One-of-a-Kind Amphibious Car You Can Buy Now

Monday, 03 January 2011 20:15

One-of-a-Kind Amphibious Car You Can Buy Now

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Have you always wanted a vehicle you can drive on land and water? If you don’t mind an amphibious car that needs a little testing and troubleshooting, the Dobbertin HydroCar could be for you — if you’re equal parts wealthy and crazy.

Rick Dobbertin is

renowned for imaginative projects, and Hydrocar now listed for $777,000 on eBay is but the latest of his wild creations. After constructing a pair of award-winning hot rods in the 1980s, he built the Dobbertin Surface Explorer, a 32-foot amphibious vehicle constructed out of an old milk tanker.

Dobbertin took the Surface Explorer around the world, logging some 30,000 miles on land and more than 3,000 miles in the ocean. Perhaps most importantly, the Surface Explorer was voted one of Jalopnik’s 10 Best Post-Apocalyptic Survival Vehicles a couple years ago. Dobbertin nearly made it around the world before financial problems brought him back to upstate New York.

In a bold and somewhat questionable move, Dobbertin sold the Surface Explorer and his hot rods to finance the Dobbertin HydroCar.

One question: Why isn't Rick Dobbertin designing cars for, say, General Motors?

Almost everything on it is custom or handmade. The vehicle actually changes shape, lowering and extending pontoons when switched from land mode to water mode. Power comes from 572-cubic-inch big block Chevrolet engine that produces 762 horsepower.

Although HydroCar appears well built, it still is not quite done even after nine years and 18,800 hours. Several videos that appear in the eBay auction listing show HydroCar is improving as a result of testing, but Dobbertin has been unable to get it to plane. Without being on plane the boat can’t come anywhere close to the estimate of the HydroCar’s 60 mph water capability.

For that reason, the HydroCar — which is listed with a “buy it now” price of $777,000 — is “being offered as a more of collector car than something to be used on either land or water on a regular basis.” Dobbertin cites a lack of funding and weather restrictions on testing as the main reasons he’s selling HydroCar. Unfortunately, it’s possible the same financial crisis that is keeping Dobbertin from finishing the HydroCar might make it even harder for wealthy Amphibian automobile enthusiasts to justify purchasing it.

Photos: Rick Dobbertin via eBay

This post was written by Tom Joslin and originally published by Jalopnik on Jan. 2.