Filed under: Geneva Motor Show, Etc., Tech
Rinspeed sQuba Concept to make a splash at Geneva

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Swiss design company Rinspeed is known for its eccentric concepts, including last year's translucent eXasis Concept and the "Splash" hydrofoil car that set a speed record crossing the English Channel. Rinspeed is once again turning to the water for its latest concept, although this time they will be heading below the surface instead of skimming above it. Set to debut at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show, the sQuba concept is the world's first diving car, according to the company, and can be submerged up to 10 meters below the surface. An electric motor provides power to the rear wheels as well as two propellers and dual jet drives, and a futuristic cockpit comes with its own supply of oxygen. Like many of Rinspeed's other unique creations, the sQuba will only remain a one-off and there are no plans for production. The press release from Rinspeed can be seen after the jump, and two not-so-real photos can be viewed in the gallery.
[Source: Rinspeed via WorldCarFans.com]
Gallery: Rinspeed sQuba Concept
Gallery: Rinspeed eXasis
PRESS RELEASE:
Is it just a clever computer animation or maybe more a fiction from a Hollywood movie? Or is it actually a real car sitting there? Many visitors to the upcoming Geneva Motor Show (March 6th thru 16th, 2008) will ask themselves just these questions when faced with the new Rinspeed creation "sQuba" - the worlds first real diving car. This astonishing concept vehicle from the renowned Swiss powerhouse for new designs and ideas looks almost like it just came out of a James Bond movie.
Its capabilities not only to drive on roads - and this also at a push of a button autonomously (thus without a driver, passenger or further assistance) - but also to agitate as an amphibious vehicle and to protrude to water depth of up to 10 meters (33 feet) go beyond the scope of many human virtues of imagination.
For Rinspeed boss Frank M. Rinderknecht the "sQuba" symbolizes the realization of a long-cherished dream and of movie fictions - of which perhaps the most noted out of the James Bond film hit "The spy who loved me". "And exactly thirty years later this amazing - yet at the time animated - film sequence materializes and becomes reality, in today's world", says Rinderknecht.
Definitely part of the material world is the power of the concept car: An electric motor with powerful torque drives the rear wheels. The propulsion on the water is ensured by two propellers in the stern and two powerful jet drives in the bow propel the vehicle under water while diving. With zero emissions, zero pollution in the seven seas of this world. The light weight body with components made of futuristic Carbon Nano Tubes encloses in a streamlined manner the driver and passenger who are supplied with fresh breathing air by the self-contained on-bord system.
A new and fascinating world is opening to the occupants of the "sQuba" which will remain most likely - as its predecessors - a unique and exclusive one-off vehicle. But: Attention guaranteed.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
aman 11:49AM (12/17/2007)
I just realized how much like the Mustang the Lotus Elise is getting.
Ye, I know this is made by a differnt manufacturer, but the platform is still the same
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Delayedz 12:02PM (12/17/2007)
Can't wait to hear about how the designers all plunged to there death...
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nissanfreak87 12:06PM (12/17/2007)
so it's a submarine-car with a targa top?
What!? This is odd, very odd
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Luis 12:14PM (12/17/2007)
It's a safety measure,it makes it easier to jump out of when you start drowning...LOL
Mike 12:13PM (12/17/2007)
An underwater bastard child of the Elise and some form of TVR?
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Mobius_1 10:55PM (12/17/2007)
Then exposed to radiation from a nuclear submarine
Jason Bird 12:20PM (12/17/2007)
Lotus Elise = Platform Prostitute
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tankd0g 12:20PM (12/17/2007)
I guess you have to wear scuba gear in this thing, and the tank is built into the car. I could see it in a bond movie, but wtf would you do with it in real life.
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Rogue_G 12:22PM (12/17/2007)
No where in the specs does it mention 'ballast tank'.
I guess they forgot to read up the wiki on submarines?
Honestly, how the Hell do they expect this thing to surface? OK, we get it, it sinks and goes around like a submarine! NOW WHY CAN'T I UN-SINK MYSELF?!
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Noah 12:37PM (12/17/2007)
Only one? But how will the Sultan of Dubai be able to buy one in Silver, Black, and Red?
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nissanfreak87 2:40PM (12/17/2007)
special color-change paint?
Luis 2:43PM (12/17/2007)
It changes color when you get it wet!
porschedevotee 4:53PM (12/17/2007)
Ummmm... the Sultan of Brunei?
tariq 3:31AM (12/18/2007)
dubai does not have a sultan
Noah 5:31PM (12/20/2007)
I am an idiot. Brunei.
3seriesisking 1:05PM (12/17/2007)
Awesome. I can finally be like James Bond for real. lol.
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Ian 1:56PM (12/17/2007)
Looks like the Ginetta G4
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Richard 2:07PM (12/17/2007)
The Elise is appropriate as Roger Moore's 007 Lotus Elite could do the same thing.
No top needed. If you know the Specific Gravity of the water, you can create an airbubble inside the cockpit that will remain stable.
(Oh! Wait! It's Christmas, not April Fools)
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Jeff Banks 3:28PM (12/17/2007)
Where do these guys get all the money they use to make all these terrible concepts? Anybody remember the Bedouin? It was literally a Porsche 911 with a tent-camper-shell thing on the back.
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Philthy 8:11PM (12/17/2007)
Thank god somebody out there still has pie-in-the-sky ideas and the money and cajones to turn them into reality.
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