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Amphibious Encyclopedia · Amphibious cars

Gibbs Aquada

The Gibbs Aquada is a three-seat amphibious sports car that lifts its wheels and planes across the water like a speedboat. Developed by New Zealand entrepreneur Alan Gibbs and unveiled in London in 2003, it served as the proof of concept for Gibbs's High Speed Amphibian technology, and about 45 were built [2][3][4]. In 2004 Richard Branson drove one across the English Channel in a record time for an amphibious vehicle [1][8].

  • Amphibious cars
  • 2003 to 2004
  • United Kingdom and New Zealand

History

Alan Gibbs, a New Zealand businessman, began working on amphibious craft in the mid-1990s. In 1995 he designed an amphibious catamaran for the Kaipara mudflats, and in 1996 he bought the rights to a wheel-retraction idea from his neighbor Terry Roycroft, who had developed the Sealander concept [3]. He founded Gibbs Technologies in Detroit in 1996 and moved it to the UK in 1999 [9]. The Aquada took about seven years of design work in Auckland, Detroit and Britain, and about 50 engineers, led by former Jaguar staff, built 10 prototypes at the company's plant in England [4].

Gibbs presented the Aquada in London in September 2003, showing it on the River Thames [3][4]. At the launch the company planned to build 200 in the first year at its British plant [4]. Time magazine named it one of the best inventions of 2003 [3]. In the end only 45 were made to test the market, according to the Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT) in Auckland, and Gibbs describes the car as a proof of concept that is no longer made [2][3].

MOTAT links the end of production to the discontinuation of the V6 engine the car used, while a 2007 Forbes report said the collapse of engine supplier Rover led Gibbs to plan new production in the United States [3][9]. That report expected a US Aquada in 2009 at about $85,000, but the car remained a limited-production concept [3][9].

Design and how it works

The Aquada was designed to plane, rising onto the surface of the water at speed like a speedboat. Its one-piece hull has a keel fin, chines and strakes, and Machine Design reported that it produces 3,850 lb (1,746 kg) of hydrodynamic lift at speed [5]. A bonded aluminum chassis is joined to the composite hull [5].

Once there is enough water under the keel, hydraulic struts lift the wheels clear [5]. MOTAT gives the retraction time as four seconds, Hagerty gives about 10 seconds, and Forbes gave about five seconds for the whole change from land to water [3][8][9]. The engine, a 2.5 liter Rover KV6 V6 of 175 hp, sits behind the cockpit in a sealed compartment and drives either the rear wheels or a Gibbs water jet [2][5]. The jet gives the equivalent of about 2,000 lb (900 kg) of thrust and can lift the car onto the plane in under five seconds, and a swiveling nozzle steers it [5].

Gibbs quotes more than 100 mph (160 km/h) on land and more than 30 mph (48 km/h) on water [2]. Machine Design reported a water speed of 32.8 mph (52.8 km/h), which it described as a new record for an amphibian [5]. The car is 4.81 m (15.8 ft) long, has a curb weight of 1,466 kg (3,232 lb) and seats three [2].

Richard Branson's Channel record

On 14 June 2004, Richard Branson drove an Aquada from Dover to Calais in an official time of 1 hour 40 minutes 6 seconds [1][8]. The previous record of six hours for an amphibious vehicle had stood since the late 1960s [1][8]. Some reports on the day gave the time as about 90 minutes [7]. In Calais, Branson said Virgin planned to use Aquadas to carry Upper Class passengers between Heathrow and central London [6].

The record was later lowered. Hagerty notes a 2005 Sealegs crossing of 43 minutes that Guinness did not recognize as an official record, and an official time of 1 hour 14 minutes 20 seconds set in 2008 by Hans Georg Näder and Henry Hawkins [8].

Price and legacy

Reported prices differ. The Register gave £75,000 in 2004, Hagerty later gave £150,000, and Forbes reported in 2007 that pre-production cars sold in Europe for more than $200,000 [7][8][9].

The Aquada's wheel-retraction and planing technology was carried into later Gibbs vehicles, including the Humdinga and the Quadski [1][9]. In 2021 Gibbs Amphibians donated a 2004 Aquada to MOTAT in Auckland, where it joined the museum's collection [3].

Sources

  1. Gibbs Aquada, Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibbs_Aquada
  2. Aquada, Gibbs Amphibians. gibbsamphibians.com/platform/aquada
  3. The Gibbs Aquada: Kiwi Ingenuity Makes Waves Globally, MOTAT, Museum of Transport and Technology (Chelsea Renshaw) (2022-06-03). motat.nz/explore/stories/the-gibbs-aquada-kiwi-ingenuity-makes-waves-globally
  4. New Zealand tycoon to lauch amphibious car, UPI (2003-09-03). www.upi.com/Odd_News/2003/09/03/New-Zealand-tycoon-to-lauch-amphibious-car/77571062618783
  5. Cars for the surf and turf, Machine Design (2004-10-21). www.machinedesign.com/archive/article/21814307/cars-for-the-surf-and-turf
  6. Branson sets English Channel Crossing record in an Aquada, New Atlas (Mike Hanlon) (2004-06-14). newatlas.com/branson-sets-english-channel-crossing-record-in-an-aquada/2857
  7. Briton invades France in amphibious car, The Register (Lester Haines) (2004-06-14). www.theregister.com/2004/06/14/amphibious_car
  8. Freeze Frame: Branson's cross-channel car crossing, Hagerty UK (Antony Ingram) (2021-06-16). www.hagerty.co.uk/articles/automotive-history/freeze-frame-bransons-cross-channel-car-crossing
  9. Pricey convertible works as a speedboat, too, NBC News (Forbes Autos, Erica Francis) (2007-07-17). www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna19715305

Last reviewed November 2026. Spotted something to correct or add? Tell us and include a source.

About the Amphibious Encyclopedia

WaterCar has designed and built amphibious vehicles in Southern California for more than 25 years. We keep this encyclopedia so anyone curious about vehicles that cross between land and water has one place to start, with the sources listed for every fact.

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