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The Gibbs Quadski is an
The Gibbs Quadski is an amphibious
Amphibious means able to use either land or water. In particular it may refer to:
Animals
* Amphibian, a vertebrate animal of the class Amphibia (many of which live on land and breed in water)
* Amphibious caterpillar
* Amphibious fish, a fish ...
quad bike/ATV, launched in October 2012 by Gibbs Sports Amphibians. The Quadski is a 4-stroke amphiquad that converts from a quad bike/ATV to a personal watercraft
A watercraft or waterborne vessel is any vehicle designed for travel across or through water bodies, such as a boat, ship, hovercraft, submersible or submarine.
Types
Historically, watercraft have been divided into two main categories.
*Raf ...
. It can attain a top speed of on both land and water. The Quadski uses a marine jet propulsion system as well as wheel retraction, allowing it to transition between land and water.
The Quadski, developed and manufactured by a team based in Detroit, shares several features with the Gibbs Aquada. It is powered by a marinised version of BMW Motorrad's 1.3-litre engine from the K1300S, producing . However, on land, the power is reduced to approximately . To switch to water mode, the driver presses a button that retracts the wheels into the vehicle's body and disconnects them from the drive train. In water, the Quadski uses a stone guard-protected intake to draw in water, which is then propelled by an engine-driven impeller through stator blades and a nozzle. Steering is controlled by a nozzle at the rear, directed via the handlebars.
The Quadski can travel for about two hours on water and has a range of approximately on land.
About 1,000 Quadskis were produced in Michigan between 2012 and 2016, when production ceased. The vehicle is no longer manufactured by Gibbs or under any official licence. A Chinese company, Hison, has attempted to copy the Quadski, but their version uses images of the actual Quadski in marketing materials and lacks strong evidence of functioning as a true amphibian vehicle and is legally questionable.
Official Quadski parts and technical support are supplied by Gibbs Amphibians in New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
.
Appearance on ''Top Gear''
A Quadski was used in a 2014episode
An episode is a narrative unit within a larger dramatic work or documentary production, such as a serial (radio and television), series intended for radio, television or Streaming media, streaming consumption.
Etymology
The noun ''episode'' is ...
of British motoring show Top Gear
Top Gear may refer to:
* "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission
Television
* ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme
* ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the ori ...
, when Jeremy Clarkson
Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson (born 11 April 1960) is an English television presenter, journalist, farmer, and author who specialises in Driving, motoring. He is best known for hosting the television programmes ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), T ...
raced it across Lake Como
Lake Como ( , ) also known as Lario, is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of , making it the third-largest lake in Italy, after Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore. At over deep, it is one of the deepest lakes in Europe. ...
against an Alfa Romeo 4C
The Alfa Romeo 4C (Type 960) is a mid-engined sports car that was produced by Italian car manufacturer Alfa Romeo. Unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show#2013, 2013 Geneva Motor Show, the 4C was initially only available as a coupé, with a spider body ...
driven by co-host Richard Hammond
Richard Mark Hammond (born 19 December 1969) is an English journalist, television presenter, and author. He co-hosted the BBC Two motoring programme ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), Top Gear'' from 2002 until 2015 with Jeremy Clarkson and James Ma ...
. Despite arriving at the finish line first, Clarkson proceeded to concede the race to the Alfa.
See also
*Amphicar
The Amphicar Model 770 is an amphibious automobile which was launched at the 1961 New York Auto Show. It was made in West Germany and marketed from 1961 to 1968, with production ceasing in 1965.
Designed by Hans Trippel, the amphibious ...
(1961)
* Gibbs Aquada
The Gibbs Aquada is a high speed amphibious vehicle developed by Gibbs Sports Amphibians. It is capable of speeds over on land and on water. Rather than adding wheels to a boat design, or creating a car that floats, the Aquada was designed f ...
(2004)
* Gibbs Humdinga
The Gibbs Humdinga is a high speed amphibious vehicle concept designed by Gibbs Technologies. It was publicly announced in February 2012 and was created specifically to access remote and hostile terrain. It uses the same High Speed Amphibian (HS ...
(2012)
* Iguana Yachts
Iguana Yachts is a French company created in 2008, specialized in design and manufacturing of boats. The main facilities and shipyards are located in Normandy, France. The company produces amphibious motorboats featuring all-terrain tracks.
H ...
(2012)
* WaterCar
WaterCar is an American company that specializes in the manufacture and development of luxury amphibious vehicles. Based in Southern California, the company was founded by Dave March in 1999 when he was inspired by the Amphicar of the 1960s. Mar ...
* All-terrain vehicle
An all-terrain vehicle (ATV), also known as a light utility vehicle (LUV), a quad bike or quad (if it has four wheels), as defined by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), is a vehicle that travels on low-pressure tires, has a seat ...
(ATV)
* Amphibious ATV
An amphibious all-terrain vehicle, or amphibious ATV (or AATV), is a small, all-wheel drive, off-road, all-terrain amphibious vehicle, used for recreation, farm-, hunting, utility or industry tasks, by enthusiasts and professionals worldwide. The ...
(AATV)
References
{{reflist Wheeled amphibious vehicles