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Amphicars and Parts for sale
Last updated April 2008
Background info :
Amphicars are rare so expect to have to travel. Don't believe anything you read in published price guides, there simply aren't enough cars sold to make the figures anything but a guess. Biggest selection of cars for sale is on the US based International Amphicar club web site. Traditionally prices are about the same throughout the world, they increase year on year by a bit more than inflation, recently there have been some incredible prices achieved at auctions in the USA, in two cases over $100,000, Google " Barrett Jackson Amphicar" for more.
As well as the club site you can of course have a look on Ebay but as always buyer beware.
Be careful of "rough" cars. A badly repaired Amphicar is no fun at all and can be a real danger if it fails in the middle of a lake.
I'm happy to travel anywhere in the world to appraise an Amphicar for sale. I can give you an honest report of it's value and condition. Sadly I can't do this for love ! I run my own business and so would have to charge my lowest daily rate (currently around £300) plus expenses.
Highest price I'm aware of in the UK is around £12000 which was in 2005
Parts:
The man to call is Hugh Gordon at Gordon Imports, 14330 Iseli Road, Santa Fe Springs, California 90670. He has the cars, parts and more than 30 years experience. Website is http://www.gordonimports.com/
I have some parts that I don't need here in the UK, specifically I have front and rear shock absorbers, a fuel tank, convertible top frame, radiator, and a few other bits
I have also been tracking down the correct period accessories. I have found the Blaupunkt Frankfurt type X or Y is the "correct" radio for a European Amphicar, this should have the square frontplate and ideally white buttons and knobs. It has 4 waveband and can support one or two speakers (I recommend cutting a hole in the triangle shaped trim panel by the drivers foot to match the air intake hole on the passenger side and fitting a second speaker in there).
The white knob Blaupunkt Radios are very sought after by owners of the Porsche 356 and various other classic German cars, as a result prices are high, expect to pay around $250 for a working radio - but they do look the business, here is a picture of mine:
Cars for sale in the UK,
As far as I am aware there are no Amphicars for sale in the UK at the moment.
Cars for sale in the EU,
April 2008.
UPDATE July 2008, THIS CAR IS NOW SOLD.
Manuel
38.000 EUROS firm price
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In October 2007 Coys of Kensington in London sold the following. I'm leaving the ad here for a while for reference.
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Created by Hans Trippel, one of the greatest exponents of amphibious
vehicles, the Amphicar was the first truly amphibious car to go on general
sale. German Trippel had started designing such vehicles in 1932 and two
years later he produced the four wheel SG6 with propeller drive. Although
apparently destined for forestry and estate use, with world war a known
possibility within the Third Reich it soon attracted military interest.
Trippel was duly appointed to Hitler's advisory staff and took over
Bugatti's Molsheim factory to manufacture amphibious military vehicles.
After the end of World War Two, Trippel produced one conventional road
car but it proved unsuccessful and was discontinued in 1957. It was at the
1959 Geneva Motor Show that he exhibited the Eurocar, an all new amphibian,
with monocoque steel chassis and two door convertible body. Two years later
Deutsche Industrie-Werke was established to produce the car, now renamed the
Amphicar, in commercial volumes. Power came from a rear-mounted 43bhp,
1,147cc Triumph Herald engine - rather than the Austin A35 motor of the show
car - with a power take-off from the four speed the gearbox, operated by a
lever, driving twin propellers. The Amphicar Corporation was also
established in America to sell cars there and in Germany Deutsche
Industrie-Werke was renamed Amphicar Ventriebo GmbH and a production plant
set up near Berlin; in 1963 the name again changed, this time to Deutsche
Waggons und Maschinenfabriken.
Although endowed, via all round trailing link/coil spring suspension,
with somewhat ungainly road holding and handling literally akin to a fish
out of water, thanks to its high centre of gravity, very much rear-biased
weight distribution and narrow tyres, the Amphicar was a genuine amphibian.
Afloat, it could travel at 6½ knots - against 68mph on the road where it
also meandered to 60mph in some 43 seconds - with the front wheels acting as
rudders; slowing was achieved by engaging reverse gear and revving the
engine. To promote the car, in September 1965 two British army officers,
Captains Peter Tappenden and Michael Bailey, Sergeant Joe Minto and
professional escapologist Timothy Dill-Russell, crossed the English Channel
from Dover to Calais in two Amphicars. Despite one having to tow the other,
they completed the crossing in seven hours and twenty minutes and used just
£4 worth of petrol for two cars and four people; subsequently the cars
toured Europe. Less successful was another publicity stunt when another
Amphicar was mown down by a ship in the Straits of Gibraltar. With road and
marine regulations, however, becoming increasingly demanding and difficult
to meet, production ended in 1968. Of some 800 Amphicars produced, around
600 went to America.
This example is one of those two very cars that made that famous and
much publicised Channel crossing in 1965. The subject of many subsequent
television appearances over the years, including The Big Breakfast,
Scrapheap Challenge, Sky Classic Car, Fifth Gear and traffic reports on
Thames at Six, as well as being featured in many magazines and newspapers,
the amphibian underwent restoration 10 years ago. Finished in yellow with
white interior, fully earthed and fitted with a bilge pump, it comes with an
original, and comprehensive, maintenance manual, a copy of a feature in the
December 10 1965 issue of Autocar covering the Channel crossing, an official
Amphicar brochure light-heartedly detailing the car, and a V5 registration
document. Offered in good condition, this is a highly unusual, rare and
individual vehicle, and a piece of automotive history, guaranteed to create
absolute astonishment every time it careers off the road into the water.
Ideal for commuting to the City.
Estimate £16,000-£24,000
Edward J Bridger-Stille
Coys of Kensington
Manor Court
Richmond
TW9 2LL
0044 (020) 8614 7888
0044 (020) 8614 7889
edward.bridger-stille@coys.co.uk
www.coys.co.uk
