Aquada travels by land or sea
Richard Branson set a record for crossing the English Channel in an amphibious vehicle in the Aquada in 2004.
James Bond isn’t the only guy who gets to drive a car that can turn into a boat at the push of a button. People with enough funds in the U.K. and some other European countries have been able to do it for years.
This year, the Aquada, which transforms from a sporty coupe into a speedboat, is slated to go on sale in the United States.
Priced to sail
The Aquada can hit speeds of up to 100 mph on the highway, and it reaches 30 mph in the water. It is powerful enough to pull a water skier. Given that the Aquada seems to operate as a fully functional sports car and a high-speed boat, I figured something like that would cost a pretty penny.
Sure enough, at its inception the Aquada sold for upward of $200,000 — pretty much what I expected. However, according to Wikipedia, when the Aquada debuts in the U.S. it’ll go for $85,000. Not cheap, for sure — anyone already seeking credit repair should steer clear. However, if you’re taking out a personal loan for either a car or a boat anyway, why not get both?
A true hybrid
Other crossover vehicles, such as the Transition, which the company calls a “roadable aircraft,” generally tend to favor one mode of travel or the other. The Transition is a small plane that can travel on roads, if needed.
However, according to several consumer reviews, the Aquada functions very well as both a car and a boat. It handles and accelerates like an average sports car, and has all the power and speed of an average small watercraft.
Special features
Though the Aquada performs well as both a car and a boat, there are a few features that are specific to one mode of travel. For instance, the vehicle has no doors — you have to hop in bad-boy-in-the-movies style. The steering wheel and driver seat sit in the center of two other seats.
The vehicle was designed with three seats to hold a water skier, observer and driver. This might just be the most practical yet sci-fi appropriate vehicle in the world.
The transformation
I was pretty skeptical about the part where Gibbs Technologies, maker of the Aquada, explained how to transform the vehicle from car to boat. From Gibbs’ web site:
“Simply press a button and drive into the water. The wheels automatically rise and as you press the accelerator nearly a ton of thrust pushes the Aquada onto the (water’s surface). The whole process takes less than 12 seconds.”
But, after I watched the “Aqua Amphibious Car” video on YouTube, I was pretty well convinced.
