Gibbs Humdinga

The Gibbs Humdinga is a full-time four-wheel-drive High Speed Amphibian (HSA) concept vehicle from Gibbs Technologies of Nuneaton, England. It was unveiled at The Sunday Times Motor Show Live in May 2004 as the company's second vehicle, following the Aquada sports amphibian.

Design

The Humdinga uses the same patented HSA technology platform as the Aquada but, according to Gibbs, shares no components with it. At the touch of a button the wheels retract and drive switches from the wheels to a jet unit, and the vehicle gets onto the plane in under ten seconds. A 350 bhp petrol engine gave a claimed 160 km/h (100 mph) on land, 0-60 mph in 9.2 seconds and 64 km/h (40 mph) on water. The vehicle was 5.4 m long, 2.0 m wide and 1.85 m high, weighed about 2,000 kg and had independent air suspension on all wheels. It seated five with luggage and was intended to reach remote and hostile terrain.

Background

Chairman Alan Gibbs said that developing the HSA technology had taken seven years, a million man-hours and tens of millions of pounds, and presented the Humdinga as proof that it could be scaled from cars to SUVs, buses and trucks. The concept was not meant for production in this form; Gibbs said an improved production model would follow. The later Humdinga II developed the idea further.