Imagine driving at an average of 80 mph on your daily trip from work when suddenly you feel like hitting that big lake next to your neighborhood, just to enjoy a 30-minutes break of adventure. Well, this is only one of the many things you could do driving the Panther, one of the world’s fastest amphibious cars ever made.
On water it can reach up to 44 mph (71 km/h), while on land it drives with a maximum speed of 80 mph (129 kmh/h). Weighting a total of 2,950 lbs (1,338 kg), it looks like a ‘90s Jeep Wrangler and comes with a 3.7-liter VTEC Honda engine. When it’s time to enter the water, a built-in hydraulic wheel retraction system raises the wheels above the bottom of the hull.
The patented transfer case redirects the engine’s power into a Panther pump jet-the same marine propulsion technology used in personal watercraft. The steering wheel controls the vectored thrust of the pump jet for easy maneuvering over the water. Composite fiberglass hull partners with the car’s lightweight chromoly chassis and long-travel off-road suspension to provide a strong, resilient body that absorbs bumps while coasting over waves or rough roads.
As to the fuel consumption, according to the manufacturer, its 26-gallon gasoline tank provides a 160-mile range. The Panther is currently offered in three states of completion, Rolling Chassis, Turnkey Minus and Complete Custom, with the later one priced at $135,000 (EUR 99,000).
This rich-toy is fast, but is not really the fastest the company ever built. In fact, Water Car established the Guinness amphibious speed record with the Python model, in January 2010, with a top speed of 60mph (96km/h). The problem is, this early model was too fast to reach the market, so they developed a safer one.
Google News