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ON THE WATER

Humdinga - the 4WD amphibious vehicle

By Mike Hanlon

Humdinga - the 4WD amphibious vehicle

Humdinga - the 4WD amphibious vehicle

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Kiwi entrepreneur Alan Gibbs, the man behind the Aquada amphibious sports car, has unveiled an SUV/4WD amphibious vehicle concept designed specifically to access remote and hostile terrain. The 5-seater ‘Humdinga’ concept vehicle is a full-time 4WD powered by a 350 BHP V8 engine, capable of 160 kmh on land and on water at 65 kmh. Although the new application utilises the same patented HSA technological platform as the Gibbs Aquada, it shares no common component parts or systems with its predecessor. The Gibbs Humdinga can comfortably transport 5 people complete with luggage/supplies almost anywhere on the earth.

Kiwi entrepreneur Alan Gibbs, the man behind the Aquada amphibious sports car, has unveiled an SUV/4WD amphibious vehicle concept designed specifically to access remote and hostile terrain. The 5-seater ‘Humdinga’ concept vehicle is a full-time 4WD powered by a 350 BHP V8 engine, capable of 160 kmh on land and on water at 65 kmh. Although the new application utilises the same patented HSA technological platform as the Gibbs Aquada, it shares no common component parts or systems with its predecessor. The Gibbs Humdinga can comfortably transport 5 people complete with luggage/supplies almost anywhere on the earth.

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 65 kilometres 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.

The Gibbs Humdinga will enable mankind to go 4x4xfarther!”, comments Alan Gibbs, Chairman of Gibbs Technologies. On land the Gibbs Humdinga can accelerate from 0 -100 kph 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 it is anticipated that a production model is about two years away from market.

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