07 Mar 08
We love the latest video footage of the Rinspeed sQuba - a diving car - but it's just one of many clever amphibious vehicles in automotive history. Here are 10 of our favourites.
Alvis Stalwart
Alvis Stalwart
The Stalwart 6x6 - related to the Saracen, Salamander and Saladin tanks and armoured vehicles - was developed by Alvis as a heavy-duty load-carrier for transporting ammunition, fuel and other cargo to Royal Artillery troops in the field.
Created in 1968, it was designed with the crossing of wide, fast-flowing rivers like the Rhine, Oder and Meuse in mind, as well as all-terrain ability on land. It was propelled on water by vectored jet thrusts.
Capable of carrying five tonnes, the Stalwart has seats for only a driver and two passengers, but it could be fitted out with cranes and all sorts of other equipment. It was phased out in the 80s as the British Army moved towards running diesel vehicles only - fuelling the thirsty 6.5-litre Rolls-Royce petrol engines was an expensive task - but there was no direct replacement for the Stalwart.
Amphicar
Amphicar
The rear-engined Amphicar was built in Germany 1962-68, first in Karlsruhe and later in Berlin, by a company called Deutsch Wagon und Maschinenfabrik.
Bizarrely, the engine the company chose to fit was the 1,147cc Triumph Herald unit, which struggled to propel the car's considerable weight, although it was said to be capable of 65mph on land. Apparently, one ambitious suburban sea-captain fitted his Amphicar with the Triumph Vitesse six-cylinder& but sank.
A rather unattractive, high-riding convertible with tail fins, the Amphicar was unwieldy to drive, with slow-witted steering and its slow performance, but it wasn't much of a boat, either - top speed was just 7.5 knots. Long-term, it also showed a worrisome tendency to rust and leak.
However, with just 2,500 built, today the Amphicar is a collectable curiosity with an active and enthusiastic owners' club - and it is thought to be the most successful civilian amphibian.
