The Gibbs Aquada is a high speed amphibious vehicle developed by Gibbs Technologies, an Alan Gibbs company. It is capable of speeds over 160 km/h (100 mph) on land and 50 km/h (30 mph / 26 knots) on water. Rather than adding wheels to a boat design, or creating a car that floats, the Aquada was designed from the ground up to perform very well in both fields, with over 60 patents covering technical innovations.
In 2004 Richard Branson, owner of the Virgin Group, used a Gibbs Aquada to set a new record for crossing the English Channel in an amphibious vehicle. Branson cut 4 hours 20 minutes off the previous record of 6 hours, which had stood since the late 1960s. The officially recorded time was 1 hour 40 minutes, 6 seconds.
For the August 2004 edition of Top Gear magazine, journalist Paul Walton drove an Aquada into and around the Monaco harbour during the Grand Prix of Monaco to watch the event for free. He found the Aquada fast and responsive both in and out of the water but was too low to see any of the race.The Aquada was developed in the UK and Detroit.
It might look like something from a James Bond movie - but this could be the future of public transport. On land, the Aquada is a sports car. But on water, it transforms into a speedboat. The three-seat combination vehicle, to be built by British-based Gibbs Technologies, can reach speeds of up to 30 mph [miles per hour] on water. The Aquada is expected to go on sale in 2009 at a price of around $85,000. The company is also hoping to develop an amphibious military vehicle, the Humdinger, and a personal water craft, the Aquaski.
