Who pressed the fast forward button on God’s DVD player and jettisoned us into the future? It seems like only a few years ago we were raving about cell phones and now we have to get used to the world’s First Underwater "Flying" Car? Catch up to the future folks, because the Auto Channel just changed the dial and made this a present day reality. Thirty years after the James bond movie "The Spy Who Loved Me", 'sQuba' is now the first car that can actually fly under water. You will have to see this to believe it on the YouTube Video (see below).
The Rinspeed sQuba already had it's world debut at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show. This was after the Swiss company Rinspeed came up with the world’s first real submersible car that actually ‘flys’ under water just like in the Bond movie. This new sports car goes on land, above the waves and deep down underwater to a depth of 33 feet. Rinspeed achieved this fantastic feat by replacing the engine of a sports car with 3 electric motors in the back of the vehicle. This makes underwater motoring, even in salt water, an honest to goodness reality.
The engineering behind this car has got to be a miracle. Apparently the engines are supported by 2 powerful Seabob jet drives in the front. They incorporate some special rotating louvers for opening and closing the water intake and there are also some rotating outlet jets which are extremely light and made of high-tech nano materials. Passengers breathe air under water through an integrated tank of compressed air similar to those used by scuba divers. To top off this amazing feat, the car is also capable of driving on roads without anyone behind the wheel! With a push of a button, the car will go wherever you want and even pick you up at your front door step.
For all you conservationists out there, the future is also very friendly with and extremely “green” emission rating of absolute zero. What more could a futurist dream of? Rinspeed Boss, Frank Rinderknecht summed it all up when he said, “For 3 decades I have tried to imagine how it might be possible to build a car that can fly under water. Now we have made this dream come true.” In term of the cars safety, he also added to his statement, “For safety reasons, we have built the vehicle as an open car so that the occupants can get out quickly in an emergency.”
Rinspeed is a Swiss automobile manufacturer and tuning designer of the famed VW Golf with gull-wing doors. The company originally moved their offices from Küsnacht to Zürich, Switzerland where they surged to international notoriety. They specialize in restoring classic cars, and tuning and modifying Porsches and Subarus. They also design exotic concept vehicles like the sQuba. Get a jump on the future and see for yourself how well this car functions in the real world. Check out the video.
