WaterCar

WaterCar is an American company that specializes in the manufacture and development of luxury amphibious vehicles. Based in Southern California, the company was founded by Dave March in 1999 when he was inspired by the Amphicar of the 1960s. March claims he originally had no plans to market an amphibious vehicle — just merely to build one. In 2013, the company released its first commercial vehicle, the Panther, which holds a top speed of 80 mph (130 km/h) on land and 45 mph (72 km/h) on water. The company holds 27 amphibious related patents as well as the Guinness World Record for the fastest amphibious vehicle. WaterCar vehicles are designed and manufactured at Fountain Valley BodyWorks, an 85,000 square feet (7,900 m²) collision repair auto body shop in Southern California, owned and operated by March.

History

Between 1999 and 2010, WaterCar developed three amphibious prototypes. One of these prototypes was the Python. Powered by a 450 hp (340 kW) Chevrolet Corvette engine, it reached land speeds of 127 mph (204 km/h), and water speeds of 60 mph (52 kn), setting a Guinness World Record in 2010. Due to the high cost of vehicle production, the Python was never developed past the prototype phase.