It Floats. Really.

Behold, a better way to not drown when you drive into a lake: the Ampicar (1961-1968).

Designed by Hans Tripple it was built in Lubeck, Germany and proves that the Germans do have a sense of humor. They don't always have to build electrically complicated sports machines that have more computing power than half of NASA.

Let's face it, this is just cool, especially if you have a passenger who doesn't know it can float. Call it schadenfreude, but listening to someone scream that you're going to drown, and then finding out it floats, is amusing.

You'd just have to keep them from looking at the back.

Yes, those are propellers under the rear bumper. The engine powers them through one of the most complicated transmissions known to man. After the car hit the water, the owner had to pull a lever to send power to the propellers.

Unfortunately, it wouldn't always work. So many owners have a paddle in the back seat.

It's not the most beautiful thing in the world, but its functional.

With a maximum of 75hp, this car/boat wasn't made for anything besides cruising...slowly. But, when you're in the water, you have to steer with the front wheels. So the slow speed is probably a good thing.

But, really, this is what the car was made for:
In some ways it's the ultimate toy. It's not practical, it's not fast, it doesn't corner very well, and it's an old car, making reliability a major question.

Still, who wouldn't pay for the ability to drive a car into an ocean and live to tell the tale?