Remembering When: The coolest car in the world

By Keith Schell

One early summer evening when I was very young, I accompanied my father on a trip to a local marina to drop off his chainsaw for repair. As Dad discussed the repairs with the mechanic, I wandered around the marina, looking at the boats being removed from storage and prepared for launch.

As I explored, something unusual caught my eye: a cream-coloured car parked near the boat prep area unlike anything I had ever seen. It was a funny-looking convertible with a slightly pointed nose, rounded edges and a fully sealed bottom. What made it even stranger were two outward-facing propellers protruding from the underside, nestled between the rear fenders. I had never seen a weirder-looking car in my entire young life.

As we walked back to the truck to go home, we passed the weird car again, and I asked my dad what kind of car it was.

He smiled and replied, "That's an amphibious car."

Amphibious? What's that? What did that mean?

Still smiling, he explained that it was a special kind of car, one that could drive on land like a regular automobile and cruise on the water like a boat.

No way!

I was flabbergasted! That car can really do that?

Yes.

Honest and for true?

Yes.

Once I realized Dad wasn't pulling my leg, that funny-looking car that could go from land to water and back to land again immediately became, to my young mind, the coolest car in the world! I desperately wanted to come back to the marina when they launched it to go for a ride, or at the very least, watch it go down the marina ramp and into the lake! Could we at least go over and check it out now, seeing we were here?

With an understanding smile, Dad quietly said, "No, we have to get home."

I never saw that car again.

To this day, I've never forgotten that evening. It was the only time I've ever seen an amphibious car in real life.

Known by its brand name, Amphicar, it was the only amphibious passenger car ever mass-produced. Built in West Germany from 1961 to 1968, total production ranged between 3,700 and 4,000 vehicles, depending on the source. Of these, 3,046 cars were imported into North America, with 90 per cent destined for the U.S. market.

Amphicars came in only four colours: white (ivory/cream), red, Lagoon Blue and Fjord Green, a type of aqua green. Depending on the model year, an Amphicar sold for US$2,800 to US$3,050 at a time when a brand-new Corvette cost around US$3,400, making it an expensive purchase relative to the wages of the era.

With a top speed of seven knots on water and 70 mph on land, all Amphicars were rear-engine convertibles equipped with a standard four-cylinder, 1,147 cc Triumph Herald 1200 motor producing 43 horsepower. They featured a custom four-speed reversible manual transmission built by Hermes, the same company that made Porsche transmissions. Propelled in the water by twin screws at the rear, the Hermes transmission allowed the driving wheels and propellers to operate separately or together, enabling the Amphicar to drive itself back onto land after a day on the water. The front tires served as the rudder, turning the car in the water just as they did on the road.

When U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) emission standards and Department of Transportation (DOT) safety regulations changed in 1968, it spelled disaster for the Amphicar. Unable to meet the new standards, and with 90 per cent of its production intended for the U.S. market, the Amphicar factory was forced to close its doors.

Today, the Amphicar is a prized vehicle among serious car collectors, with restored models commanding high prices at classic car auctions. They always draw large crowds when owners offer fundraising charity rides at antique boat shows.

Beating out the Adam West Batmobile by the narrowest of margins, the Amphicar always got my vote as the coolest car in the world back in the day. Of course, sleeker, faster and far more sophisticated cars exist today, but I've always dreamed of driving an Amphicar down a marina ramp or into the shallows at a beach and watching heads turn as I seamlessly transition from land to lake and head out on the water for a nice, leisurely cruise.

And let's see the Batmobile top that!