Amphicar is real all-terrain vehicle
A little water never hurt anybody.
Still, it’s a bit shocking when it cascades over the windshield of a convertible onto your lap. But that’s all in a drive in the lake for Deer Park residents Kenny and Eleanor Campbell.
That’s right. In the lake.
When you own a 1964 Amphicar like the Campbells’ vehicle, the boating trip becomes a whole lot simpler. You just pile into the car and drive down the boat ramp right into the water.
Amphicars were produced in Germany between 1961 and 1968. Today just a few hundred swimming and driving specimens are left in the United States. It was the only civilian amphibious car ever mass-produced.
Kenny’s Amphicar does about 50 mph on the highway and 7 mph in the lake, although the car was advertised to have a maximum road speed of 70 mph.
“It’s a poor car and a worse boat,” Kenny jokes.
But it’s still Kenny’s favorite car. He also owns a 1927 Model T Ford and a 1959 King Midget, which is about the smallest car you’ll ever see.
Kenny secured his Amphicar as a trade-in back in 1971 when he owned a used-car dealership.
For you car nuts out there, the Amphicar has a four-speed (plus reverse) transmission and a four-cylinder, Triumph Herald motor.
Kenny’s Amphicar has a cool, retro feel. Small propellers are visible in the back. It has fins (the better for swimming with). And the color? Aqua.
It’s a lot of fun, but not a car for shy drivers.
Over the years the Campbells have given rides to hundreds of people, says Eleanor.
“I think a lot of people on the Pend Oreille River have pictures of the Amphicar,” she says.
A Loon Lake drive last week elicited some curious looks and waves from folks along the lake, although the resident waterfowl seemed unimpressed.
After all, they can do land, water and air.
Blowing it
Three states got hit in the pocketbook big time for refusing to institute a .08 blood alcohol limit for drivers.
The U.S. Department of Transportation began withholding 2 percent of highway construction funds from Colorado, Delaware and Minnesota in October 2003 because of the states’ more permissive standards.
Since then, both Colorado and Minnesota have enacted .08 limits but not before losing $5 million and $5.7 million respectively.
The states were also unable to apply for almost $48 million worth of additional incentive grants.
Delaware still hasn’t decreased its limit and by 2007 could lose 8 percent of its federal transportation construction funding.
Argonne Bridge update
Getting There reader Andy Ruff wonders what’s up with the Argonne Bridge construction project.
“Two years of squeezing through the one lane is enough!” Ruff says.
Sorry, but you’ve got another few months of work to contend with there.
The bridge isn’t scheduled to be completed until Thanksgiving.
Double whammy
Keep your cool this week in road construction zones, especially in the Indian Trail area.
Spokane Police traffic cops will be conducting emphasis patrols there to catch drivers speeding through work zones.
Don’t think you can avoid them by hitting the residential streets. Police will be patrolling those as well.
Fines double for traffic violations in work zones.
Not getting there
Fifth Avenue will be closed to traffic starting today between Ray and Altamont so that crews can start a project to reconstruct the street between Pittsburg and Freya. The work is scheduled to last until late August.