5 Amphibious Vehicles You Can Buy To Blur the Lines Between Car and Boat
Take a look at any popular lake or stretch of coastline. On a fair weather day, the water is full of boaters, good-timers, and riders on jet skis. Still, how about a boat you can drive to the water and splash down without a trailer? Well, while most boaters and skiers would rather trailer their vessels to the water, any of these five amphibious vehicles will blur the line between traditional boat and road-going car.
Whether you want a classic Amphicar or an ATV doing its best jet ski impression, these amphibious vehicles will go from land to water without a trailer
I don’t have to tell you. Amphibious vehicles never really took off. Boaters who want to incorporate regular boating in their lives buy trucks, trailers, and boats. Moreover, fans who want a quick, temporary boating experience can rent a center console boat, pontoon, or jet ski and launch right from a dock. However, if you want to feel like a Hollywood superspy by driving your car right into the water like a boat, you still have options.
- Gibbs Quadski
- Prodrive Watercar
- Sherp ATV
- Amphicar
- DUKW
If you’ve seen Richard Hammond take an Alfa Romeo 4C up against Jeremy Clarkson on a not-quite-right-looking quad around Lake Como, you know what we’re talking about. It’s the Quadski: half ATV, half jet ski. Better yet, Gibbs says the Quadski will transform from a rear-wheel drive (RWD) land vehicle to a jet-driven watercraft in just five seconds. For the record, that’s quicker than Roger Moore’s Lotus and its transition into a submarine in “The Spy Who Loved Me.” And that’s fiction.
If a single-passenger vehicle is too small for your amphibious car needs, the Prodrive Watercar could be the ticket. If you think it looks like a Jeep, you’re not wrong. But that’s where the similarities end; the Prodrive Watercar will transform from a Jeep-esque runabout to a car boat with a max speed of 43 mpg on the water. However, the company isn’t producing them today, so the used market is the only way.
Ok, you won’t win any lake races in your SHERP ATV. However, you also won’t find any vehicle quite like the balloon-tire ATV. It will crawl from land to swamp and float on the water’s surface without transforming. However, you’ll have to pay to play; the 55-horsepower SHERP N-1200 starts at $164,999.
It’s the original mass-production car boat, the Amphicar. It looks like something Mickey Mouse would drive on an adventure, but car buyers bought nearly 4,000 of them before production ended in 1968, per The International Amphicar Owners Club. Better yet, some used models will pop up for sale on the used market from time to time. Just don’t expect to keep up with a Quadski.
If you want something a bit more rustic than an Amphicar or a Quadski, you can buy a surplus DUKW. Colloquially referred to as “Ducks,” these six-wheeled amphibious vehicles served extensively with the U.S. Army and Marines, and the Royal Marines still use some for training. However, you can get one on the surplus market for around $40,000, per Classic.com.
