Amphibious Hobbycar B612 and other French curiosities
car of the day 2024 #2: ideas that float in an age of rising tides
Cars and water don’t mix, a fact made painfully obvious once you’ve subscribed to @BENGREGERS. “Vehicles Crossing Flooded Fords” might be a nightmare for drivers with bad judgement, but it’s top tier family entertainment on YouTube.
Ever the culinary experts, the French already invented a perfect sauce-proof car; problem is fewer than 60 were ever built and only 1/3 of those are said to still be operational.
Speedrunning specs on the Hobbycar B612: its four seats plus windshield were electrically retractable; it used jet drive propulsion on water, and a 1250 kg (2,755 lbs) curb weight against all of 90-odd horsepower.
Powered by a 1.9-litre Peugeot diesel engine, this is what “Most Mobile Car Ever” — L'auto la plus mobile qui soit — meant when the Hobbycar B612 was conceived in the early ’90s.
These days, our cars are more connected than ever but struggle to stay mobile after being sunk.*
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That same Hobbycar Jason drove / captain’d ended up as the first B612 submarine when it sank and temporarily sat at the bottom of a small lake. It was quickly recovered and repaired — and that’s why I love the Lane Motor Museum: no use keeping vehicles locked up where they can’t be fully enjoyed or appreciated.
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