I too, have taken a "cruise" in an Amphicar. In 1962 I was working as an
apprentice Landscape Architect for a firm that was installing public
works landscaping for Gulf American Land Corp., developers of Cape Coral,
near Ft Myers Fla., on the Caloosahatchee river. One of the novelties
used to impress land buyers (lots $50 down, $20/month) was an Amphicar,
in which the salesmen would give buyers a ride, gliding down a ramp
(built for boat launching) into the river. I took several rides with
salesman friends....a rather eerie experience, since the vehicle did not
inspire confidence either as a car or a boat. As I recall, the gimick
came to an end one day when an overweight lady, alarmed at the serious
list, decided to get out and opened the passenger door before they were
completely ashore. The Amphicar sank, as did I suppose, the land sale.
Phil Bacon 72 TR6
On Wed, 26 Apr 2000 16:07:20 -0400 David Massey
<105671.471@compuserve.com> writes:
>
>Message text written by INTERNET:Gbouff1@aol.com
>>The post about the amphi car reminded me of my only experience with
>the
>vehicle. Over 30 years ago I went to my senior class picnic at the
>Frank
>Davis resort in Moodus, Connecticut. (for the benefit of our older CT
>listers, who may remember). They were giving rides on the river or
>lake in
>
>the resort's amphi car. I have always been around boats so I just had
>to
>go
>for a spin. While a very novel idea, it is really designed for
>fording
>small
>bodis of water. It is definitely not a rough water boat, as it is very
>
>unstable and has limited manuverability. But at 18 years old it was
>still
>a
>lot of fun!
>
>Gary Bouffard
><
>
>What I had always heard about the Amphicar is that it was a lousy
>boat,
>too. I guess that was right. ;-)
>
>Still a fun concept.
>
>Dave
http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.
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