A car that transforms into a speedboat! I want one!

Car that drives on water sails to success
By Ben Webster, Transport Correspondent

THE oldest thoroughfare in London is to become the ultimate rat run for an elite group of motorists.
Instead of crawling through the capital with the rest of the traffic, they will simply drive straight into the Thames.

Several millionaire businessmen living in West London but working on the other side of the city have ordered the Aquada, the world’s first car that turns into a speedboat.

Putney to Canary Wharf can take an hour on the roads but will be 20 minutes by river when the first customers take delivery of their £150,000 cars in April. Gibbs, the company building the Aquada in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, will announce at the London Boat Show today that one of its first customers is to be Sir Richard Branson, the Virgin chairman.

The Aquada can do 100mph on the roads and has achieved 32.8mph on water. The driver presses a button on the dashboard as the Aquada enters the water. Sensors detect when the body is partly submerged and begin to retract the wheels. The engine then powers a jet capable of producing a tonne of thrust.

The only obvious design flaw spotted by The Times during a test drive last week was the flimsy soft hood, which does not completely seal the interior. Gibbs said that an improved hood would be added to future models.