00:00 It's a car that you drive down the road. The fun part comes when you come to the water,
00:08 drive in and then off you go down the river. It's one of the best feelings you could ever
00:13 have.
00:17 Kent, in England, is home to a car that's as happy on the water as it is on the road.
00:28 I'm Kerry Cheese and this is my 1964 Amphicar. I found the vehicle in Canada on eBay. It
00:35 was up for silly money. I contacted the seller. We just got talking on the phone and he accepted
00:40 my offer. I restore military vehicles for a living. I have restored a couple of Amphicars
00:47 anyway so I had a fairly sound knowledge of what I was doing. When I received the Amphicar
00:52 it didn't really need too much work. It needed more mechanical than body work. It took me
00:57 about three to four months getting it all ready for a boat safety scheme, basically
01:01 a boat MOT for the river, and getting extra bilge pumps and making sure things were safe
01:06 and it was water tight.
01:11 Probably costs start to finish around 32,000 to 35,000 which was a reasonable price for
01:20 one of these vehicles.
01:25 Less than 4,000 Amphicars were built in West Germany in the 60s. Five feet high, 14 feet
01:30 long and weighing 2,315 pounds, this vehicle is powered by a Triumph engine.
01:37 It is an everyday car on the road. From inside you wouldn't even know you were in a boat.
01:44 It is very comfortable. It's quite easy to drive. You've got to remember everything,
01:48 just take a bit slower. You're not rushing through the gears. I have had it to 70 but
01:53 cruising 65 is usually OK. The brakes are only as good as the effort you put into them.
01:59 You're back in the 60s with their technology.
02:08 Basically it's a car that you drive down the road. The fun part comes when you come to
02:12 the water, drive in, engage the prop shaft at the back and then off you go down the river.
02:20 There's a second lock on the doors and it's just pull them up otherwise the water comes
02:25 pouring in.
02:26 I've forgotten it once. The water does come in but luckily it wasn't too fast.
02:32 There's only one thing left for it now. Let's take it in the water.
03:02 It's easy, relaxing. It's one of the best feelings you could ever have.
03:06 With a top speed of 8mph on the water it won't break any speed records, but it does turn
03:12 a few heads.
03:13 The people in boats all wave to you, they all smile, everyone takes photos. Everyone
03:19 seems to recognise that it's a car and can't believe what they're seeing.
03:22 The one thing you do have to remember is that you can't use your brake pedal on water. It
03:27 operates the lights and stops the wheels spinning in the water, but that's all it'll do.
03:32 It's great. It just makes a great day out.
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