Amphicar 770

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Amphicar
Amphicar as a museum exhibit
Amphicar as a museum exhibit
770
Production period: 1961-1968
Class : Middle class
Body versions : Cabriolet
Engines: Otto engine :
1.2 liters (28 kW)
Length: 4330 mm
Width: 1565 mm
Height: 1520 mm
Wheelbase : 2100 mm
Empty weight : 1050 kg
logo

The Amphicar 770 is a floatable car from the Amphicar brand . The designer of the amphibious vehicle was Hans Trippel . The Amphicar 770 is the first civil amphibious vehicle.

description

The car has a self-supporting all-steel body reinforced with tubular side members, the lower part of which is formed as a closed tub made of 1.5 mm thick sheet metal. All parts are firmly welded together. The doors are also locked from the inside with a second handle for travel in the water and thus pressed more tightly against the door seals to prevent water from entering. In the engine compartment, the vehicle has a bilge pump as standard to pump out water that can enter the axle shafts, for example. It is also equipped with a position light (red / green) and a horn on the front cover. When driving in water, a white position light on a short mast had to be attached to the trunk lid. The spare wheel is in the front under the trunk, and the fuel tank is above the front axle. The convertible offers space for four people.

All wheels are individually suspended, have coil springs with hydraulic shock absorbers and hydraulically operated drum brakes (mechanical handbrake). The rear wheels are guided on drawn longitudinal swing arms, at the front the drawn swing arm is combined with a trailing arm in the manner of a crank arm axle , which keeps the caster constant.

The front wheels are used to steer both on the road and in the water.

The four-cylinder in - line engine comes from the British Triumph Herald 1200. The four-stroke engine develops 38 hp (28 kW) from just under 1.2 liters of displacement. The power is transmitted via a single-plate dry clutch to the transmission, which is located in front of the engine in the direction of travel. It is a fully synchronized four-speed special gearbox from Hermes in Wuppertal with an additional 3: 1 ratio reversing gear with only one forward and reverse gear (and idling) for driving two plastic propellers . In the water, the driver shifts the road transmission to neutral and activates the propellers or ship's propellers with a second shift lever.

The maintenance effort for the Amphicar was great; because after every trip on the water 13 grease nipples had to be supplied with grease. To do this, the vehicle had to be jacked up and the rear seat bench removed.

On the road, the Amphicar reached a top speed of approx. 120 km / h, in the water up to 6.5  knots or 12 km / h. The Amphicar was surprisingly seaworthy, even during a test drive in wind force  8 (62–74 km / h) in the Baltic Sea it could not be capsized .

Technical specifications

Front view
Rear view
Side view
inside view
Parameters Data
Engine:  4-cylinder four-stroke in-line engine
(lengthways behind the rear axle)
Displacement :  1147 cc
Bore × stroke:  69.3 x 76 mm
Compression:  1: 8.0
Power:  28 kW (38 PS) at 4750 rpm
Max. Torque:  80 Nm at 2500 rpm
Valve control:  underlying camshaft, tappets, bumpers and rocker arms
Cooling:  Water cooling
Transmission:  fully synchronized four-speed gearbox (road) and
reverse gear with one forward and one reverse gear
for boat operation; two gear levers
Front suspension:  drawn longitudinal swing arm and trailing arm
Rear suspension:  drawn longitudinal swing arm
Suspension:  Coil springs with hydraulic shock absorbers combined
Brakes front and rear:  hydraulically operated drum brakes, Ø 230 mm
(hand brake mechanically acting on the rear wheels)
Body:  Self-supporting all-steel body,
reinforced by tubular side members
Dimensions (length × width × height):  4330 × 1565 × 1520 mm
Ground clearance:  253 mm
Wheelbase :  2100 mm
Track width front / rear:  1212 mm / 1260 mm
Wheel size:  6.40-13
Empty weight (without driver):  1050 kg
Maximum weight allowed:  1350 kg
Top speed:  Road: 120 km / h - water: 12 km / h
Fuel consumption on the road:  approx. 9 l / 100 km
Fuel consumption on the water:  2.3 l / hour at 5 km / h, 10 l / hour at 10 km / h

Technical data according to Oldtimer Markt 10/2010 and www.deutsche-automobile.de

Museum presentation

driving licence

The operation of the Amphicar on the water in Germany requires a sports boat license .

Others

On September 16, 1962, four Englishmen in two vehicles, one of which later had to be towed by the other, crossed the English Channel from Dover to Calais in 7 hours and 20 minutes.

The Hamburg police had an Amphicar in use.

In the 1980s, the show Do you understand was fun? produced a film with a hidden camera in which Reinhard Mey was picked up in an Amphicar for an appearance "because of the beautiful weather". The car suddenly drove into a river without warning. Reinhard Mey was not frightened, just laughed - he knew the vehicle.

In episode 10 of the 4th season of the 2013 program “Fast N'Loud”, an Amphicar is overhauled and sold. Vehicle is driven and swims in a small lake.

In season 11, episode 7, an Amphicar is also being restored by DMAX's “ used car professionals ” .

Perfectly restored vehicles sell for up to US $ 80,000, a new transmission alone costs $ 15,000.

gallery

  • Amphicar in the port of Stuttgart

  • Amphicar with the roof closed

  • Amphicar on a houseboat on the Seine

  • Amphicar's propeller

  • Amphicar on Lake Constance, Friedrichshafen

literature

  • Harald H. Linz, Halwart Schrader : The International Automobile Encyclopedia . United Soft Media Verlag, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-8032-9876-8 , chapter Amphicar.
  • George Nick Georgano (Editor-in-Chief): The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile. Volume 1: A – F. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Chicago 2001, ISBN 1-57958-293-1 , p. 56. (English)
  • Hasso Erb: floating car. Cars & trucks. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1988, ISBN 3-613-01165-4 .
  • Werner Oswald: German cars. Volume 4: 1945-1990. Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, and others. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-613-02131-5 , pp. 484-485.
  • Christian Wüst: Enjoy aquaplaning . In: Der Spiegel . No. 23 , 2007, p. 170 ( online ).

Web links

Commons : Amphicar 770  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.amphicar.net/minnow_old/Assemblies/FrontAxels.JPG Exploded view of the front axle
  2. ↑ Amphicar - a buoyant roadster . In: Motor vehicle technology 07/1961, p. 295.
  3. ↑ Achim Schmidt, Kai Schwarz: The vehicles of the police . Ed .: Sammüller Kreativ GmbH. Edition XXL GmbH, Fränkisch-Crumbach 2006, ISBN 978-3-89736-328-1 , p. 25 .
  4. ↑ youtube.com: Kurt Felix & Reinhard Met ... at 3:00
  5. ↑ Shelby Rent-A-Racer Resto, Part 2 + Amphicar. Retrieved October 27, 2019 .
  6. ↑ The used car professionals: The Amphicar. DMAX, accessed on October 27, 2019 (German, (English, original)).