At last, a Kiwi car that runs on water

By FRAN O'SULLIVAN

New Zealand tycoon Alan Gibbs has launched an amphibious sports car, the Aquada, which he plans to put into commercial production next month.

The realisation of seven years' intensive design work in Auckland, Detroit and Britain was unveiled at a London dockyard yesterday.

Mr Gibbs will say little about the cost of one of the 200 Aquadas planned to roll off the production line at his British plant in the first year.

"It will be equivalent to a premium-priced sports car," he said. "Think of something pretty good but certainly less than a Ferrari Enzo."

In New Zealand, the Enzo costs almost $2 million.

Fifty engineers headed by a team of former Jaguar technical experts have already produced 10 test prototypes at Gibbs Technologies plant in Nuneaton, which is part of the Coventry hub of the British car industry.

The Aquada has a stainless steel and aluminium frame and a glass reinforced polyester shell.

Mr Gibbs plans to license the intellectual property to other vehicle manufacturers.

"Ultimately our aspirations are that thousands be produced ... but by licensees."

His dream is that the technology will eventually be used for four-wheel-drives, buses or even military vehicles.

But he conceded that Gibbs Technologies would not know how successful the Aquada would be until the orders were placed.

"We will find out by test."

Mr Gibbs plans to bring an Aquada home to Auckland at Christmas to show it off at Westhaven marina, where he will demonstrate how "Waiheke is effectively connected now to Auckland via a motor vehicle".

"There are seven boatramps between Westhaven and St Heliers. Whip down any of them and go out to Waiheke at 35 mph towing a water skier, hop out at the other end. Drive around the vineyards. Have lunch. If it cuts up rough in the afternoon and you have to go home slowly, you can get on the car ferry and come home that way."

The Aquada - which Mr Gibbs is promoting as a Kiwi world first - is based on a technological breakthrough by Manukau Heads engineer Terry Roycroft in the early 1990s.

Mr Gibbs had been trying to build his own amphibian to get across the mudflats at his Kaukapakapa farm when he heard about a wheel retraction mechanism Mr Roycroft had developed for his own Sealander which reduced drag.

He bought the intellectual property and the two men set off for Detroit to talk 21st century sports car design with major manufacturers before heading for Britain.



The Aquada:

The Aquada is powered by a Rover 2.5-litre V6-K series engine. It has a top speed of 169km/h on land and 48km/h on water - fast enough to tow a skier.

As it takes to water the wheels retract and a jet unit propels the machine. The process is reversed when it reaches land.

It has a range of 480km on land and about 80km on water.