If summer vacation means hitting the beach and the water to indulge in various watersports, this one is for you. They call it an “amphibious car” and a “car that drives on water,” but it’s a vehicle designed for water only, just the thing to make your summer vacation perfect.
A video of a car drifting on water in Alexandria, Egypt, has recently gone viral. Before you think someone has been able to mod a Corvette to make it amphibious, it’s nothing as spectacular as that. It’s still pretty neat, but this is not a car that drives on water, as the video from Inside Edition describes it. It’s a jet ski shaped like a car, as Reuters and The National News report.
It is the creation of three friends from Egypt, based on an idea from Karim Amin: he wanted to create a new watersport experience. Amin is a 28-year-old engineer who used to live outside of Egypt until just recently and who has been working hard to make the product locally. The only part that’s sourced internationally is the engine, which is from Japan, he tells Reuters.
Last week, Amin and his friends took to the waters in Alexandria to showcase their creation. It looks like a car, but it’s essentially a jet ski, heavier than a regular jet ski and, as such, more stable. That allows it to be driven at faster speeds and somewhat more recklessly than a jet ski. The top speed is claimed at 40 mph (64 kph).
The “car” comes with an infotainment unit to watch movies (just in case you get bored with riding on water), a surround system and Bluetooth connectivity to play music, and GPS tracking in case you wander off into unknown waters. Amin tells Reuters that some units of the “car” are already available for rent on certain upmarket beaches in Alexandria and that others are for sale. He doesn’t name one location, whether for renting or buying.
According to Amin, he and his friends have built 12 such units so far, and they’re now working on plans for a more family-oriented version with four seats. The 2-seat, Corvette-inspired unit costs between $19,000 and $44,000, depending on how the future owner wants to spec it.
If this “boat car” looks familiar, it’s because you might have seen it before. In March this year, a company named JetCar Turkiye was showing off a similar unit in Antalya. Social media posts revealed the existence of more jet skis of the kind, which were offered for demos in the area. We’ve been unable to confirm whether the mastermind behind this project, Kadir Soylu, is in any way connected to Karim Amin. But if you compare videos, you will notice the men doing the demo look alike.
Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile
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