Rodedawg

The Rodedawg was an amphibious 4x4 built in China by Beijing Automobile Works (BAW) and marketed from 2005 by Rodedawg International Industries of California as a civilian recreation and rescue vehicle. The company said the design had been used by the Chinese military for some years in a reconnaissance version.

Design

The product sheet designates the vehicle BJ5032 and says it is derived from the BJ2020 (originally BJ212) utility vehicle developed for the People's Liberation Army in 1965 and the later BJ2035 SUV. It has a ladder chassis with two live axles on leaf springs, disc brakes all round and power steering. Power comes from a 2.77-litre four-cylinder turbo diesel rated at 91 hp, through a four-speed manual gearbox and a two-speed transfer box with part-time four-wheel drive. Afloat, the gearbox is put in neutral and a rear propeller is driven from a power take-off; the front wheels steer on land and in the water.

Claimed top speed was 70 mph (about 113 km/h) on the road and 6 to 8 mph (up to about 13 km/h) in the water, and it could climb a 45-degree slope without tipping. The specification sheet gives a length of 17.25 ft (5.26 m), a width of 6.2 ft (1.89 m), a payload of five people plus luggage, and economy of 25 mpg. Three versions were offered: the RUV utility vehicle, the RUT utility truck and the RST soft top. Because they were hand-built, interiors could be specified to order, including a sunroof and air conditioning.

Marketing

Rodedawg International, quoted on the pink sheets, planned to sell the vehicle at about $49,500 through stands in shopping malls and airports across the Americas. It targeted police, fire and disaster-relief agencies, signed distributors such as Nicattler in Nicaragua, and hired the rapper and actor Ice-T as spokesman in 2006. US buyers could only reserve a delivery position with a non-refundable deposit, pending North American certification that had no fixed date. In 2006 an American reader wrote to the archive doubting that the vehicle could meet US safety and emissions rules, and suggesting it might be sold as an off-road-only vehicle.

The folder also includes a later eBay listing of a home-built amphibious 4x4 of similar concept. It was finished in 2010, used a donor 2.7-litre Isuzu diesel, seated five and was registered in Florida as both a car and a boat.