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Amphi-Ranger

Germany · Car · built by Rheinauer Maschinen- und Armaturenbau

Amphi-Ranger
A seawater-resistant aluminium-hulled 4x4 built in small numbers, and arguably the most genuinely capable amphibious road car ever offered for sale.
Amphi-Ranger
Also known asAmphi-Ranger 2800 SR, Rheinauer Amphi-Ranger
ManufacturerRheinauer Maschinen- und Armaturenbau
CountryGermany
Built1985–1995
TypeCar
StatusProduction
UseCivilian
Propulsion
Land drive4x4
In waterPropeller
HullAluminium
EngineFord Cologne 2.8 L V6
Power115 hp
Dimensions & performance
Length4.6 m
Width1.9 m
Weight2,100 kg
Speed on land120 km/h
Speed on water12 km/h
Seats5

Specifications need checking. Some figures here were taken from the archive and have not been confirmed against a source.

The Amphi-Ranger is a German amphibious four-wheel-drive estate built in small numbers from the mid-1980s, developed from Rheinauer's earlier work and sold in a series of variants of which the 2800 SR is best known. Perhaps a hundred were completed.

Design

The distinguishing feature is the hull material: AlMg3, a seawater-resistant marine aluminium alloy, rather than the painted steel of the Amphicar. Combined with a proper 4x4 driveline and a stern propeller, this produced an amphibian genuinely usable in salt water over a long service life — the failure mode that ends most amphibious cars.

Running gear is largely Ford, with the Cologne V6 and associated transmission keeping parts supply realistic for private owners.

Standing

Where the Amphicar is the famous amphibious car, the Amphi-Ranger has a reasonable claim to being the best one, having been engineered as a serious vehicle rather than a novelty. Production was always tiny and survivors are rare and closely held.

Note: production dates and total built vary between sources; the figures here need confirming.

3 Photographs

100 photographs in the archive folder. Click any image to view it full size.

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4 Documents

  • Brochure GEMS: M.V. Amphi Ranger shallow-water hydrographic survey vehicle (data sheet) original
  • Other Official list of Belgian sea-going ships and navy fleet, no. 86, January 2004 (lists Amphi-Ranger and Amphi-Ranger 2 of Medida Hydrographic Services) original

5 Related vehicles

Voran / Hoppe & Krooss amphibian (1929) Germany · 1929 Volkswagen Schwimmwagen Type 166 Germany · 1942 Volkswagen Schwimmwagen Type 128 Germany · 1940 Volkswagen Golf amphibious prototype (1984) Germany · 1984

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