This one really COOL ~

[WhoNet]

http://theedje.blogspot.com/2008/02/meet-squba-worlds-first-bi-athlete.html

An electric powered car … that swims!

Three electric motors are located in
the rear compartment of the Rinspeed “sQuba”. One provides propulsion on land,
the other two drive the screws for underwater motoring. Image Credit:
Rinspeed

That’s right, a “green” car that can go into and tool
around in the blue!

The “sQuba” by Rinspeed, is to be introduced to the
world at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show (March 6th - 16th, 2008) in Geneva,
Switzerland. With this introduction comes the first, ever, car that can actually
fly under water.

You drive the car into the water and
the car floats. That is, until you crack the door to let the water in.
Immediately the “sQuba” starts on his way to the underwater world. The
occupants’ breathing air comes from an integrated tank of compressed air that
divers know from scuba diving. Image Credit: Rinspeed

Growing up,
we all remember going to the movies to watch James Bond take off from a pier,
into the water in order to investigate the hijacking of submarines carrying
nuclear warheads, in “The Spy Who Loved Me.” Problem was is that this concept
car in the 1977 film never existed … movie tricks!

With the introduction
of the Rinspeed “sQuba,” the world’s first real submersible car, the movie
fakery now becomes reality.


This excerpted from the Rinspeed website
-

Thirty years after the movie thriller
‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ hit the silver screen “sQuba” is the first car that can
actually ‘fly’ under water.

“Dive it again,
James!” If the situation gets too hot for the secret agent he’ll go underground
- or under water. So demonstrated impressively by Roger Moore in ‘The Spy Who
Loved Me” in 1977 when he dove below the waves in a sleek vehicle that moments
before seemed to be an ordinary car.
----
The scene never really took
place; it was an animation.
----
Rinspeed boss Frank M. Rinderknecht (52)
is known for his extraordinary automotive creations. The acknowledged James Bond
enthusiast and Swiss automobile visionary kept revisiting this scene in his mind
over and over: “For three 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.”

Levers help to steer the "sQuba" when
it is underway, underwater. Image Credit: Rinspeed

And it is
this submerged stabile flight at a depth of 10 meters that sets the “sQuba”
apart from military vehicles. While the latter can go under water, they are
limited to driving slowly over the submerged ground. Rinderknecht: “It is
undoubtedly not an easy task to make a car watertight and pressure resistant
enough to be maneuverable under water. The real challenge however was to create
a submersible car that moves like a fish in water.”

It also had to be a
sports car that was converted into a diving dream in the facilities of Swiss
engineering specialist Esoro.

In a first step the combustion engine was
removed and replaced by several electric motors. Three motors are located in the
rear. One provides propulsion on land, the other two drive the screws for
underwater motoring. They are supported by two powerful Seabob jet drives in the
front, which ‘breathe’ through special rotating louvers from HS Genion (for
opening and closing the water intake). The rotating outlet jets were designed to
be extremely light yet twist resistant by using high-tech nano materials,
so-called Carbon Nano Tubes.
----
You drive the car into the water and the
car floats. That is, until you crack the door to let the water in. Immediately
the “sQuba” starts on his way to the underwater world. The occupants’ breathing
air comes from an integrated tank of compressed air that divers know from scuba
diving.
----
It is even capable of autonomous driving on land thanks to a
sophisticated laser sensor system from the Hamburg company Ibeo - without any
help from the driver or passenger.

Power is supplied by rechargeable
Lithium-Ion batteries. Rinderknecht: “The ‘sQuba’ is a zero-emission car as
documented by the rotating license plate in the rear. It produces no exhaust
emissions.
----
For shore leave the “sQuba” relies on a stainless
coil-over suspension from KW automotive and large Pirelli tires mounted on
custom-made forged light-weight wheels from AEZ with 17- and 18-inch
diameters.
----
Frank M. Rinderknecht and his partners - amongst them also
the fleet specialist LeasePlan - have created a truly unusual vehicle and in the
process have thought of everything. Even the Motorex lubricants used in the
‘sQuba” are biodegradable. For the Rinspeed boss that is a meticulousness
stemming from conviction: “The ‘sQuba’ lets me be one with the elements and lets
me immerse myself in a new and fascinating world - with Q factor. It is our duty
to protect this world in which we are guests to the best of our ability.” Isn’t
it, Miss Moneypenny? - James couldn’t have said it better himself glancing at
the sporty Swiss precision chronograph from C.F. Bucherer. Eau la la - shaken,
not stirred.

With the intorduction of the Rinspeed
"sQuba" ... anyone can become 007! Image Credit: Rinspeed

… notes
from The EDJE

More pics: http://blog.pixnet.net/BMW750Li/post/14610287

Youtube: http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=sJC7E06IBXI&feature=related

USAToday -

http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2008-02-15-squba-car_N.htm

No fins but Rinspeed's 'sQuba' car still swims. Really!

By Bradley S. Klapper, Associated Press Writer
GENEVA — OK, so the Swiss have invented a car that runs on land and underwater. But did they REALLY have to make it a convertible?
It's called the "sQuba," and conjures up memories of James Bond's amphibious Lotus Esprit from The Spy Who Loved Me. That fictional vehicle traveled on land and, when chased by bad guys in a helicopter, plunged into the water and became an airtight submarine — complete with "torpedoes" and "depth charges."

But Bond's "Q" isn't responsible for this one.


The concept car — which unlike Bond's is not armed — was developed by Swiss designer Rinspeed and is set to make a splash at the Geneva Auto Show next month.

FIND MORE STORIES IN: Swiss | Geneva | Spy Who Loved Me | Auto Show | sQuba
Company CEO Frank Rinderknecht, a self-professed Bond fan, said he has been waiting 30 years to re-create the car he saw Roger Moore use to drive off a dock.

The sQuba can plow through the water at a depth of 30 feet and has electrical motors to turn the underwater screw.

You'll have to break out the wetsuit, however.

The car has an open top, meaning that the two passengers are exposed to the elements.

"For safety reasons, we have built the vehicle as an open car so that the occupants can get out quickly in an emergency," said Rinderknecht, 52.

Passengers will be able to keep breathing underwater through an integrated tank of compressed air similar to what is used in scuba diving.

The sQuba's top speed on land is about 77 mph, but it slows down to 3 mph on the surface of the water, and 1.8 mph underwater.

Working with engineering specialists, Rinspeed removed the combustion engine from a sports car and replaced it with several electrical motors. Three are located in the rear — er, aft — with one providing propulsion on land and the other two driving the screw for underwater driving.

"We always want to do cars that are outrageous, which nobody has done before. So we thought, 'Let's make a car dive,"' said Rinderknecht, whose innovative company has made transparent, flying and voice-activated cars in previous attention-grabbing displays at the Geneva Auto Show.

The company calls the sQuba the first real submersible car. Unlike military amphibious vehicles, which can only drive slowly on a lakebed, the sQuba travels like a submarine — either on the surface or submerged.

The interior is resistant to salt water, allowing the skipper to drive into a lake or the sea.

"Many concept cars introduce important new technology," said John Cabaniss at the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers in Washington. "Anything to improve the efficiency of a vehicle, streamlining or reducing the weight of materials, while maintaining strength ... is put into concept cars first."

Cabaniss said the lithium-ion batteries in Rinspeed's car are "state-of-the-art" and added that the car industry in general would be looking for more ways to make things work electronically. But he was skeptical of the overriding idea.

"Other than some kind of a movie situation, for Bond-like stuff with lots of gimmicks, I can't imagine it will have any practical value," Cabaniss said. "Maybe people will need to go from land to water, and traverse a body of water, but underwater? Especially as it gets your suit wet."

Rinderknecht said it cost more than $1.5 million to make the sole sQuba in existence, and that it was difficult to make a car watertight and pressure-resistant enough to be maneuverable underwater.

"The real challenge, however, was to create a submersible car that moves like a fish in water," he added.

Rinspeed is in discussion with commercial manufacturers about making a limited number of the cars. The price? "It would be cheaper than a Rolls-Royce," he said. A 2008 Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe has a sticker price of more than $400,000.

Rinderknecht said it is unlikely that people would soon spot the sQuba tolling down the highway or popping up in your nearby lake.

"They might sell as toys for rich people, perhaps," he said. "I don't see mass transportation switching to cars that dive."

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

 

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I saw this car on the News a couple of weeks ago. Pretty cool car but when travelling underwater, I'd like to keep dry as this car has no roof!