Gibbs Aquada

The Gibbs Aquada is a high-speed amphibian unveiled by Gibbs Technologies in 2003. It is the vehicle that broke the central compromise of the type: every amphibious car before it displaced water rather than planing over it, and so was limited to around 10 km/h afloat. The Aquada reached roughly 48 km/h.

Design

The key is wheel retraction. On entering water the wheels fold into the body within about five seconds, leaving a clean planing hull and a jet drive fed by the transverse Rover V6. Seating is three-abreast with a central driving position, partly for balance and partly because conventional doors were impossible — the Aquada has no doors at all, and occupants climb in over the sides.

Fate

In June 2004 Richard Branson crossed the English Channel in one in 1 hour 40 minutes, taking the record by a wide margin. Despite the publicity, the Aquada never reached volume production: the Rover V6 went out of supply with MG Rover's collapse, and type approval in two regulatory domains at once proved a heavier obstacle than the engineering. Gibbs redirected the technology into the Quadski and Humdinga.

Note: the weight and width figures here came from press material of varying reliability and should be checked against a primary source.