April 14, 1999

Boat? Car? Which?

By Garret Leiva
Herald staff writer
      Chances are that Mark Smith will be among the throng of water craft enthusiasts tooling around East Grand Traverse Bay this upcoming Memorial Day weekend. That is if the door seals shut tight.

Photo by Garret Leiva Mark Smith's 1964 Amphicar gets some finishing touches at Redmond Automotive.

      With rubber tire rudders and a bilge pump dashboard gauge, the owner of this 1964 Amphicar holds the ignition key to a unique piece of automotive history - the only amphibious passenger car ever to be mass produced.
      After several hundred dollars and hours in the repair shop, Smith's Amphicar is nearly restored to its former Fijord Green glory. A brake job here, an engine installed there under the rear-mounted hood and the German-built car will be ready to launch; both on land and sea.
      It is a moment that Smith has been waiting for all his life. Ever since he first saw 007 behind the wheel.
      "Since I was a little kid and watched a James Bond movie that had one of these cars I thought, 'One of these days if I could just find one.' I've been looking for an Amphicar all my life and this opportunity came available," said Smith, who bought the car in 1997 from a Traverse City elementary school teacher who lived across the street from his brother.
      What also appealed to Smith was owning a piece of history- albeit a short-lived footnote.
      Built in Germany from 1961 to 1968, total production numbers on the Amphicar are estimated at 3,700 vehicles. The Amphicar used a four cylinder Triumph Herald rear-mounted engine that produced 43 horsepower. Anemic compared to the "Muscle Cars" of the era, the Amphicar had a top speed of 70 mph on land and 7 mph on water, where it was propelled by twin props. A special transmission built by Hermes (makers of the Porsche transmission) allowed the wheels and propellers to operate independently or simultaneously and even in reverse when in the water.
      Getting going, whether on land or in water, proved problematic for Smith. In the spring of 1998, a transmission problem wouldn't allow the four speed convertible to go faster than 5 mph. The bad news, unfortunately, only got worse.
      "A friend of mine, John Redmond (owner of Redmond Automotive) took a look at it and he told me right away that it wouldn't float," said Smith, who noted that the car - which had been stored in a damp garage for years - was full of Bondo, putty and silicon in an effort to keep it seaworthy.
      Striving for originality, Smith brought the Amphicar to Craig's Body Shop on Old Mission Peninsula where the car received a major sheet metal make-over during the next three months. The rusted floor pans were cutout and replaced with heavy gauge galvanized steel. The entire body was then repainted Fijord Green - Amphicars only came in four colors, White, Red, Lagoon Blue and Fijord Green (Aqua).
      After restoring the exterior, Smith shipped his Amphicar back to Redmond Automotive where it now awaits a new transmission and engine along with shocks, tires, brakes and other assorted mechanical repairs.
      All of which make up a hefty repair bill that Smith has yet to estimate. "It's a labor of love," said Smith, who noted that the $3,000 price tag for a new hood is equal to the car's original sticker price.
      There are those, however, that wonder why Smith bothers to keep his dream afloat. "My wife is still waiting to see it go in the water or be driven," Smith noted. "She's been very patient. She thinks maybe it's a mid-life crisis."
      For Smith, though, the reason for restoring this amphibious auto has always been straight forward as a set of balanced tires.
      "I can't wait to take it in the water. Especially now that (East Bay) is so shallow it won't sink very far. But somehow I don't think AAA would pull me out if I called for a tow truck."

Visit the International Amphicar Club.