Amphibians always seem to be such a compromise, designed for two environments but performing well in neither, ... that is, until now. Gibbs Technologies announced yesterday they are working with Lockheed Martin to produce military amphibians based on their prior work developing consumer based amphibious vehicles.
The Aquada, a 3 seat amphibious sports car, the Quadski, an amphibious ATV/personal watercraft and their Humdinga, a 5 person all wheel drive all terrain amphibious off road vehicle, all work well whether in the water or out. Transition time from land or water is about 5 seconds! Performance on land is more than adequate with speeds of 100 mph but in the water they can also reach speeds of 40 to 50 mph depending on the vehicle.
All of this is made possible by what Gibbs calls HSA (High Speed Amphibian) Technology. They have developed everything necessary from the drive system for water propulsion to the retractable wheels. The technology can be licensed to other manufacturers who wish to design their own vehicles using Gibbs technology. Gibbs has built pilot vehicles to prove the technology and tests to this point seem very impressive.
Link: Gibbs Technologies via HorsePowerSports
{ 1 comment }
The ‘Humdinga’ would be ideal combined with a blue-water cruising sailing catamaran, something like a Lagoon or Catana. Just think, you can tow it behind while passage-making, drop anchor, hop in your ‘Humdinghy’ and go ashore almost anywhere and drive almost anywhere ashore. Solves the dinghy and shore transportation no matter where you travel to. No more wasted time/money trying to rent a car once you arrive at land.