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Amphibious Encyclopedia · Amphibious cars

Gibbs Sports Amphibians

Gibbs Sports Amphibians is one of the names used by the company founded by New Zealand entrepreneur Alan Gibbs to develop High Speed Amphibians, vehicles that plane across the water at speed and drive normally on land [1][2]. Working as Gibbs Technologies, it built the Aquada amphibious car, in which Richard Branson crossed the English Channel in 2004, and later the Quadski amphibious quad bike, of which about 1,000 were made in Michigan [4][7]. Series production ended in 2016, and in 2022 the company's patent portfolio was offered for sale or license [7][9][10].

  • Amphibious cars
  • 1990s to present (as Gibbs Technologies, Gibbs Sports Amphibians and Gibbs Amphibians)
  • New Zealand, United Kingdom and United States

Founding and the High Speed Amphibian idea

Alan Gibbs is a New Zealand businessman. He told Powersports Business that his interest in amphibians began with a practical problem: his farm in New Zealand borders a tidal area up to a mile (1.6 km) long that he wanted to cross [3]. The company says it has worked on High Speed Amphibian (HSA) technology since 1994, although a 2012 company release dates the start to 1996 [6][1].

Engineer Neil Jenkins, who had worked in the automotive and aerospace industries, joined about 15 years before 2012 and merged his own firm, Krafthaus, into Gibbs Technologies [3]. A September 2012 company release names Gibbs and Jenkins as the founders, and both 2012 releases name Jenkins as chairman [1][2].

Gibbs designs use a planing hull, lift their wheels clear of the water and drive a water jet, so they can run fast on water as well as on land [4][7]. The company says it was the first to build fully road-approved vehicles that exceed 30 mph (48 km/h) on water and change between land and water in under 5 seconds [6]. Its patents cover wheel retraction, engine cooling, powertrain, hull design and shared land and water controls [10]. A US patent granted to Gibbs Technologies in 2008, for example, covers a suspension that swings an amphibious vehicle's wheels up into a marine position and back down for land use [8].

Aquada and the Channel crossing

The first Gibbs vehicle was the Aquada, an open sports car introduced in 2003 [6]. It used a Rover V6 of about 175 bhp and a Gibbs water jet, reached about 30 mph (48 km/h) on water, and was priced at about £150,000 at the time [4]. On 14 June 2004 Richard Branson drove an Aquada from Dover to Calais in 1 hour 40 minutes 6 seconds, a record for an amphibious vehicle at the time [4].

The Aquada never became a high-volume product. New Atlas reported that Gibbs had first aimed at amphibious cars but ran into the passenger-car safety rules that road cars must meet, which pushed it toward ATVs and motorcycles, where the rules are lighter [5]. The company says only a small number of Aquadas were offered to collectors [12].

Michigan and the Quadski

By 2012 the business was run from Auburn Hills, Michigan. In June 2012 Gibbs Technologies Inc. changed its name to Gibbs Sports Amphibians Inc., with nearly 100 staff [1]. In September 2012 it announced a 54,000 sq ft (5,000 square meter) factory in Auburn Hills to build the Quadski, said more than $200 million had been spent on HSA research, and described two divisions: Gibbs Sports Amphibians for consumer vehicles and Gibbs Amphitrucks for commercial, first responder and military vehicles [2].

The Quadski, an amphibious quad bike with a top speed of 45 mph (72 km/h) on land and water, went on sale through powersports dealers for about $40,000 [2][3]. The company says about 1,000 Quadski and two-seat Quadski XL units were built before production ended in 2016 [7].

Gibbs also showed larger amphibious trucks, the Humdinga and the Phibian, aimed at rescue and patrol work, and in 2014 Fox News reported that Singapore's ST Kinetics would build the Humdinga under license [3][13]. In October 2015 it showed the Biski amphibious motorcycle and the three-wheeled Triski as concepts, looking for a powersports maker to produce them [5].

Status today

No Gibbs model has been in series production since the Quadski ended, in the sources found [7]. Gibbs Amphibians in New Zealand supplies parts and technical support for existing Quadskis, and its Quadski site says work on a next-generation amphibian continues [7].

In September 2022 Hilco Streambank, a firm that sells intellectual property, announced that an amphibious vehicle patent portfolio, with design files, test data and more than a dozen trademarks, was available for sale or license, citing more than $200 million of development spending [9]. Hilco's listing identifies the portfolio as Gibbs Amphibians' and names the Quadski, Aquada and Humdinga as vehicles brought to market [10]. The Gibbs website continues to offer its eight vehicle platforms for license, case by case [11]. No sale of the portfolio had been reported in the sources found.

Sources

  1. Gibbs Technologies Changes Name To Gibbs Sports Amphibians (company press release), PR Newswire (2012-06-01). www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/gibbs-technologies-changes-name-to-gibbs-sports-amphibians-156369065.html
  2. GIBBS Acquires Auburn Hills Factory to Build Revolutionary Quadski (company press release), PR Newswire (2012-09-13). prnewswire.com/news-releases/gibbs-acquires-auburn-hills-factory-to-build-revolutionary-quadski-169610236.html
  3. An ATV? A PWC? Actually, it's 'fun squared.', Powersports Business (2012-11-28). powersportsbusiness.com/top-stories/2012/11/28/an-atv-a-pwc-actually-its-fun-squared
  4. Freeze Frame: Branson's cross-channel car crossing, Hagerty UK (2021-06-16). www.hagerty.co.uk/articles/automotive-history/freeze-frame-bransons-cross-channel-car-crossing
  5. Gibbs high-speed amphibious motorcycles, ride straight into the lake and out again, New Atlas (2015-10-19). newatlas.com/gibbs-sports-amphibians-concept-vehicles/39912
  6. About Gibbs Amphibians, Gibbs Amphibians. gibbsamphibians.com/about-gibbs-2
  7. Quadski, Gibbs Amphibians. gibbsamphibians.com/platform/quadski
  8. US7316594B2: Wheel suspension and retraction system, Google Patents (US Patent and Trademark Office record) (2008-01-08). patents.google.com/patent/US7316594B2/en
  9. Hilco Streambank Announces Acquisition or License Opportunity: Robust Amphibious Vehicle Intellectual Property Portfolio, Hilco Global (2022-09-13). hilcoglobal.com/news/hilco-streambank-announces-acquisition-or-license-opportunity-robust-amphibious-vehicle-intellectual-property-portfolio
  10. Gibbs Amphibians (intellectual property for sale or license), Hilco Global. hilcoglobal.com/professional-services/intangible-assets/for-sale/gibbs-amphibians
  11. Licensing, Gibbs Amphibians. gibbsamphibians.com/licensing
  12. Aquada, Gibbs Amphibians. gibbsamphibians.com/platform/aquada
  13. Gibbs Humdinga amphibious truck sailing toward production, Fox News (2014-02-13). www.foxnews.com/auto/gibbs-humdinga-amphibious-truck-sailing-toward-production

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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