Frank Hagan Posted August 17, 2014 Report Share Posted August 17, 2014 The price is more shocking than the video but it looks like many of the components are off the shelf or available (at a price). Which of you guys is going to build the first home built version? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken_Potts Posted August 20, 2014 Report Share Posted August 20, 2014 My Grandpa already did it - Well, it isn't really a homebuilt but it can carry more bikinis. And he personally drove it through 10 ft surf I used to own a little Datsun 1200 and I really wanted to make a fold-out pontoon trailer that I could drive onto and use the car's engine to drive a prop. I sketched up some concepts showing the drive system and a way to connect the rudder to the car steering. All these years later I still think it would have worked if I'd had the money and skills (and it wouldn't have been that much money). Maybe I should make one for my Ford Courier - No way I'll get the clearance to do it for my Wife's Alfa (It doesn't have a trailer hitch anyway). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Hagan Posted August 21, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 I was thinking the same thing ... if a car had a PTO like a tractor, you could create a pontoon boat that you connect to the prop using the PTO, and use the front wheels to direct the rudder. Mechanically it doesn't sound that tough to do .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chick Ludwig Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 Don't know where you guys have been. The Amphicar was in production years ago... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Hagan Posted August 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2014 We have one that goes into a local lake every now and then ... very slow boat, and not much faster as a car! But at least it is usable as a car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken_Potts Posted August 22, 2014 Report Share Posted August 22, 2014 "Don't know where you guys have been. The Amphicar was in production years ago..." But Chick, the Amphicar was from the 60's - The Lark 5 was from the 50's. And now that I think of it, Half-safe is from the 40's. http://members.iinet.net.au/~daveb/halfsafe/halfsafe.html I don't know why I've never dropped by the school to see Half-Safe - It's less than 20 miles from my house. I've stumbled across an Amphicar a few times on the road but never on the water yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chick Ludwig Posted August 23, 2014 Report Share Posted August 23, 2014 Well, I was talking about civilian vehicles. Cars. There were several amphibious vehicles during WWII. The "Duck" was another one of these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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