00:00It's a car that you drive down the road. The fun part comes when you come to the water,
00:07drive in and then off you go down the river. It's one of the best feelings you could ever have.
00:22Kent in England is home to a car that's as happy on the water as it is on the road.
00:28I'm Kerry Cheese and this is my 1964 Amphicar. I found the vehicle in Canada on eBay.
00:35It was up for silly money. I contacted the seller. We just got talking on the phone
00:39and he accepted my offer. I restore military vehicles for a living. I have restored a couple
00:46of Amphicars anyway so I had a fairly sound knowledge of what I was doing. When I received
00:51the Amphicar it didn't really need too much work. It needed more mechanical than body work. It took
00:57me about three to four months getting it all ready for a boat safety scheme. Basically a boat
01:02MOT for the river and getting extra bilge pumps and making sure things were safe and it was watertight.
01:11Probably cost start to finish around £32,000 to £35,000 which was a reasonable price for one of these vehicles.
01:21Less than 4,000 Amphicars were built in West Germany in the 60s. Five feet high, 14 feet long and weighing
01:31£2,315 pounds. This vehicle is powered by a Triumph engine. It is an everyday car on the road.
01:40From inside you wouldn't even know you were in a boat. It is very comfortable. It's quite easy to drive.
01:47You've got to remember everything just take a bit slower. You're not rushing through the gears.
01:52I have had it to 70 but cruising 65 is usually okay. The brakes are only as good as the effort
01:58you put into them. You're back in the 60s with their technology.
02:08Basically it's a car that you drive down the road. The fun part comes when you come to the water,
02:13drive in, engage the prop shaft at the back and then off you go down the river.
02:20There's a second lock on the doors and it's just pull them up otherwise the water comes pouring in.
02:27I've forgotten it once. The water does come in but luckily it wasn't too fast.
02:31There's only one thing left for it now. Let's take it in the water.
02:46It's easy, relaxing. It's one of the best feelings you could ever have.
03:06With a top speed of eight miles per hour on the water, it won't break any speed records
03:12but it does turn a few heads. The people in boats all wave to you. They're all smile.
03:17Everyone takes photos. Everyone seems to recognise that it's a car and can't believe what they're
03:22seeing. The one thing you do have to remember is that you can't use your brake pedal on water.
03:27It operates the lights and stops the wheels spinning in the water but that's all it'll do.
03:31It's great. It just makes a great day out.
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