Amphibious

The vehicle will be shipped to the NTSB to aid in their investigation.

Like flies to honey, boutique vehicle builders the world over (but mostly in California and Florida) are drawn to the challenge of building a better amphibious car. A newish entry to the segment, the WaterCar Panther, recently came to our attention via a deliberately wacky promo video making the rounds on YouTube.

We've reported on news about Gibbs Sports Amphibians here in the past; the company has spent years developing products that are equally at home on the land and in the water. In fact, in addition to the (relatively) well-known Aquada amphibious car, we've know that Gibbs has been working on this amphibious ATV Seyth Miersma

Building an amphibious car has been one of the more vexing challenges for transportation engineers over the years. Some are fast on land and slow in the water. Vice versa on others. It's hard to build a vehicle capable of handling both modes.

"When am I going to get my flying car?" It's one of the more annoying questions we get asked on a regular basis, and the answer is quite simple: Something that's designed to do two things is rarely good at doing either. Particularly when you're talking about motor vehicles.

Behold the Sealander; Germany's take on go-anywhere camper. This little vessel is small and light enough to be towed by any modestly-powered CUV and features a fully-configurable interior. Inside, there's space for a four-person table, a kitchenette and a sleeping area, and there's even space outside for a deck. Why would you want a deck on your tiny camper? Because you'll need somewhere to stand w

If you like the Morgan Three Wheeler but have the need to traverse expanses of open water on your daily commute, Gibbs Technologies has just the thing for you. According to Visor Down, Gibbs has secured patents for a new amphibious trike. Gibbs Technologies

One-off amphibious 1975 Fiat 850 - Click above for full image gallery

Amphicoach Amphibious Touring Bus - Click above for a gallery

Gibbs Technologies, makers of vehicles like the Aquada seen above, has managed to snag tax breaks from both the state of Michigan and the city of Auburn Hills to open its world headquarters near Detroit, the U.S. capitol for automakers. While we're sure that Michigan's Oakland County is happy to see Gibbs' investment in the area and the additional jobs it'll bring along with it, one must wonder just how many $85,000 aquatic vehicles the company plans to sell to sustain itself. Though it's headqu

Our colleague Dan already reported that Gibbs Technologies wants to bring its amphibious car, the Aquada, to the U.S. market within the next couple of years. Now one of the domestic auto industry's hometown papers is reporting that Gibbs is looking for a U.S. manufacturing location, and Michigan is figuring prominently in that search.

Looking a bit like an MX-5 that got tired of land-bound living and returned to the sea, the Gibbs Aquada is nearly the automotive equivalent of a dolphin. It's sleek and fast in the drink, but the little amphibious roadster can still crawl out of the soup and go prowling around on four wheels. Once on dry land, the Aquada's no slouch, either; it's capable of running 100 plus mph.

Click the image above to view pictures of EDAG's amphibious creation at work

Stories about the Hydra Spyder have been around for a year, but this is the first I've seen where the vehicle is reported to run on ethanol. This Associated Press piece closed out by saying the amphibious sports car gets 16 to 18mpg on premium gas while cruising on land. And then there's a sidenote that it will run on a