Amphicars

It's a car... it's a boat... it's BOTH?!?!  That's right!  Powered by a Triumph TR-4 engine and drivetrain, these cars caused quite a stir at local boat ramps.  According to the National Park Service, United States President Lyndon Johnson owned an Amphicar, and used it to play pranks on unsuspecting guests to his Texas ranch.  The following is an excerpt from the NPS website:

Built in Germany from 1961 to 1968, the Amphicar is the only civilian amphibious passenger automobile ever to be mass produced. A total of 3,878 vehicles were produced in four colors: Beach White, Regatta Red, Fjord Green (Aqua), and Lagoon Blue--the color of President Johnson's Amphicar:

President Johnson enjoyed surprising unsuspecting guests when taking them for a ride in his Amphicar.

The President, with Vicky McCammon in the seat alongside him and me in the back,was now driving around in a small blue car with the top down. We reached a steep incline at the edge of the lake and the car started rolling rapidly toward the water. The President shouted, "The brakes don’t work! The brakes won’t hold! We’re going in! We’re going under!" The car splashed into the water. I started to get out. Just then the car leveled and I realized we were in a Amphicar. The President laughed. As we putted along the lake then (and throughout the evening), he teased me. "Vicky, did you see what Joe did? He didn’t give a damn about his President. He just wanted to save his own skin and get out of the car." Then he’d roar.
                               --Joseph A. Califano, Jr

President Johnson was a true Cool Beach Car fan, owning not only an Amphicar, but a Fiat Jolly as well (see our Fiat Jolly page).  But even a US President's family was trumped when it came to 1960's Cool Beach Cars.  Parker Boggs family's collection also included a Fiat Jolly  (a 600, currently undergoing restoration by a new owner) as well as not just one but TWO Amphicars, below all pictured together in New England in 1967:

Parker was also kind enough to supply us with several pictures taken from 1965-1970 of the two cars in action, as well as tied up at the dock.  These photos have never before been published, and are a great illustrations of just how versitile these cars were.  Sadly, many of these cars were victims of their own environment, and most of them have been lost to rust.  The rare surviving cars have become quite valuable, one bringing $85,000 at a Barrett Jackson auction in 2007, and another "hammered down" at $124,200 in Scottsdale in 2006.

Not an everyday sight at the docks:

This was the "maiden plunge of this Amphicar in August, 1965.  You can just imagine what those three fellows at the ramp must have been thinking!

It probably was pretty similar to what these guys below must have thought!  Note the seaweed on the front bumper!

I remember the first time that I saw one as a kid in the 1960's, it was driving up a similar boat ramp with its' propellers spinning.  I never looked at a convertible the same way ever again...

Maybe not quite as much at home afloat as it was on land, the Amphicar was still quite a sight no matter where it was.  Note the required vessel registration numbers on the side of the car above.

MANY THANKS to Parker Boggs for sharing these "barn find" photos with us!

We are continuing to gather facts and photos of Amphicars.  Have some that you would like to share on this website?  Please send them to info@CoolBeachCars.com

Revised 6/27/07

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