Amphicar

Today we have a guest post from Kathy, who has long been planning to tell us all about her kayaking trip in Desolation Sound a few years ago. Instead, she's telling us about the time her father was fishing in a small boat when a sporty little sedan drove past him...


This Amphicar was launched from a boat ramp at Halls Boathouse (now called Goldstream Marina) at the south end of Saanich Inlet. My Dad was out fishing in his boat when it floated by with a fishing rod out the driver window!

The Amphicar is an amphibious automobile, the first such vehicle mass-produced for sale to the public starting in 1961. The German vehicle was designed by Hanns Trippel and manufactured by the Quandt Group at Lübeck and at Berlin-Borsigwalde. Its name is a portmanteau of "amphibious" and "car". The Amphicar was designed to be marketed and sold in the USA. Compared to most boats or cars, its performance was modest, and only 4000 were produced by 1965.

Photos by Brian Peddlesden 1967 Saanich Inlet

Our friend Alison posted to Kayak Yak about an Amphicar that she saw while kayaking in Montreal in 2009. Check out her post here.