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The Quadski Amphibious vehicle to go on sale soon in the US. Video.
The Quadski - a
one-person all-terrain vehicle that doubles as a personal watercraft -
is being billed by its makers as the first high-speed, commercially
available amphibious vehicle. It's scheduled to go on sale in the U.S.
by the end of this year for around $40,000. Michigan-based Gibbs Sports
Amphibians Inc. hopes to sell the vehicle worldwide by 2014.
With
its all-terrain tires and four-cylinder, BMW-supplied engine, the
Quadski can drive up to 45 miles per hour on land. To take it into the
water, the driver presses a button. In five seconds, the four wheels
fold up and tuck into the sides. The Quadski can go a brisk 45 miles per
hour in the water before a press of the button brings the wheels out
again.
"You just drive straight into the
water, quite fast, and keep on going. It's sort of magic," the founder
of Gibbs Sports Amphibians, Alan Gibbs, told The Associated Press in a
recent interview.
History is littered with
attempts to make fast, long-lasting amphibious cars, from the campy
German Amphicar of the early 1960s to current companies that rework
sports cars by hand for $200,000 or more. But Gibbs, a former diplomat
and entrepreneur from New Zealand, says the Quadski is the first land
vehicle for sale that can go more than 10 mph in water. A lightweight,
fiberglass hull and front wheels that rise mechanically when the vehicle
hits the water are among the tricks the Quadski uses.
Gibbs,
who has made everything from bras to television sets over a long career
in New Zealand and the U.K., launched Gibbs Sports Amphibians 16 years
ago after building his own amphibious car and wondering if he could make
it on a larger scale. Since then, the company has spent $200 million,
built nine prototypes and amassed more than 300 patents.
"It seems so simple, but it's really difficult," Gibbs said.
The
Quadski isn't the Gibbs' first vehicle. That honor belongs to the
three-seat Aquada, which debuted in 2003 and goes 100 mph on land and 30
mph in the water. Virgin Group CEO Richard Branson used an Aquada in
2004 when he set an amphibious vehicle speed record crossing the English
Channel.
But the Aquada never went on sale.
First its engine supplier, Rover, went out of business. Then U.S. safety
regulators wouldn't approve it for street use because of several safety
issues. The government insisted on air bags, for example, even though
Gibbs argued that they might deploy every time the Aquada hit a large
wave.
Gibbs Sports Amphibians hopes to turn
things around with the Quadski, which has fewer safety requirements
because it's an ATV. The company's target customers are outdoor
sportsmen as well as first responders.
The Quadski will come in five
colors and will be available at power sports dealers, concentrated in
Florida, Texas, the New York to Boston corridor and the Great Lakes
region.
Ryan Brown, a salesman at Carter
Powersports in Las Vegas, has never heard of another vehicle like the
Quadski and thinks it's a great concept. But he's not sure customers
will pay $40,000 for one when a standard ATV costs between $4,400 and
$10,000.
"These are toys people don't have a
lot of extra money for right now," he said. "People are having a hard
enough time getting financed on a $5,000 motorcycle."
The
Quadski will be made at the company's Auburn Hills, Mich., factory, a
former Daewoo Group parts plant. Gibbs Chairman and CEO Neil Jenkins
said the company now has 100 employees at the plant. It plans to produce
20 Quadskis per day with 150 employees when the plant is in full
operation. The company expects to sell around 1,000 Quadskis in the
first year, but Gibbs says he won't be disappointed if the company
doesn't meet its sales targets.
"We'll respond
to how the market develops," he said. "We wouldn't be doing it without
being very confident people will love them."
Gibbs
said the company may return to the Aquada someday and try to make it
street legal for U.S. buyers. In the meantime it's planning eight
personal sports vehicles based on the Quadski, including some with more
seating and SUV-like proportions.
The company
is also preparing to introduce the Phibian, a 30-foot long, 6.5-ton
model, and the Humdinga, a 22-foot, 3.5-ton model, which are both
intended for the military and first responders, Gibbs said. The company
is looking for partners to produce those vehicles.
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