Seen here in action is a new amphibious 4WD, made by Gibbs Technologies, the same company who’s Aquada recently made headlines when it made a record crossing of the English Channel navigated by flamboyant Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson. The ‘Humdinga’ concept vehicle is a full time four wheel drive High Speed Amphibian (HSA). Powered by a 350 BHP engine, the 5-seater ‘Humdinga’ is capable of travelling on land at 100 mph and on water at 40mph.
Although the new application utilizes the same patented HSA technological platform as the Gibbs Aquada, it shares no common component parts or systems with its predecessor. It has been designed specifically to access remote and hostile terrain. The Gibbs Humdinga can comfortably transport 5 people complete with luggage/supplies on at least twice as much of the world’s surface as previous vehicles.
Following on from the highly successful introduction of the Gibbs Aquada, the first application of HSA technology, the Gibbs Humdinga illustrates the scalability and versatility of HSA technology. As research and development continues apace at Gibbs Technologies’ Nuneaton headquarters, it is anticipated that vehicles ranging from passenger cars to SUVs to buses and trucks will soon become High Speed Amphibians.
The Gibbs Humdinga transfers from land to water at a touch of a button. The wheels retract, the power train switches from the wheels to a jet propulsion system and the vehicle is in amphibious mode. In just a few seconds the driver is planing at a speed of forty miles per hour.
“This 4WD HSA demonstrates that the technology is adaptable for a whole range of applications. It took us 7 years, a million man-hours and tens of millions of pounds to develop HSA technology. With this latest vehicle, I’m sure that the technology’s potential is clear for all to see.”, comments Alan Gibbs, Chairman of Gibbs Technologies.
On land the Gibbs Humdinga can accelerate from 0-60 in 9.2 seconds and on water can reach the ‘plane’ in less than 10 seconds. It has a curb weight of 2000kg, has all wheel independent air suspension and runs on regular unleaded petrol. The vehicle is 5400mm in length, 1850mm in height and 2000mm in width.
As a concept vehicle, it is not intended that the Gibbs Humdinga will be manufactured in its current form. Work is currently underway to further enhance the vehicle and a production model will be introduced in due course.
