Amphibious vehicles are nothing new, WaterCar’s Panther is claimed to be the “most fun vehicle on the planet”. It’s based on a Jeep CJ-8, powered by a Honda Acura-sourced 3.7LV6 that produces 305hp, and boasts a fiberglass hull, retracting wheels, along with a jet boat drive. Capable of doing over 80mph on land and 44mph (70 km/h) in water, the Panther sports a long-travel off-road suspension enabling access to less user-friendly lakes. Continue reading for two videos and more information.
The original Jeep chassis was too heavy, so WaterCar custom-built a lightweight chassis made of chromoly steel for its properties (weldability, formability, strength, ductility and toughness) that greatly exceed that of regular carbon steel. The custom chassis was slips cozily into the fiberglass hull, and is secured therein by modern epoxies to reduce noise and shimmy during hard handling.
