Colani Sea-Ranger

The Colani Sea-Ranger was an amphibious expedition and leisure vehicle styled by the designer Luigi Colani and built in Germany by Thyssen. It was unveiled in December 1978, and the archive owner's note dates it to 1979. According to the note it used Unimog parts.

Design

The Sea-Ranger was enormous: about 6.5 m (21.5 ft) long and around 2.1 m (7 ft) tall, riding on 20-inch wheels with very large, low-pressure tyres. A sturdy ladder chassis was mounted so that it could flex without twisting the body, which was made of an aluminium-magnesium alloy. A 5.7-litre Mercedes-Benz six-cylinder diesel of 110 bhp drove all four wheels through a six-speed gearbox with two reverse gears, and front-wheel drive could be engaged or disengaged on the move.

In the water it was driven by a recessed propeller, with a Castoldi water jet offered as an option. Unladen it weighed almost four tons and could carry a further two and a half. Top speed was just over 97 km/h (60 mph) on land and about 16 km/h (10 mph) afloat, and it could climb steep gradients.

Equipment

The prototype was lavishly equipped. The roof served as a deck, with swivelling seats at the rear for fishing, and inside there was an air-conditioned four-berth cabin. It carried extensive radio equipment and a 500-litre fresh-water tank, and large spotlights rose from the roof.

History

Thyssen Umformtechnik, a large German metal-processing firm, bought the prototype and the manufacturing rights. A magazine of the time reported that a limited production run in Germany was planned, but the prototype remained the only example.