amphibious vehicles

September 18, 2003 2:33 PM

DUKWs have been around since WWII, and are basically boats with wheels. Schwimmwagens have also been around since then, but they're basically a waterproof car with a propeller, like the 1960's Amphicar. Both are kinda slow in the water. The only cool looking amphibious vehicles that could reach a decent speed in the water have been in James Bond movies. Not any more...
posted by badstone (10 comments total)

At £150,000, the Aquada is not exactly going to start popping up all over, but it's pretty nifty nonetheless. If only I lived on a river and was going through a mid-life crisis, I'd be all set...

Credit where credit is due: This entire post is bascially a summary of an article from last week's New Scientist.
posted by badstone at 3:14 PM on September 18, 2003

Quack, Quack.
posted by caddis at 3:21 PM on September 18, 2003

I saw this on TV the other night and, while it is no doubt a pretty neat toy, its practicality as either a boat or a car leaves quite a bit to be desired. It is, however, a great step in the right direction and someone had to do this to enable others to see the benefits and make something better (and cheaper).
posted by dg at 3:47 PM on September 18, 2003

This was news two weeks ago.
posted by fenriq at 4:08 PM on September 18, 2003

this is the magic bullet my commute has been waiting for. Berkeley to San Francisco, with no Bay Bridge.
posted by pejamo at 4:51 PM on September 18, 2003

"Tank running low in your H2? Yeah, I know a truck stop near here where you can fill up. You can handle all kinds of terrain in that thing, right? Just follow me..."
posted by tss at 4:56 PM on September 18, 2003

<arnold>Silly little watercar, I will crush you with my gigantic amphibious luxury motorhome.</arnold>
posted by Tubes at 5:20 PM on September 18, 2003

I like this stylish retro number. Do we do *Secret Santas* on MeFi, hint, hint.
Fun stuff, badstone, thanks. BTW, the main site in your second link is very fun - some cool VW mods. Tubes, your link rocks too.
posted by madamjujujive at 7:12 PM on September 18, 2003

I just took the Duck Tour of Boston about a week ago and had a blast! It is a total kick when the duck leaves land and enters the waters of the Charles River. I recommend it highly, if you are in Boston.
posted by wsg at 10:15 AM on September 19, 2003

I just took the Duck Tour of Boston about a week ago and had a blast!

We have them here, too. My girlfriend took the one in Boston--which is how I found out the Duck Tours are an international chain or phenomenom. They're irritating the hell out of the natives all over the world. I guess they have a contract here to make all their spare parts.
posted by y2karl at 2:00 PM on September 19, 2003