History Amphicar H20 ..Old vs. New ....

We had a couple around my old home town. I remember a green one very well and there was also a red one. The green one saw a lot of use in the water. The red oe I saw on the road alot. That was in Northport, NY.

 

Yup, actually I have 3 of them there and more at my house. You have a good eye! That is our body shop. W're working on a 57 Fairlane (Black), 70 'Cuda ragtop, '37 Ford business coupe and the Amphicars.

I am alway in the market no matter how bad they are. You should see the one I hauled from Oklahoma. It's a "Green" car... the grass was about 12" tall that was growing INSIDE. It burned in 1971, full of bullet holes and rust. She's a beauty!

The yellow car above was a Friend of mine, (Dave "The Wave") car before he sold it not long ago. I have ridden in that car a hundred times over the years in several different states. It was formerly known as "The Brown Wonder II" Makes perfect sense! It was the 2nd car he did, his 1st was really unrestorable, but Dave did it anyway. It became the Brown Wonder for the 2 tone rust/primer color scheme and this was #2.

They only do 6 knots (7MPH) on the water, so it's always trollin' If you bring a cooler, I guess you forget the beer and have a live well. But why?

 

Awesome I love these cars!!

 

well, i've seen the cuda shortly after it got there and,well, you're not afraid of a project are ya?
blaine's doing a nice job on the cuda and the 57...well...it's damn nice!
how's it drive with the rack?
or maybe youhaven't driven it yet..
hurry up and get well and take me for a ,uh, "float"

 

TOM - Have we met? You may recognize me by my wheelchair or my white '59 Skyliner too. You know of or have met Blaine. The 'Cuda is far away from paint yet, as more fab is needed. She was more holes than car. I referred to her as "The Swiss 'Cuda." The 57 is gorgeous with that glass smoooooooth black and the red leather. It started as a driver.
Blaine just painted the '37 today. Blain complaines, but still shows little fear as long as the checks clear. I would be happy to take you for a swim next summer once I'm back in one piece again and able to turn wrenches without percocets.

 

i don't think we've met yet but as far as the 37 ferd coupe that blaine's painting, i've got the chassis in the shop.
he'll prolly see it again on tueday
THAT car was kind of a shame to rod as it was a running, driving car... but one of the guys on here bought the drivetrain,axles,etc and i guess is doing something with 'em so it's not like they went to scrap.

 

Hey

I worked for Gibbs technologies a few years back , what a blast , i did mostly testing , so spent most of my time in a car or speed boat on a private lake.Tough gig

Gibbs claimed these cars were insinkable..we tested this claim at the lake on one occasion , and it would 'nt go down.
I also crashed one nose first into the rock face that skirted part of the lake , and thankfully that one did 'nt go down either.

If you check out that site , take a look at 'Humdinga' , this was a SBC powerded .....truck , unbelievable to see that thing blasting across the top of the water like a speedboat.

They are a fantastic vehicle , the wheel retraction allowing them to plane(sp?) like a real s/boat , real James Bond stuff

Spock

 

I know who ya are now. I was and still am really pissed about rodding the '37 too. It was a real clean survivor. Not adam thing wrong with it. Very driveable and presentable as is. I tried to convince Jane to buy another to rod and keep this one as is. This has always been something that truely pisses me off. It was untouched for 70 years and although it will be beautiful, it's real beauty was in it's originality. If we didn't do it, it would have been done by somebody anyway. I am glad the drive train is in good hands.

Did you weld all the new bracketry to the from? I didn't feel too warm and fuzzy about it just being all bolt-on.

At some point after I am healty and out of the hospital (mid Jan sometime) we'll hook up.

 

I've always been partial to the original German Amphicar...

 

naw, the bolts didn't bother me, there's a million of 'em out there bolted in from the factory.

but if i would have known it was gonna end up welded, i'da put in a heidts....
would have saved her some bucks...

as far as being pissed off about rodding it.
that don't bother me, ain't my car but i WOULD have left it alone if it was...
well, the flatty would have been a bit more powerful
and a 5 speed

 

I had one and believe me they are a PAIN! You can't turn a normal corner before the front tires hit and you bust your knuckles on the dash going to 2nd gear. They were sold by Datsun dealers in Ohio and on live TV they drove one into the Miami River (Dayton, Oh.) but had forgot to plug the hole! The salesman didn't know how to swim. He drove it around a while before he noticed his butt getting wet. IT SANK!! He had to be rescued on live TV! What a HOOT!! Getting out of a lake is something else due to rear wheel drive and slippery rocks or mud. A good movie "Samatha Smiles" has a scene in it with one throwing a "Rooster-Tail" (will do, if you feel comfortable with a 4-6" draft!).
They are great to take to shows and sit in a lawn chair near the back and mention to all the ladies in their tank-tops and shorts if they have seen the propellers? Naturally they bend over to look while you check them out!
Tom (DOM/dirty old man)

 

Another P.S. One sold at BJs (Barrett-Jackson) 2 years ago for $115,000.00!!!
Tom

 

If your knuckles hit the dash then your shifter was not adjusted properly. If your wheels hit in a turn, you had incorrect tires and they have a 21" freeboard (draft is what is below waterline) and NOT 6". Six inches would be up to the door handles. I have had mine in 5' waves and that is a hoot! They are capable of climbing a 45 deg incline in 1st gear. Slippery anything is going to be a problem for a Hummer. So all the problems you listed that made it a "pain" were operator errors like forgetting the bilge plug. Prop location is a plus at shows, thats for sure!

 

I wouldn't mind owning one. I didnt realize they were that rare. There was a guy down the street with a Jeep repair shop that had two! And there was an aqua one that I remember parked next to my friends house growing up. I always thought it was cool.