History Main / AmphibiousAutomobile

* A few real examples (excluding the Beetle) are amphibious cars like the UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Schwimmwaggen[[note]] that page header photo is almost TruthInTelevision; the Schwimmwagen was a military version of the Beetle wheelbase, adapted from the Kubelwagen jeep variant of the Beetle [[/note]]. and Ford GPA, the [[TheFifties 1950s era]] Soviet GAZ 46, the TheSixties Amphicar, and a host of less famous cars. Ironically, by far the most successful wasn't a car at all: it was the DUKW amphibious 2-1/2 ton truck, which are popular among military vehicle collectors and used as emergency and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_tour excursion vehicles]] even today. See the Trivia page for more details.

* An 8-bit UsefulNotes/AmstradCPC licensed game of ''WesternAnimation/{{MASK}}'' turned the "Gator" vehicle (a Jeep with an ejectable boat) into a Jeep that ''turned'' into one, so it could actually be usable to cross bodies of water.

* The Commvee in ''WesternAnimation/TheWildThornberrys''.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}'' (1973-74) episode "The Weather Makers". The villains have a car that can operate as a speedboat.

* In ''WesternAnimation/SheZow'', the Sheicle is capable of transforming into a submarine (and an aeroplane).
* ''WesternAnimation/CarmenSandiego'': Carmen's crew has to figure out how V.I.L.E. is planning on smuggling an illegal mine's worth of alexandrite out of Rio right in the middle of Carnival. It turns out they were using an amphibious parade float (since, [[FridgeLogic apparently]] no one would notice a giant float breaking away from the parade and driving straight into the ocean). Zack and Ivy figure it out because Boston Harbor is full of duck boats.
* ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'': Fred has outfitted the Mystery Machine with submarine abilities in both ''WesternAnimation/WhatsNewScoobyDoo'' and ''WesternAnimation/BeCoolScoobyDoo,'' though [[spoiler:the former]] turned out to be AllJustADream.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Freakazoid}}'' episode "Hot Rods From Heck", the title character pits his [[CoolCar Freakmobile]] against [[BrutishBulls Longhorn's]] super semi-truck; after matching him on both land and in the sky, Freakazoid decides to show off his car's underwater capabilities by driving into a lake. As he's pushing buttons to transform the Freakmobile, [[SubvertedTrope it crashes into the bottom of the lake. Freakzoid realizes too late that the Freakmobile was never designed to operate underwater.]] Longhorn's truck on the other hand has zero problems following him into the lake.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheAngryBeavers'' episode, "Fancy Prance", Norbert and Daggett take a bus outside their dam that has their destination Vienna, Austria as one of its stops; [[note]]For context, the beaver brothers live in North America and Austria is in Europe[[/note]] when we cut to the bus arriving to Vienna and it opens it's doors the beaver brothers come out as well a full bus worth of ocean water.

SubTrope of WeDontNeedRoads. SisterTrope to FlyingCar, though making a car float on water is ''much'' easier than making it fly. Can be achieved by a TransformingVehicle. Contrast ShipOutOfWater.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheAngryBeavers'' episode, "Fancy Prance", Norbert and Daggett take a bus outside their dam that has their destination Vienna, Austria as one of its stops (for context, the beavers live in North America); when we cut to the bus arriving to Vienna and it opens it's doors the beaver brothers come out as well a full bus worth of ocean water.

* The cars in ''VideoGame/DiddyKongRacing'' can stay afloat and even move in water, albeit extremely slowly.

* ''Film/{{Condorman}}'': The racecar escapes pursuit by inflating floats underneath and "driving" over water.

* In ''Manga/KokoroLibrary'' Lina drives a VW Schwimmwagen (see RealLife section). Comes in handy once or twice when she forgets to look where she is driving and ends up in the river.

* The first ''{{Anime/Patlabor}}'' showed that with the addition of some relatively straightforward flotation systems Section 2's command cars (and even more impressively) Labor trailers can operate amphibiously. Quite well too given the rough seas that they successfully navigated.
* ''Anime/SpeedRacer'': The Mach 5 can not only float but can be a submarine for short periods of time.

* ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe''. Film/JamesBond's [[CoolCar Lotus Esprit]] drives into the ocean during a CarChase, only for it to turn into a Q Branch-designed submarine which then sails off to examine the UnderwaterBase of the supervillain. The submarine car was eventually defictionalized (see LiveActionTV and RealLife). Ironically the year before Creator/RogerMoore was in an Italian action film ''The Sicilian Cross'' where his character drives a car into the ocean, so he tells his partner to get him an amphibious car next time.
* The screwball comedy ''What's Up Doc'' climaxes in a car chase where the protagonists lead everyone after the MacGuffin off a pier and into San Francisco Bay. Fortunately for our heroes, they are driving a Volkswagen, which floats.

* The Polish adventure novel series, ''Pan Samochodzik'' (Mr. Automobile), was about an amateur detective whose [[WhatAPieceOfJunk car]] happened to have such a capability.
* In the Literature/NancyDrew book ''Captive Witness'', Nancy and Bed steal the villain's car, which turns out to be one of these.
* Creator/RobertAHeinlein's science fiction novel ''Literature/MethuselahsChildren'' opens with a character driving an AutomatedAutomobile---she takes a nap while it drives most of the way to her destination, although she does have to resume manual control when the car leaves the "controlways" for the back roads---which then turns out to function as a submarine as well, traveling underwater through a lake in order to reach an ElaborateUndergroundBase.
* Heinlein's novel ''Literature/ThePuppetMasters'' features flying cars (and "groundcars") but there's also a brief mention of "triphibs", which presumably combine this trope with being flying cars (along with the ability to drive on roads).

* ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe''. Film/JamesBond's [[CoolCar Lotus Esprit]] drives into the ocean during a CarChase, only for it to turn into a Q Branch-designed submarine which then sails off to examine the UnderwaterBase of the supervillain. Ironically the year before Creator/RogerMoore was in an Italian action film ''The Sicilian Cross'' where his character drives a car into the ocean, so he tells his partner to get him an amphibious car next time. The submarine car was eventually defictionalized (see LiveActionTV and RealLife).

* ''Anime/SpeedRacer'': The Mach 5 can not only float but can be a submarine for short periods of time.

* Daisuke's CoolBike from ''Anime/HeatGuyJ'' can easily convert from motorcycle to jetski, making it capable of chasing vehicles on land or water.

* In ''Film/HerbieRidesAgain'', the bug is shown to float and propel himself in the Pacific for around 30 minutes. But then, this is [[CoolCar Herbie]]. Obviously inspired by the VW ads. The later film ''Film/HerbieGoesBananas'' {{exaggerate|dTrope}}s this by having Herbie get tossed off a cruise ship by its pissed-off captain and "swim" several hundred miles to a South American country, including ''through'' the Panama Canal, only apparently ([[DisneyDeath and temporarily]]) "dying" from exhaustion once he arrives to shore.

* ''Film/{{Condorman}}'': The racecar escapes pursuit by inflating floats underneath and "driving" over water.
* In ''Film/BluesBrothers2000'', the updated Bluesmobile can function underwater.
* In ''Film/ThePresidentsAnalyst'', an Amphicar (see RealLife below) is on board a motor yacht owned by the Canadian Secret Service and commandeered by a Russian spy, and used for a trip onto land.
* Mr. and Mrs. Cortez's SUV from ''Film/SpyKids1''.
* ''Film/CannonballRunII'' has one team's car (a Mitsubishi Starion) become submersible after it's driven into a lake. Interesting to note that the driver is played by Richard Kiel, who played "Jaws" in ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe''.

* An Amphicar owned by the protagonists becomes an important item in the film ''Film/CadillacMoon'' (it allows the agoraphobic mother to give chase to her husband and son as they go on a [[RoadTripPlot road trip]] to reach a certain spot at the same time the Apollo 11 reaches the moon and later it's used to escape the police by driving into a lake).
* The film adaptation of ''Theatre/AllTheWay'' has LBJ pretending to lose control of his Amphicar and drive it into the lake to prank his passenger, which was TruthInTelevision.

In real life, cars tend to [[TrappedInASinkingCar sink in water]]. This however, can be averted in fiction ([[TruthInTelevision and in Real Life]]). This trope applies whether a normal car can inexplicably float or work as a submarine, or a modified car can do this (more realistic). These can overlap with CoolCar, the AllegedCar, and WhatAPieceOfJunk.

* ''Literature/JamesAndTheGiantPeach'': Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker's car can function underwater when driving to New York city to get James and the giant peach back to England.

* The screwball comedy ''What's Up Doc'' climaxes in a car chase where the protagonists lead everyone after the MacGuffin off a pier and into San Francisco Bay. Fortunately for our heroes they are driving a Volkswagen, which floats.
* An Amphicar owned by the protagonists becomes an important item on the film ''Film/CadillacMoon'' (it allows the agoraphobic mother to give chase to her husband and son as they go on a [[RoadTripPlot road trip]] to reach to a certain spot at the same time the Apollo 11 reaches the moon and later it's used to escape the police by driving into a lake).

* In the Literature/NancyDrew book ''Captive Witness'', Nancy and Bed steal the villian's car, which turns out to be one of these.

** Then in 2013, the [[Series/TopGearUS Americans]] got in on the act building their own amphibious cars and attempting to cross Lake Ontario with them. [[spoiler:Only Rutledge succeeded.]]

** The original ''Series/KnightRider'' had KITT moving over water after April installed some gadget inside the hood. At the end, it was removed and it never appeared again.

* They can change networks and shows, but the second season of ''Series/TheGrandTour'' proves that some things about Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May will stay the same. Trying to one up their stunt from ''Series/{{Top Gear|UK}}'' this time they attempt to convert a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bond_Bug Bond Bug]] into amphibious vehicle capable of beating the UK water speed record for an amphibious vehicle. It was uncomfortable, nearly unsteerable, the engine kept cutting out because of the choppy ride and the conversion from land to water was long and complicated (it was designed by James May after all). But it not only worked, it succeeded in breaking the record.

* ''National Lampoon'' ran [[http://www.yourememberthat.com/media/7863/National_Lampoon_Ted_Kennedy_VW_Ad/ a Parody version]] of the VW ad, basically saying that if Ted Kennedy had been driving a VW he wouldn't have had that trouble in Chappaquiddik.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' : the Imperial Chimera, much beloved of the Guard and Inquisition, has the Amphibious special rule that allows it to treat water as ordinary terrain on the tabletop. In the fluff, the Space Marine Rhino chassis (which is used for their [=APCs=] and Predator tanks) is capable of driving on the floor of a lake or sea without difficulties; one segment featured a tank duel between loyalist and Chaos Predators at the bottom of the ocean!

* ''TabletopGame/D20Modern'': One of the sample vehicles on the expansion book ''D20 Future'' was a futuristic 1/2 ton truck wth fully enclosed driver's section, which mentioned on the fluff text that its ads included the truck being dumped with passengers on a lake and then rolled out of it under its own power, passengers totally cool inside.

* ''VideoGame/DoubleOhSevenRacing'' allows Bond access to most of the vehicles in his films, one of them being the Lotus Esprit from ''The Spy Who Loved Me''. Which he uses in the Black Sea mission to make an escape by driving into the waters and activating it's submarine mode as the enemy base blows up behind him.
* Amy Rose in ''VideoGame/SonicR'' drives a car which has the ability to float on water.

* All usable vehicles in ''VideoGame/MarioKart7'' and ''VideoGame/MarioKart8'' can turn into submarines if any of them land in the water.[[note]]However, [[OlderThanTheyThink driving underwater was possible]] in ''Mario Kart: Super Circuit'' too, although it was extremely slow and you only had little while before [[BottomlessPitRescueService Lakitu]] fishes you out anyways. Other courses, like Peach Beach, also had water that you could drive through, but it was still considered a hazard.[[/note]]

* ''Videogame/MegaManX'': In ''X4'', in Jet Stingray's stage, you have to chase him on your [[CoolBike Ride Chaser]] while you're escaping the exploding highway you're on and jump onto the sea waters; once there your ride behaves just like a jetski.

* In ''VideoGame/LittleBigPlanet'', you can build your own amphibious car with materials that can float on water [[note]]cardboard and wood[[/note]] in the LevelEditor. There's no limit for how the car moves as long as it is light enough to float on water, be it with wheels, tank treads, or rocket propellers.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{MASK}}'' has at least a couple of examples including Shark, a Porche 928 that turned into a submarine and Raven, a Chevrolet Corvette that can also turn into a submarine.
* ''WesternAnimation/MrMagoo'': In "WesternAnimation/MagoosPuddleJumper", Mr. Magoo buys an electric car and takes it out on a spin with his nephew Waldo. Due to being near sighted, Mr. Magoo drives his new car into the ocean and thinks he's in a different part of town.

* A quick gag on an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' showcases on a flashback of Grandpa Abraham Simpson that the city had an Amphicar factory. This is part of a (relatively speaking, [[AwesomeButImpractical streets literally made of gold norwithstanding]]) [[MisterSandmanSequence "Mister Sandman"]] Main/GoodTimesMontage that exposes how much of a CrapsackWorld Springfield has become in the meantime (and also shows [[Main/TrendAesop how quick it is for the city to fall in line and invest on the latest trend, no matter low short-lived or impractical]]).

* A few real examples (excluding the Beetle) are amphibious cars like the UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Schwimmwaggen[[note]] that page header photo is almost TruthInTelevision; the Schwimmwagen was a military version of the Beetle wheelbase, adapted from the Kubelwagen jeep variant of the Beetle [[/note]]. and Ford GPA, the [[TheFifties 1950's era]] Soviet GAZ 46, the TheSixties Amphicar and a host of less famous cars. Ironically, by far the most successful wasn't a car at all: it was the DUKW amphibious 2-1/2 ton truck, which are popular among military vehicle collectors and used as emergency and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_tour excursion vehicles]] even today. See the Trivia page for more details.
** President UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson owned an Amphicar, and loved {{Troll}}ing people by driving it into lakes without warning them beforehand.

* A non-industrial example: Floating Cubans. Cubans take normal cars ([[http://www.rowand.net/Shop/MechanicalFunnyBone/1959BuickBoat/1959BuickBoat1_files/040204_boatcar_hmed_2p.hmedium.jpg often old American cars]]) and modify them so they can float across the Ocean to Miami, using propellers, buoyant oil drums and/or water sealer.
* While [[TankGoodness tanks]] usually cannot float, at least four nations figured out how to make them amphibious in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. The Americans, Japanese and Germans used detachable pontoons, and the British used canvas-displacement screens. Both were using a Duplux Drive system involving two propellers added to the rear of the tank (ultimately, it was the British canvas screen design that was used in combat by the Western allies). The Germans, on the other hand, eventually discarded pontoons[[note]]Fine on light tanks like the Czech-built Panzer 35(t). But pontoons capable of floating a Tiger would have been half the size of a football field.[[/note]] and developed deep-water fording kits using snorkels to allow their tanks to motor across the bottom. The original use envisioned for this ability was to have the tanks ''drive across the English Channel'' in order to invade the British isles, but unlike most such... [[AwesomeButImpractical innovative]]... ideas the Nazis came up with during the war, this one turned out to have some practical uses once scaled back to be less silly. Postwar, with tanks grown too big to be floated, several other nations also developed deep water fording systems, an idea that has since been given up as impractical.

* The DD Tanks, as they were called, were unfortunately not a effective as the Allies had hoped; the 30 ton Shermans that they converted were so heavy that anything more than a small ripple in the water would capsize and sink them. However, their ''psychological'' effects were enormous. In Operation Overlord, there are reports of German machine gunners who, upon seeing what they thought was a harmless boat drive out of the water and turn into a fully operational tank, actually [[OhCrap looked up from their positions with their mouths agape.]] Three out of 27 DD tanks on Omaha Beach made it ashore, but it wasn't near that bad on Juno, Utah, and Sword, where seas were calmer, and most of the tanks landed on shore, providing much needed direct fire support for infantry.

** This sometimes led to the rather suboptimal designs, like the BTR-60 APC, which was initially designed as non-amphibious, and was hastily updated to give it the floating ability. It still leaked like a sieve and had all the seaworthiness of a paper boat, mostly relying on its powerful bilge pump to keep it afloat. Once the pump fais, its numerous leak points [[ArmoredCoffins will make it sink in about 5 minutes]].

** However, this approach has also lead to the greater unification between the branches of the military: since ''all'' Soviet/Russian armor is amphibious (or ford-capable), their Marines didn't need to develop a specialized landing vehicle, and just use the run-off-the-mill [=BTRs=] or [=BMPs=] for offshore landings. Their [=LSTs=] simply beach themselves on some shallow, dropping their tanks into the surf to drive on the bottom.

* The Amphicar, whose frame and body was welded to become a boat with the flick of a switch, originated in Germany and was marketed from 1961 to 1968. It was a recurring prize on the Bill Cullen edition of ''Series/ThePriceIsRight'' (ARP was around $2900).

* In ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull'', a [[http://www.propstore.com/product/indiana-jones-the-kingdom-of-the-crystal-skull/marion-ravenwoods-karen-allen-hero-amphibious-duck-vehicle-h/ Russian GAZ 46 amphibious vehicle]][[note]]of behind the scenes, a fiberglass reproduction thereof[[/note]] (see RealLife section) is used as a getaway car down a river and over three waterfalls.

* In ''Film/HerbieRidesAgain'', the bug is shown to float and propel itself in the Pacific for around 30 minutes. But, this is [[CoolCar Herbie]]. Obviously inspired by the VW ads. The later film ''Film/HerbieGoesBananas'' {{exaggerate|dTrope}}s this by having Herbie being tossed off a cruise ship by its pissed-off captain and "swim" several hundred miles to a South American country, including ''through'' the Panama Canal, only apparently ([[DisneyDeath and temporarily]]) "dying" from exhaustion once he arrives to shore.

* The Japanese and later the Soviets went the other way: in addition to trying to float regular tanks with pontoons, they also built "tanks" with lightweight boat-like hulls like the Type 92 and the PT-76. Unfortunately, that meant doing without much armor. And since any vehicle that looks like a tank tends to get used like a tank, the result was "reconnaissance vehicles" that had short lifespans in combat. The first Russian attempt at an amphibious armoured car, the BAD32 of 1934. was a dismal failure -- based on a heavy truck and about the same height and general length as a London bus, it could do ten miles an hour on land and two on water.

* ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'' has rules for building amphibious tanks. They come in two varieties: fully amphibious (can move in water at 1/2 the speed they move on dry land) and partially amphibious (limited to movement 2 on water). Of course, this is ''not'' something you want to try using for fighting in water- get an actual hovercraft or boat for that. Amphibious tanks should only be used for crossing small bodies of water on the way to a fight.

* The Japanese and later the Soviets went the other way: in addition to trying to float regular tanks with pontoons, they also built "tanks" with lightweight boat-like hulls like the Type 92 and the PT-76. Unfortunately, that meant doing without much armor. And since any vehicle that looks like a tank tends to get used like a tank, the result was "reconnaissance vehicles" that had short lifespans in combat. The first Russian attempt at an amphibious armoured car, the BAD32 of 1934. was a dismal failure - based on a heavy truck and about the same height and general length as a London bus, it could do ten miles an hour on land and two on water.

* The Autobots of ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' are shwon to function in the vehicle modes while underwater.

** The original ''Series/KnightRider'' had KITT moving over water after April installed some gadget inside the hood. At the end, it was removed and it never appear again.