Attention all shipping…
by Simon Handby in Your car on 15.02.08
There’s been a lot in the news lately about the oceans. A map published yesterday in Science showed that human activity had left its mark on almost every square kilometre of the seven seas, while recent figures show that the ships that sail upon them produce far higher emissions than was thought.
Probably the last thing the oceans need, then, is the sort of traffic seen on our roads – even if it does run on biofuel – but amphibious cars have also been in the news.
Unless you’ve actually been at sea for the last few months, you’ve probably already seen Top Gear’s attempt to navigate the Channel in ‘home-made’ amphibious cars. Perhaps not surprisingly, only one of the three presenters stayed afloat, but a concept by Swiss carmaker Rinspeed is designed to slip beneath the waves in a more controlled fashion than Richard Hammond’s camper van.
The sQuba is touted as “the world’s first real submersible car”, and owes a debt to the Lotus Esprit used by Roger Moore to shake off bad guys in The Spy Who Loved Me. In fact, it bears more than a passing resemblance to a modern-day Lotus Elise. Electrically powered, it’s good for a milkfloat-goading 75mph on dry land, but a slightly less impressive 1.9mph underwater – fun, but we wouldn’t want to encounter any adverse currents.
Unlike 007’s Esprit, the sQuba is a convertible. Rinspeed has solved one fairly essential passenger comfort issue with the addition of two scuba tanks, but there’s no mention of what happens to any small items of luggage you forget to remove from the car’s cabin. Try explaining that one to your car insurance company.
IMAGE AND VIDEO both courtesy of Rinspeed.
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