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
02/03/2012
Baffling double yellows
Hopefully we’re all aware that double yellow lines mean motorists can’t park or wait on that part of the road at any time.
However it seems that Oxfordshire County Council may not be so clear on the meaning of these common road markings.
In Headington, new double yellow lines have been painted on Bickerton Road. They stretch straight across the road parallel to a speed bump.
Residents are naturally completely baffled.
“What I would take from it is you cannot park in the middle of the road. But I cannot understand what the council is doing. It must be some sort of mistake,” said one local.
The lines, which are part of a £500,000 road safety scheme to make the area safer for pedestrians and cyclists, may have been painted onto the tarmac in good faith but are unfortunately pretty useless.
That is unless there’s a driver out there stupid enough to park horizontally across the middle of a road…
We’re hoping there isn’t.
However it seems that Oxfordshire County Council may not be so clear on the meaning of these common road markings. In Headington, new double yellow lines have been painted on Bickerton Road. They stretch straight across the road parallel to a speed bump.
Residents are naturally completely baffled.
“What I would take from it is you cannot park in the middle of the road. But I cannot understand what the council is doing. It must be some sort of mistake,” said one local.
The lines, which are part of a £500,000 road safety scheme to make the area safer for pedestrians and cyclists, may have been painted onto the tarmac in good faith but are unfortunately pretty useless.
That is unless there’s a driver out there stupid enough to park horizontally across the middle of a road…
We’re hoping there isn’t.
Photo © dumbledad via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: double yellow lines, driver, Headington, motorist, Oxfordshire County Council, painted, park, road, road markings, speed bump, tarmac
10/10/2011
Oh ok! – We’ll title this post ‘Trunk Road’
Usually when there’s a traffic jam it’s because there are road-works or an accident ahead, but that isn’t always the case.
Recently in West Midland Safari Park, Worcs, motorists driving through the animal enclosure had their root blocked by a five and a half ton (about 785 stone) elephant.
Twenty year old pachyderm, Five, must have decided that enough was enough and it was time for a rest on the nice soft…tarmac.
The head keeper said, “There was a bit of a traffic jam which lasted a fair amount of time as Five was out for the count and there are rocks along the road to stop drivers leaving the track.
“I think the sun was getting a bit too much for him and he simply had no energy left and just settled down where he was.
“When I arrived there was a queue of traffic forming and it just got bigger – he's a bit of a character so I'm not surprised he decided to crash out on a road.
“When he eventually woke up I don't think he knew what all the fuss was about. There was a big cheer and he just wandered off looking for somewhere else to sleep.
“We all had a good laugh about it for the rest of the day.”
Well, they did come to see animals. They probably didn’t think they’d be seeing so much of one flank of one elephant for the majority of the visit though.
Recently in West Midland Safari Park, Worcs, motorists driving through the animal enclosure had their root blocked by a five and a half ton (about 785 stone) elephant.
Twenty year old pachyderm, Five, must have decided that enough was enough and it was time for a rest on the nice soft…tarmac.
The head keeper said, “There was a bit of a traffic jam which lasted a fair amount of time as Five was out for the count and there are rocks along the road to stop drivers leaving the track.
“I think the sun was getting a bit too much for him and he simply had no energy left and just settled down where he was.
“When I arrived there was a queue of traffic forming and it just got bigger – he's a bit of a character so I'm not surprised he decided to crash out on a road.
“When he eventually woke up I don't think he knew what all the fuss was about. There was a big cheer and he just wandered off looking for somewhere else to sleep.
“We all had a good laugh about it for the rest of the day.”
Well, they did come to see animals. They probably didn’t think they’d be seeing so much of one flank of one elephant for the majority of the visit though.
Photo © Trubble via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: accident, animal, driving, elephant, motorist, road-works, tarmac, traffic jam, West Midlands Safari Park
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