RUSH-HOUR commuters at Southampton’s Floating Bridge stood incredulous 45 years ago when an unassuming saloon car made its way along the roads lining the waterside before turning onto the slipway and driving head first into the River Itchen.

Floating Bridge staff shouted a warning to alert the driver of his imminent danger as those stood on the slipway watched with their hearts in their mouths as the car plunged into the water.

“He wants to commit suicide,” shouted a man in the crowd. A woman screamed. The car was by now well into the water but somehow still going, sending a huge sigh of relief across the crowd looking on. The disbelieving looks had now turned to looks of envy as it became clear that this was not a spectacular attempt at suicide, but an amphibious car beating all of the rush hour queues by cruising serenely across the river.

The German-built Amphicar, a two-door tourer powered by a Triumph Herald 1147cc engine, took the change from road to water, from wheel drive to twin screws, with equanimity.

According to Echo reports of the time, the white four-seater saloon could be transformed for life on the open waves with relative ease. All the driver had to do was push down a floor lever to set the propellers going and then, once in the water, put the gear lever into neutral. In the water, one could use either the accelerator or a dashboard throttle. An upward turn of two chromium-plated levers on the doors ensured that the car was watertight, and if any water did come aboard there was a bilge pump to clear it.

However an Echo staff reporter who was invited to take a test drive with Mr Brian Lawrence, the proprietor of Criterion Garages, who were the local distributors of the vehicle at the time, said that a crossing across the Itchen was a pleasant experience. “The going is dry, even when bucking the waves and shipping water over the bonnet” claimed the Echo’s reporter at the time.

The car could do up to seven knots and if cruising at half-speed would run on just over half-a-gallon of petrol an hour. Navigation lights were part of the equipment of this futuristic automobile and a hose-down once a week was all that they needed when being used in salt water—and not even that in fresh water lakes and rivers.

When asked about the benefits of these new cars, Mr Brian Lawrence enthused; “You can go for a lovely trip to the Hamble or Solent and there’s no need to worry about car parks.”