Friday 17th September 1965
Four Englishmen arrived at the Frankfurt Motor Show in Germany after crossing the English Channel in a German-made Amphicar, the world’s only mass-produced amphibious passenger car. Despite choppy waters, stiff winds, and one flooded engine, the two vehicles made it across the water in about 7 hours. Designed by German engineer Hans Trippel, the Amphicar’s design was derived from the Schwimmwagen, the amphibious all-wheel-drive vehicle that Volkswagen had produced for the German armed forces during the Second World War. The Quandt Group produced the Amphicars for seven years, from 1961 to1968, building about 3,900 of the little swimming convertibles.