar may have been the most commercially successful amphibian but it was far from the first . That honour likely run to a 20 - short ton steam - powered fiend build by Oliver Evans of Philadelphia way back in 1803 . That same yr , he drive his alarming appliance over a mile and a one-half of the metropolis ’s streets and down to the banks of the Delaware River .
Of naturally , he did n’t stop at the pee ’s edge but drove mightily in and went to work . This work was accomplish by a dredge ride on the wide - beamed , scow - like dead body .
Christened " Orukter Amphibolus , " this vehicle aptly fulfilled Evans ' contractual assignment , which was to drag distance for a issue of the Quaker City ’s first docks in what was to become a major harbour . Little more was hear of it after that .
More than a century by and by — in 1917 , to be exact — William Mazzei of Seattle , Washington , design an amphibian car of more normal size and put together a company to grow it . Called " Hydrometer , " a name more appropriate for a measuring instrument than a car , it was powered by a conventional internal - burning engine supplied by Continental .
Contemporary account describe the Hydrometer ( some source list the name as " Hydromotor " ) as look more like a sauceboat than a automobile , but it did have four wheels and was say to have been capable of 60 mph on land and 25 mph on water , the latter no doubt overdone .
That same year , George Monnot of Canton , Ohio , announced his " Hydrocar , " a auto / truck combining with a steering wheel at each oddment and a four - cylinder Hercules engine .
Monnot tried to worry the U.S. Army in his cheat for all - purpose use in World War I , but it was rendered unneeded by the terminal of hostilities the following year . By that time there was no money left for pursuing the civilian market .
Perhaps the most famous automotive amphibian was the one that did see activeness , though in a late conflict : World War II . Of course , we ’re talking about the four - bike - movement Schwimmwagen descend from the acres - only Kübelwagen ( " bucket motorcar " ) , the equivalent to the American Jeep in the ground forces of Nazi Germany ’s Third Reich .
Both were project by the illustrious Dr. Ferdinand Porsche along principles he ’d established with the " people ’s gondola " project so beloved byAdolf Hitler . Though neither fomite was a " Volkswagen " in the strict sentiency , they ’re unremarkably count as such because they were produced at the huge new Wolfsburg manufactory that Hitler had set up before the war to build the piffling miserable - price railcar we ’ve come to know asthe Beetle .
VW thus deserves cite for the first mass - produced amphibian , and the Schwimmwagen was indeed turn out in large numbers during the warfare year . Some found their way into secret hands once pacification returned , while others were avidly studied by motor manufacturing business on both slope of the Atlantic .
Amphicar Origins
Hans Trippel , inventor of the Amphicar , initiate demesne / water vehicle long before the famed Schwimmwagen that get during World War II . In 1932 Trippel in reality began manufacture one under his own name at a little factory in the Saarland .
Like the Porsche excogitation , the other Trippel employed four - bicycle movement but used ceremonious inline engines — an Adler four or an Opel six — instead of a flat - opposed building block .
When Germany occupied the Rhineland and the Molsheim realm of France , it seized the factory of the far-famed Bugatti concern , and Trippel soon begin turn out amphibians there for the German USA . After the war he set up workshop in Germany , where he built small , land - only cars power by 498cc engines .
About the prison term Trippel was working on his eventual Amphicar design , Saab in Sweden briefly reckon an amphibian of its own . Interestingly , the idea pop up during the early stages of the development program for the Sonett sportswoman gondola of the late ' LX .
Designer Björn Karlstrum produced a series of studies for a pocket-sized , doorless roadster shout out the Skogmatros ( " Forest Sailor " ) , which was deemed potentially saleable to the Finnish Army for its cross - country excursions in that rugged soil of lake and woods .
Built on an 83.4 - inch wheelbase , the Skogmatros echoed the Schwimmwagen in its high , pointed front , destitute - standing " frogeye " headlamps and minute track , but it looked more like the dune buggies of a later epoch in its pert , open bodywork featuring a backside - face two - passenger back seat separate from the independent cockpit .
How well it might have sold on the civilian mart is anybody ’s guess , for nothing came of the idea beyond Karlstrum ’s survey . This left the Amphicar — if you ’ll excuse the pun — to make quite a splash at its 1959 foundation .
It aim about two year to get production give way , initially at Lübeck , West Germany , near the North Sea and close to the East German border . operation were presently shift to Karlsruhe in the Rhineland , where they cover until the last Amphicar was built in 1968 . purpose change were minimal over the entire foot race .
Amphicar Model 770 Design
In 1962 , Trippel launched the most sensory promotional gambit of his career by sending an Amphicar from France to Britain across the often - riotous English Channel . This stunt was successful , and it course capture the attending of both elevator car and boat enthusiasts all over the earth .
Officially designated Model 770 , the Amphicar was establish only as a two - door four - seat convertible with a close up cloth top . Its engine was the 1147cc ( 70 - Criminal Investigation Command ) overhead - valve inline four from the British Triumph Herald , but relocate astern to drive the rearward wheels and/or a duo of propeller .
Wheelbase was a diminutive 82.67 inches , which is more than a foot shorter overall than the 170.3 - inch - retentive Amphicar . Overall width was 60.3 inches , about the average for a small early-’60s European , but cart track dimension were fairly narrow at 47.3/49.2 inches front / hind end .
The aft locomotive climbing means the body is up front under the " hoodlum . " A compartment behind the rearward seat backrest offers a small amount of additional storeroom space alongside the top and its close up supports .
Amphicar ’s successful English Channel crossing give a lot of pastime in America , which would take nearly 80 percent of the amphibian ’s total production , some 3,000 units .
Though often described as " anatomy - less , " the Amphicar ’s body / hull use a boxful - section steel sub - frame for added torsional strength , made up of parallel longitudinal member and five crisscross - member . Strong mountings are used for the amply independent hiatus , and all sub - frame components and the steel body jury are bow - weld .
The possessor ’s manual of arms specifically warn against the employment of gas welding for structural repair because of the potential alloy contortion and leave water leaks it can cause . Considering the Amphicar ’s seaworthiness , it ’s a bit surprising Trippel did n’t elect to make the soundbox / Kingston-upon Hull in no - rust fibreglass rather of blade .
However , he did narrow metal of unusually heavy gauge . Side panels are .028 , wheel arch .039 , and Isaac Hull bottom panels are .049 . Greater contemplation is plain in the conception of the Amphicar doors and their absolutely watertight seals . There ’s a sealing wax on each door that felt with a disjoined one on the door frame .
Once a door is closed and firmly latched , a second tongue - type curl compress the Navy SEAL together and prevents the doorway from being opened accidentally . Each threshold has double hinges topped with safe plugs .
The Amphicar ’s up - front luggage compartment is divided into three incision . The center one house the spare wheel and tire , and this secluded tooth decay should be checked oftentimes for leak . Astern is a 70 - watt electric bilge pump secured to the engine firewall . It has two hosiery connection and a capacitance of just 6 gallons per minute .
Frequent hull inspections at panel line and reefer are essential . Also urge after cruising in salt or brackish piddle is a thorough hosing with reinvigorated water for the entire hull and all expose dangling and nautical propulson components .
Because of the Herald engine , any Amphicar possessor would also do well to join a Triumph possessor club . However , accessibility is excellent , maintenance and repairs relatively simple , and parts are still readily available and somewhat priced .
It ’s a gutty little engine that made the Herald a acceptable all - rhythm performing artist and pretty quick in city driving , but 43 HP and 50 Sudanese pound - feet torque ca n’t move peck and , at almost 2,300 pounds , the Amphicar is some 526 Ezra Loomis Pound heavier at the curb .
low-down - end acceleration is thus easygoing despite the four - speed manual gearbox - built by Porsche , no less - with base - backing shifter and synchromesh on all gear except first . However , the Amphicar will climb a maximal gradient of 42 percent , so it ’s something of a mountain goat , too .
With its tall flesh ( overall stature is nearly 5 feet with the top up ) and generous 11.2 - inch ground clearance , the Amphicar can go into or pull up stakes the water at rather steep angle , and can even be backed into the deglutition if marina launching place is excessively narrow .
The twinned three - blade screws valuate a understructure in diameter . Drive is use up through a separate water transmission controlled by a simple transport lever with forwards and annul posture , located next to the conventional gearstick on the centerfield cabinet .
Engine torque is carry from the crankshaft over the home base clutch to the transmission shaft , then to the main shaft and a hypoid differential gear . The urine transmission ’s gears persist on bollock and needle bearings , versus acerate leaf bearings only for the roadgoing gearbox . get hold of adaptation , with right free play , is particularly important because of the " dual environment " transmissions .
Perhaps surprisingly , the Amphicar has no rudder . The front wheels take care of nautical navigation , which take a bit of familiarization .
Amphicar Roadability
As for its landworthiness , the Amphicar roadability was far good than you might guess . It does list in number to be sure , a procedure of its in high spirits center of gravity and the skinny 6.40x13 tires .
However , the all - coil suspension smooths bumpy back road unmistakably well , specially when aided by the weight of four adults on board , and the unbacked louse - and - hair curler direction is reactive and not too heavy .
Hans Trippel was unable to remain afloat — financially , that is . The reason , quite plainly , is that he sold the Amphicar for too piffling to make a lucre . The west coast port - of - incoming price in 1967 was only a fiddling more than $ 3,000 .
That was about twice the price of a Beetle , which might float in the water but could n’t maneuver under its own powerfulness . Still , few multitude really appreciated — or require — the Amphicar ’s specialized abilities .
Though it was expensive for what was undoubtedly perceived as a small economic system car , it ’s likely that the limited — and noisy — on - route performance and a marginal sales and service operation were far greater detriments than Mary Leontyne Price for most buyers .
" United We Float , Divided We Sink " has been the shibboleth of Amphicar enthusiasts for many decades now . We found the Amphicar a globe to beat back and quite thrifty : a nice 32 mpg on dry land and about 1.5 gallons per 60 minutes over the briny deep .
We for certain wish we had one . If you do too , your chance are unspoilt . Of the some 3,000 that came to the U.S. , only about 450 had been discovered as of the later 1980s . Anyone for a treasure hunt ?
Amphicar Specifications
The 1961 - 1968 Amphicar was sea of fun . Why settle for off route when you may go off res publica in this chirpy and still reasonably priced collectible ? encounter stipulation for the 1961 - 1968 Amphicar in the undermentioned chart .
1961-1968 Amphicar Major Specifications*:
General
Dimensions and Capacities
Engine
Land Transmission
Water Transmission
- Source : Owner ’s Manual , Amphicar Corporation of America .
notice : some dimensions take issue from those variously release .
