THE white-coated water babies at Gibbs Technologies in Detroit in the United States say that nearly all vehicles, from quad bikes to 10-ton trucks, can be made doubly useful by turning them into aquatic vehicles.
Presumably, this is what Keith Moon had in mind when he drove that Lincoln Continental into a Holiday Inn pool.
Having myself driven a Chinese amphibean from the shore into deep muddy water, and a hovercraft all over the place, I remain ambivalent about amphibeans.
My admittedly limited experience is that they cost twice the price, but on water they are only half as fast as a Dusi paddler, and on land they are as sluggish in the turns as a seventies Detroit muscle car.
The techies at Gibbs are, however, all for kissing cars and turning them into frogs and — on paper at least — may yet prove me wrong. Already selling an Aquada sports car, a Quadski ATV/personal watercraft hybrid, and a four-wheel-drive Humdinga SUV concept, they have now launched their amphitrucks, a Phibian and Humdinga II high-speed — just in time for the American Society of Naval Engineers’ annual conference on amphibious concepts.
Gibbs claim that the lightweight carbon-fibre construction of their 4x4 Phibian “is capable of highway speeds when travelling on land”, thanks to its twin turbo-diesel engines. When it enters water, its wheels retract in 10 seconds and dual jet drives kick in to propel the Phibean along at 25 knots (some 48 km/h).
Three crew members and 12 gun-toting soldiers can comfortably fit inside the Phibian, or it can float a payload of 1,5 tons.
The Humdinga II is also a 4x4, but comes with a supercharged V8 petrol engine that Gibbs say goes as quick as the Phibian. Like a waterborn-bakkie, it can carry up to seven people seated, or 750 kg. Prices were not available at the launch.
