By Land Or By Sea

There are times when a great idea comes about out of necessity. Other times you have to wonder exactly what someone was thinking when they created something new. In the early 1960s German Hanns Tripple felt there was a need in the United States for a vehicle that could navigate both the streets as well as waterways. He designed what would be called the Amphicar Model 770.

In 1961 the Quandt Group began manufacturing. They anticipated selling about 20,000 Amphicars each year but the reality fell far short of that. In fact, fewer than 4000 of these unique amphibious cars were ever sold before production officially ended in 1965.

The car utilized the British made Triumph Herald 1200 engine, a 69 cubic inch (1147 cc) four that was used to power the land roving Triumph Spitfire. Pushing all of 43 horse power, the Model 770 was rated at seven knots on the water and, you guessed it, 70 mph on land. Later versions increased displacement to 1296 cc and eventually up to 1493 cc which produced 76 horse power. Still, even with these larger power plants the Amphicar was not very efficient as either a car or a boat.

Even though Amphicars navigated the Yukon River and crossed the English Channel, American sales were almost non-existent. After the first year no new parts were manufactured with cars being assembled from the stockpile of materials that had been made when the lofty sales expectations have originally be made. In 1964 sales opened up to the UK market but by 1965 the company ceased production. Still there were finished cars still being sold as new in 1968.

Despite it never living up to expectations the Amphicar was still one of, if not the, most successful amphibious cars ever manufactured. Too bad it was an idea that really had no need to address.