Pontiac M76 Otter

[Fitzy]

Here is something the Pontiac Car Club Of Queensland (Australia) sent me: the Pontiac Otter. Wouldn't you love to 'create' a parking space with one of these babies on the Saturday morning shopping run at your local crowded supermarket carpark!

[Frosty]

Fitzy - quite the rare article find. I'm going to steal it and run it back here in Michigan. I'll do a little more research on it too.

I'm willing to bet the Pontiac Transportation Museum guys would love to get their hands on one too, as well as a made-in-Pontiac GMC DUKW.

[Fitzy]

Ah yes, ye olde Army Duck. They use those up around here to cart tourists through the rainforest and then it plunges into a lake and 'swims' across. I went on one when I first moved up here and it was an eerie experience being on board and watching this truck go straight into the water. The poor old thing needed some maintenance as it was just starting to overheat when we finished the tour. Good experience, though.

[Frosty]

The DUKWs are huge tourist excursion vehicles in the Wisconsin Dells area as well as in certain parts of the southern and eastern US. I've not yet had the pleasure to ride in one. However, the late GMC historian Don Meyer was a friend of mine. He took a ride on one of the Wisconsin Dell DUCKS rides. He ranted and raved about it.

[Fitzy]

Remember the Amphicar? I saw one in the flesh that was mounted on the back of a live on vessel moored on the Seine, in Paris. Driving into a lake or river in one of those things would be a butt clenching experience, I reckon. Apparently they handled like a boat on the road and like a car in the water! I think a past US president (Lyndon Johnson?) had one and would delight in taking unsuspecting visitors for a drive around his property whereupon he would drive straight into a lake unannounced! 

Here in Australia we used to have a car called the VW Country Buggy which was much the same as The Thing. The story goes that even though it looked slightly amphibious, it wasn't as at least one motoring journalist discovered.

[Frosty]

Every year in the late summer, the Frankenmuth (Mi) Autofest draws around 2000-2500 cars. The show is held at Heritage Park right next to the Cass River. The show brings in a few members of a local Amphicar club. In years past, I've seen as many as six or eight of these things running up and down the river in front of the show area. They justa drive run up and down the local boat launch next to the park like ducks to water. It's quite amusing to see really.

[Fitzy]

I just wiki'ed Amphicar - an interesting & amusing read. Here's a pic of Mr Johnson.