The “sports car that swims” was the slogan used in the 60’s toadvertise the Amphicar and it definitely could live up to that reputation. The Amphicar is the only civilian amphibious vehicle ever commercially produced. It was manufactured from 1961 to 1968 in Berlin, Germany by the Amphicar Corporation. Only 3,787 Amphicars were ever produced.

The original idea for the Amphicar came from a German inventor by the name of Hans Trippel. In 1929 Trippel built his first amphibious vehicle which did not prove to be efficient on land or water and fell through. In 1932 and 1933 Trippel designed two more amphibious cars for the German war effort. In 1934 the German General Staff was impressed and finally gave Trippel a contract to build a military amphibian. His prototype sank and everyone lost interest in his ideas to build amphibious vehicles. Hans Trippel did not give up and in 1934 he bought a proper factory in Saar. For the next 10 years Trippel experimented with several different models and built over 1000 amphibians. In 1942, with the help of Porsche and Volkswagen, Trippel improved on one of his earlier models and was finally able to impress the German military enough for them to start using them in full force.

After the war, Trippel made himself known again at the 1959 Geneva motor show with his new amphibian, the Eurocar. The Eurocar was a work in progress and took on a new name the next year; the Amphicar. Trippel’s first Amphicar cost five million dollars to design throughout the 1950’s and rolled off the production line in 1961. The funding for Trippel’s Amphicar Corporation came mainly from Quandt Industries. Quandt was able to obtain the Amphicar’s Triumph-Herald engine from Great Britain at a reasonable price. The engine was a four cylinder, 43 horse-power, water-cooled engine. Trippel’s original amphibious vehicles used air-cooled engines which weren’t a problem in Germany, but United States regulations required that his new Amphicar have a water-cooled engine which was one reason the Triumph-Herald was used. The transmission for the Amphicar was developed by Hermes and is based on the Porsche 356 transmission. The transmission had a unique water drive to operate the propellers and wheels at different times or simultaneously. The Amphicar was able to do about 70 M.P.H. on land and 7 M.P.H. in the water and was thus dubbed the Model 770 by some car enthusiasts. The car’s original price was about $2,800 to $3,400 depending on which year it was purchased. It was cheaper to buy the Amphicar in later years than when the car was first produced. From 1961 to 1967, 90% of Amphicar sales were from the United States.

In 1968 the Amphicar Corporation went out of business because new regulations in the United States prevented the Amphicar from being imported any longer. All of the remaining Amphicar parts were purchased by Hugh Gordon in California who runs Gordon Imports which is one of the only places where original Amphicar replacement parts can be found. Today an estimated 500 Amphicars are still in working condition with only 7 of those in England and 80 in the rest of Europe.

Today the Amphicar is still one of the most unique and exciting cars and collectors all over the country agree that the Amphicar is good for one thing: fun! The International Amphicar Owners Club (IAOC) is the largest club of Amphicar enthusiasts and holds events called swim-ins every year for its members. In Celina, Ohio each year Amphicar collectors and enthusiasts gather for the biggest annual swim-in. An Amphicar parade is held and the whole town gathers to watch the only parade that could ever be on land and sea without trailers. There are workshops about restoring Amphicars and vendors with original and refurbished parts.

Such a unique car as the Amphicar provides for some very interesting facts and trivia. The Amphicar has the highest rear fins of any car. It handles extremely well in snow because of rear wheel drive and a 10 inch ground clearance. Three Amphicars crossed the English Channel and one crossed during a fierce storm. An Amphicar was once featured in a Pepsi commercial plunging into a lake at 50 M.P.H. and in a Columbia Footwear ad for shoes that “thought they were a boat." Many famous people own or have owned an Amphicar including Dan Akyroid, President Johnson and Madonna. The Amphicar has appeared in several movies, the most recent of which was Pontiac Moon in 1994. In the 60’s a few specialized Amphicars were produced for the German government to be used as rescue vehicles and for police.

The Amphicar is definitely one of the most unique cars ever manufactured. Though it did not take off very well in the 60’s, the Amphicar was interesting enough for enthusiasts to keep it alive until today and is much more popular today than ever before. It may not be a very well known car but that is part of what makes it interesting. When people see it for the first time they are just struck with amazement and excitement. The Amphicar truly is the only car that is, as a vintage ad described, a sensation on land and water.