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Amphibious Encyclopedia · Amphibious cars

Rinspeed Splash

The Rinspeed Splash is a one-off Swiss concept car that works as a road sports car, a boat and a hydrofoil. Shown at the 2004 Geneva Motor Show, it can rise on extending wings to run about 60 cm (2 ft) above the water [1][3]. In 2006 it crossed the English Channel in a time billed as a record for a hydrofoil car [4].

  • Amphibious cars
  • 2004 (one-off concept)
  • Switzerland

History

Rinspeed is a Swiss concept car company founded in 1979 by Frank M. Rinderknecht and based in Zumikon [6]. The Splash was its tenth concept car and was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2004 [1][3]. Rinderknecht told swissinfo that he had dreamed of do-everything cars since childhood and named the James Bond films as an influence [3]. The Swiss engineering firm Esoro acted as general contractor [1].

The car took about 10,000 hours of work, and Rinspeed estimated its value at about SFr 500,000 ($394,000) in 2004 [3]. It was built as a single prototype and was not offered for sale [3][5].

Design and how it works

On land the Splash is a two-seat convertible [3]. It is powered by a 750 cc turbocharged two-cylinder engine from Weber Motor that runs on natural gas and produces 140 hp (103 kW) at 7,000 rpm [1][2]. Motor Authority reported that this Weber engine was normally used in Polaris personal watercraft and snowmobiles [5]. Rinspeed quoted 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in about 5.9 seconds, a top speed of 200 km/h (124 mph) on the road and a weight of 825 kg (1,819 lb) [1][2].

In water, a propeller on a Z-drive can be lowered once the water is about 1.1 m (3.6 ft) deep [1][2]. With the foils retracted the car runs as a boat at up to almost 50 km/h (31 mph) [1][2]. When the water is at least about 1.3 m (4.3 ft) deep, the rear spoiler turns 180 degrees down under the car and two side foils swing out and unfold into a V shape [1][2]. At about 30 km/h (19 mph) the car rises fully onto its foils and runs about 60 cm (2 ft) above the surface, with a quoted top speed of about 80 km/h (50 mph) on smooth water [1][2]. Rinspeed said it could tow a water skier [3].

English Channel crossing

In July 2006 the Splash crossed the English Channel from Dover to Sangatte, near Calais, a distance of 36 km (22 mi), in just under 194 minutes (3 hours 14 minutes) [4][6]. Rinspeed presented the run as the fastest Channel crossing by a hydrofoil car [4]. For the trip the foils were strengthened with help from Esoro and Bayer MaterialScience, and a damaging wave kept the car below its top speed [4].

Sources

  1. Rinspeed AG - Splash, Rinspeed. www.rinspeed.eu/en/Splash_33_concept-car.html
  2. Rinspeed Splash - amphibious sportscar unveiled, New Atlas (Mike Hanlon) (2004-06-04). newatlas.com/rinspeed-splash-amphibious-sportscar-unveiled/2606
  3. "Splash" car turns James Bond fantasy into reality, swissinfo.ch (Anna Nelson) (2004-03-03). www.swissinfo.ch/eng/-splash--car-turns-james-bond-fantasy-into-reality/3797120
  4. Swiss Car Designer Rinspeed Sets a World Record, Auto123 (Justin Pritchard) (2006-08-15). www.auto123.com/en/news/swiss-car-designer-rinspeed-sets-a-world-record/49690
  5. Rinspeed Car/Hydrofoil Crosses English Channel, Motor Authority (2006-07-27). www.motorauthority.com/news/1029491_rinspeed-car-hydrofoil-crosses-english-channel
  6. Rinspeed, Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rinspeed

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

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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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