Amphicar was meant to be the next wave of the future but need/want simply did not meet what car makers anticipated when rolling them out. Certainly disappointing, people generally just did not see a need for having a car that was also a boat. Problems also arose with going from land to water, and vice versa, requiring 13 points on the vehicle to be greased right after including one that required removal of the rear seat. Steering became a problem in the boat aspect of performance due to the steering being powered by the front wheels.
The Amphicar was not a particularly high-performance car, nor high performance boat, reaching a land speed of 70 mph and 7 knots in the water. Floatation of the car relied on a bilge pump to remove leakage that was inevitable to occur without proper care. With proper care and upkeep the Amphicar was designed to be able to be parked at the dock for hours on end. Designed with a Triumph 4-cylinder engine with 1147cc and a 4-speed all synchromesh manual transmission. The Amphicar faced a lot of design and market challenges, having a balance the weight and high performance of car, with that of a boat. Although, the car was very nicely built and had few design flaws, the need and want simply was not there. Unable to maintain sales and drive up demand the Amphicar soon drowned from then on used more as a novelty and show item.
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