21/05/2012
Sea Lion, the amphibious car
A man who set about building a racy amphibious car in 2006, has finally finished it and is putting it up for sale.
The futuristic-looking vehicle, which has been built on top of a 174hp Mazda rotary engine, can do 125mph on tarmac and 60mph in water (that’s on top of it like a boat, not under it like a sub).
The Sea Lion, as it has been lovingly named by its creator, is being sold for $259,500 – about £163,355 – and I don’t know how much it will cost to insure.
I can imagine a car insurance company would look at this vehicle and just see ‘very high risk car’ written all over it. Not only is there a risk that it will crash on the roads, but there’s the added risk of it crashing into a boat or sinking.
Would they still sort out maintenance and pick-up if you were stranded on open water? I’d like to see a road-side repairs company try their hand at some boating.
Nevertheless, I have no doubt that the car has been well built – after all it took six years to make it.
The creator states, “Building Sea Lion has been an enjoyable exploration. I have provided the basic architecture for the car and resolved every conflicting interaction between car and boat.”
I’d love to have a car-boat, but this model’s a bit too speedy-looking for me. When an amphibious mini or VW camper comes along, I’ll be buying it no matter the cost.
The futuristic-looking vehicle, which has been built on top of a 174hp Mazda rotary engine, can do 125mph on tarmac and 60mph in water (that’s on top of it like a boat, not under it like a sub).
The Sea Lion, as it has been lovingly named by its creator, is being sold for $259,500 – about £163,355 – and I don’t know how much it will cost to insure.I can imagine a car insurance company would look at this vehicle and just see ‘very high risk car’ written all over it. Not only is there a risk that it will crash on the roads, but there’s the added risk of it crashing into a boat or sinking.
Would they still sort out maintenance and pick-up if you were stranded on open water? I’d like to see a road-side repairs company try their hand at some boating.
Nevertheless, I have no doubt that the car has been well built – after all it took six years to make it.
The creator states, “Building Sea Lion has been an enjoyable exploration. I have provided the basic architecture for the car and resolved every conflicting interaction between car and boat.”
I’d love to have a car-boat, but this model’s a bit too speedy-looking for me. When an amphibious mini or VW camper comes along, I’ll be buying it no matter the cost.
Photo © sly06 via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: amphibious car, boat, car insurance, crash, insure, Mazda, mini, road-side repair, rotary engine, Sea Lion, tarmac, vehicle, VW camper, water
18/05/2012
Honda’s new…unicycle
Would you buy a car that had a top speed of 3.7mph? Can you cycle faster than a walking pace?Well if you answered no to the first and yes to the second, you might not be too gutted that Honda’s latest creation is not available for public purchase yet and has not been given a release date either.
The creation, the Uni-Cub, is a motorised unicycle. Riders can steer it by leaning to one side or another, just as you would on a peddle unicycle. The difference is that you don’t have to work your legs to move the machine and reportedly it is brilliantly easy to get the hand of riding one.
As clever an invention as the Uni-Cub is, I’m not surprised the manufacturer hasn’t come out with a release date yet. It doesn’t go any faster than 3.7mph – some people walk faster than that.
However, to give you a more balanced view of the machine, it apparently folds up into a carrycase, and is safe enough to use indoors.
I wonder how much it would cost to insure this strange machine? Would it even need insurance?
Photo © Gamma Man via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: car, cycle, Honda, insurance, insure, machine, motorised, rider, top speed, Uni-Cub, unicycle, walking
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