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sQuba, the driving, diving concept car from Rinspeed
Our old friends at Swiss tuning, restoration, and general ride-pimping expert Rinspeed are back with perhaps their most ambitious project to date: a fully-submersible concept car dubbed the sQuba that's equally at home on the road or under the sea. Set to be unveiled next March at the Geneva Motor Show, the multi-faceted, electric motor-powered vehicle reminds us somewhat of the Gibbs Aquada and Hydra Spyder, except the sQuba is actually able to dive and navigate up to ten meters underwater thanks to jet drives in the bow and propellers in the stern. A self-contained, on-board system inside the carbon nanotube-based body structure provides occupants with fresh air while submerged, although the engineers probably let down more than a few folks by omitting a weapons system of any kind. No release date yet -- or even production plans -- for this one-off supercar, which, might we be so bold to suggest, would make a hell of a better-looking crime-fighter than you, Mr. Knight Industries Three Thousand. Bigger pics in the gallery below... %Gallery-12262% [Via gizmag]
Lowrance's iWay 600C navigates highways and waterways
We've been searching far and wide for the perfect navigation system to install in our new Aquada transformer car, and just in the nick of time, Lowrance hits us up with the iWay 600C that's equally at home on land or at sea. Followup to the well-received iWay 500C, this model improves upon its little brother by jacking the 5-inch screen's resolution up to 640 x 480, increasing hard drive capacity from 20GB to 30GB (though storage space for MP3s has actually been cut from 10GB to 5GB), and most importantly for our Aquada, adding shoreline and contour maps to the popular NAVTEQ road database. Other nice features include a built-in FM transmitter, both Windows and Macintosh support, and the usual suite of vocal prompts, automatic course rerouting, and the option of a 3D birds-eye view when traveling on land. Best of all, this new model -- available immediately -- retails for the same $800 as the 500C did when it first came out. More features, same price: that's what we love about modern technology.
Aquada maker unveils Quadski ATV / jet ski combo
You've already got both a car and an SUV that can magically transform into watercraft at the touch of a button, but what to do about your spoiled kids who want to go from land to sea without changing vehicles? Luckily for you, Aquada and Humdinga (that name still kills us) manufacturer Gibbs Technologies has just revealed a prototype product that's sure to be hit with the younger crowd at your summer house: the Quadski dual-purpose ATV / jet ski. Equally at home in sand or surf, the Quadski can hit a claimed 50 miles-per-hour traveling on either surface, thanks to a 140-horsepower engine and a propulsion system protected by no less than 60 patents. The switch from ATV to jet ski supposedly takes a mere five seconds, and a full tank of gas will give you either a 372-mile range on land or two hours to tool around in the water -- but don't go getting the kids too hyped up, because there's no word on when/if the Quadski will see mass production.[Via Gizmag, thanks Madeleine]
