Posted by Gordon on Thursday, March 25, 2004 at 1:03PM :
In Reply to: Some kind of Dodge with flippers and fins... posted by Ken See on Thursday, March 25, 2004 at 12:49PM :
That's a second series Aqua-Cheetah by Hoffheims of New York, half ton Dodge Wc running gear.
The original was built with a Ferd / Mercury V8 powerplant, but when Dodge got the contract for most of the light trucks they made this one with half ton WC running gear. A later version had a raised front bow and 3/4 ton engine, but shared the same insane chain drive to the wheels. In fact the later one was made by altering a second series.
Tested around the date shown on the photo, and one even made it to England for evaluation. Two remained at the Aberdeen Proving ground till a clearup, and I think the guy at the Beechwood Canvas Works has the only original surviving - a later one where you can see the weld round the bow to raise it. basically the flathead engine just wasn't powerful enough for this sort of work - you need the OHV GMC 270 used in the DUKW to make an amphibian move properly getting out of the water. Ferd couldn't do it either as thier GPA was underpowered and overweight from day one.
While I'm on. Apparently the same guy made a version based on the Dodge 6 x 6 running gear, but I've never seen the film clip it's reputed to be shown on. Even more underpowered I expect.
Amphibians ? ask me about them, I've had three.
Gordon
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