Paul Revere might have a problem if he were called upon to go all lantern-in-the-steeple and warn of the approach of this new vehicle from England’s Gibbs Technologies. One if by land? Two if by sea? Neither’s quite right in this case—maybe three lanterns would be best.
That third option would be a must if any would-be attacker used the Gibbs Aquada, a revamped vehicle that runs up to 100 mph on highways and 30-plus mph on the water. PM featured this land-sea hybrid in a cover story three years ago, but when we spied the Aquada last weekend in Michigan (see photos below at right), the folks from Gibbs gave us some happy news in advance of their press conference today: Already available overseas for $200,000-plus, the new Aquada will head to production late next year and finally go on sale in the U.S. in the first half of 2009 for under $100,000. And it’ll meet standard safety and emissions regulations in this country.
We jumped over the side of the door-less Aquada and hopped in for a quick and dirty (and quiet) spin on land, but the real magic happens when you pull this puppy past the shore and press the speedboat button: In less than 13 seconds, the wheels retract and power switches from a four-cylinder, 175-hp V6 engine to water-jet propulsion—like a robot walking on water.
But buyer beware: Even if Aquada is water skier-friendly, you’ll probably need a boat license. That’s what got the prototype model pulled over by an Oakland County sheriff after Gibbs did five demo runs here on Pine Lake in southern Michigan—thus legally ending our shot at a water test drive. Other than that, though, the company says this boatmobile is unsinkable, even if it’s swamped in. —Jim Dunne
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