Boatsozoku Style: 1990 Reliant Rialto Robin, Amphibious
Combining things into a bi-cultural fusion is all the rage these days. You can hardly take a drunk walk through any major downtown without stumbling into an Asian-Euro fusion restaurant featuring some ill-conceived melange of Swedish meatballs and Vietnamese soup, all served on a open pit BBQ. Why not bring this fusion concept into the automotive world, perhaps take a British 3-wheeler and turn it into a Japanese gangster styled speed-boat…like this 1990ish Reliant Rialto Amphibious Thing offered here on eBay
UK currently bidding for £495 ($749), located somewhere near the Thames in the UK.
The Reliant Rialto is a 3-wheeled freak from the United Kingdom that featured a 850 cc water cooled inline-4 and the stability of a meth addict who just won the lottery. Apparently the combination of fiberglass body and galvanized chassis has made them somewhat immune to the rust that would normally consume such a 25 year old British lightweight — and they make a great boat.
The seller of this car has left the basic Reliant powertrain intact, but added a 550 jet ski engine in the back for motive power when in the water. No word on how the spinning bits of the automobile drivetrain are sealed for use on a lake/stream/ocean, but the seller does say it runs, drives, and floats, on or off water.
The video shows the little amphibious vehicle in a previous incarnation (with an outboard motor), but the new version should be just as awesome.
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This is the combination of two Top Gear episodes!
Roll bar should have been a factory option with these.
option schmoption, should have been standard
actually you can drive/float this thing back home to America via the North Atlantic and sail her in the Great Lakes or enjoy cruising the many waterways near the Intra-coastal in Florida. Much more important than a roll is a lafe-saving dingy, fire;X, water pump and life jacketsfor all passengers.
Back home to America? This is not an American vehicle jackass…
My reading is that he's assuming an American buyer would want to bring the vehicle home.
Anyone who'd take that thing to sea, though, better have his will written and in his lawyer's (oh, pardon me, another Americanism, I guess that'd be 'solicitor' in the green and pleasant land) hands before he departs.
Ha! Anonymous just called anonymous a jackass!
i did not! – oh yes i did! – and anyway, i meant *you* could drive the car back to america, not that it's an american car – no i didn't! – yes i did! – duck season – wabbit season – wabbit season – duck season – BLAM!!!
It's doubtless more stable afloat than on land, but in its outboard incarnation, well, let's just say you're not gonna outrun many Kraut mortar shells in your simulated D-Day run at Sword Beach.