Wheeler Mobile Beaver

The Beaver was a small four-wheeled amphibious all-terrain vehicle made by Wheeler Mobile Ltd of Keswick, Ontario, some time after the bankrupt Pengor company's Penguin was sold off at auction in 1965. One surviving example was bought as a demonstrator in 1967, and the Beaver was still listed in an ATV buyer's guide in Field and Stream in August 1970. Production numbers and dates are unknown.

Design

The Beaver closely resembles the Penguin from behind, but its fibreglass body is slightly longer and wider, and the body moulding was revised between 1967 and 1968. Like the Penguin it uses a Villiers two-stroke engine, offered in 197 cc or 173 cc form, with chain drive to the rear axle. Its drive chain layout, brakes and rear axle are almost identical, and many parts interchange, but the steering and front axle are quite different. It kept the Penguin's swinging steering yoke and throttle lever. Instead of a reverse gear, the engine is restarted to run backwards, the ignition key being turned right for forward and left for reverse. Bodies were red, and reportedly also green metalflake. Accessories included a windscreen, cover, seat cushions, radio and an amphibious trailer.

The Penguin

The Beaver's forerunner, the Penguin, was a two-seat, two-wheel-drive amphibian first built in Toronto in 1962 and produced by Pengor Ltd in Ottawa and later Carleton Place, Ontario, until the company went bankrupt in November 1964; about 800 were made. It used a 197 cc Villiers engine and four-speed gearbox, was propelled in the water by its rear wheels at about 4 mph (6 km/h), and weighed about 420 lb (190 kg). A Penguin and trailer were presented to the Queen and Prince Philip during the 1964 royal visit to Canada.