A new bill under proposal says cars that work on both land and water could save lives in flood-prone regions
https://www.carscoops.com/author/chris-chilton-cc/
by Chris Chilton
September 20, 2024 at 08:30
- Lawmakers in Brazil are considering forcing automakers to sell amphibious cars in the country.
- Bill 1824/24 calls for the availability of cars that work on land and water, claiming they could save lives in areas prone to flooding.
- The proposal still needs analysis and has to be approved by the House and the Senate before it can become law.
While European lawmakers have spent the last few years pushing automakers to make cleaner combustion cars and more EVs, their counterparts in Brazil have another agenda. They’re considering forcing automakers to sell amphibious cars.
No, the country’s politicians haven’t been licking one too many tree frogs, they – or at least some of them – really think making amphibious cars available could help save lives in areas that are prone to flooding.
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Bill 1824/24 proposes that automakers be compelled to build cars that can operate on both land and water, following technical and safety requirements laid out by the Brazilian government.
“The offer of amphibious cars will contribute to the protection of the lives and property of citizens, enabling more agile and effective responses in emergency situations,” said the bill’s author, Deputy Clodoaldo Magalhães.
While it sounds like a noble cause, we can’t see this idea making it into law, and it’s got a lot of hoops to jump through before that could happen. First, the proposal has to be analyzed by the committees of National Integration and Regional Development; Industry, Commerce and Services; and Constitution and Justice and Citizenship, Journal opcao reports. And if it clears those hurdles the bill then has to be approved by the House and Senate.
But even if it does become law, which carmakers are going to spend billions of dollars developing such a niche vehicle? There have been multiple attempts to market amphibious cars before, but they never really caught on. The most famous is probably the Amphicar, a small German convertible from the early 1960s. A total of 3,878 units were built, most of them going to the US.
Forty years later, Gibbs produced the Aquada (top image), which sold in tiny numbers. But the company’s later Quadski, an amphibious ATV was seen by millions watching TV’s Top Gear when Jeremy Clarkson used it to cross Italy’s Lake Como and beat Richard Hammond, who took the road route around the lake in an Alfa Romeo 4C (video below).
Which automakers would you love to see build an amphibious car? Drop a comment below and let us know.