Défi Beach Buggy amphibious kit

The Défi Beach Buggy is a kit car built on the Volkswagen Beetle floorpan and powered by Volkswagen or Porsche engines. It was sold in three stages, the most complete of which made the buggy amphibious.

Kits

Kit 1 ("Amphibious ONY") comprised the polyester body with front bonnet, a rear engine cover, a dashboard, a composite windscreen frame and a polycarbonate screen. It needed about 65 hours to assemble. Kit 2 ("Amphibious TWY") added bucket seats, trim, a wiring harness and side skirts. Kit 3 ("Amphibious TTT") was the amphibious version. On top of Kit 2 it added a protective floor pan, a sandwich bottom with retractable rear fittings, a specific rear cover and engine block, and four special rubber bellows. The maker warned that the amphibious version needed professional help to assemble. Prices in euros ranged from about 5,000 for Kit 1 to 10,400 for Kit 3.

The buggy was designed to be assembled with ordinary hand tools, and parts and chassis were available from the maker or from Volkswagen "Cox" specialists. The finished car is 3.64 m long, 1.90 m wide and 1.05 m high. Options included a roll cage, chrome wheels with wide tyres, a 75-litre fuel tank and 42-litre water tank, and a set of composite "turbine units". There was also a luminescent resin body intended for night-time advertising.