陆地能开水中能游詹姆斯·邦德的神奇小汽车要不要来一辆？

摘要：这辆既能在陆地疾驰又能在水面漂浮的两栖车—— Amphicar 770，曾是大众梦想的奇迹。它以独特设计和传奇故事引发热议，虽未普及，却赢得了少数铁杆粉丝的深情守护。跟随David，一探这辆“007座驾”的神秘魅力吧。

这辆既能在陆地疾驰又能在水面漂浮的两栖车—— Amphicar 770，曾是大众梦想的奇迹。它以独特设计和传奇故事引发热议，虽未普及，却赢得了少数铁杆粉丝的深情守护。跟随David，一探这辆“007座驾”的神秘魅力吧。

It drives like a car, floats like a boat, and looks like something from a barbed film.

它开起来像车，漂起来像船，看着就像从一部谍战片里开出来的。

A James Barbed film.

一部詹姆斯·邦德的谍战片。

I'll take it from here.

接下来交给我吧。

Meet the Amphicar 770.

这就是 Amphicar 770。

Seven knots on water and 70 miles per hour on land, it's the only amphibious vehicle in history to be mass-produced for the general public.

水上时速七节，陆地时速七十英里，它是历史上唯一一款面向大众量产的两栖车。

But today, only a handful of die-hard enthusiasts drive them.

但如今，只有极少数铁杆粉丝还在开它。

So why didn't they catch on?

为什么它没能流行起来？

Do I need to put my seatbelt on?

我需要系安全带吗？

No, no, no.

不，不，不。

No seatbelts.

没有安全带。

To find out, we're hitting the road and the water with one superfan keeping the Amphicar's legacy afloat.

为了找出答案，我们要跟着一位铁粉上路下水，看看他如何守护这款车的传奇。

People do look at you as you're driving around and I try not to get caught up in the celebrity bit.

开在路上总会有人盯着你，我尽量不把自己当成明星。

We'll dive into its controversial origins before finally answering the most important question.

我们先聊聊它充满争议的身世，再来回答最重要的问题。

Why aren't we all driving swimming cars?

为什么我们都不开这种能游泳的车？

I've owned a lot of Amphi cars.

我拥有过很多辆 Amphicar。

To be honest, I've sort of lost count.

说实话，我自己都数不清了。

David has spent every second of his life thinking of Amphi.

大卫几乎一辈子都在想着 Amphicar。

So much so that when we were in a restaurant that only served cups to children with Amphi cars on, we had children's drinks so that we could get the cups.

有一次我们去一家餐厅，那儿只给孩子用印着 Amphicar 的杯子，我们特地点了儿童饮料，就为了要那杯子。

And that's just scratching the surface.

这只是冰山一角。

This was presented to me in 2009 for my help for the Amphicar community.

2009 年，Amphicar 社区为了感谢我的帮助，送了我这个。

This is really unusual, absolutely unique.

这东西相当罕见，独一无二。

It's number one, number one of one.

编号 1/1，全球只有这一件。

Because it's so rare, I've only let the children use it.

因为太稀有，我只让孩子们用过。

But David's most prized toy sits in the driveway.

但大卫最珍爱的“玩具”就停在车道上。

And this ride has got it all.

而且这辆车功能齐全。

Gears for land and sea, twin propellers, wheels that double as rudders, marine lights, watertight doors.

陆地和水上都有档位，双螺旋桨，车轮还能当舵用，还有航海灯，防水车门。

It's even got a fire extinguisher.

甚至配了灭火器。

With so many gadgets, it's no surprise this car's done its own 007 mission.

这么多装备，也难怪它曾完成自己的 007 任务。

The water at the side, almost like a Hollywood movie, was going bu-bu-bu-bu-bu like this, and it was the downdraft from the helicopter.

水面被吹得像好莱坞电影那样，发出“噗噗噗”的声响，那是直升机下压的气流。

But we'll come back to that later.

不过这个故事稍后再说。

First, a history lesson.

先来上一堂历史课。

The Amphicar's design was based on a Nazi war vehicle called the Volkswagen Schwimmwagen, or swim car in English.

Amphicar 的设计灵感源自纳粹时期的一款军用车——大众 Schwimmwagen，英文直译就是“泳车”。

Genius.

真是个天才点子。

After the war, its inventor became obsessed with turning that wartime tech into a swimming car.

战后，它的发明人迷上了把这种战时技术改造成水陆车。

Available for anyone to buy.

人人都能买的。

Ambitious?

雄心勃勃？

Yes.

没错。

Practical?

实用吗？

Not always.

不一定。

Still, its longest recorded trips include San Diego to Catalina Island, 460 miles along Alaska's Yukon River, and a sketchy crossing of the English Channel, facing 20-foot waves.

它创下的长途记录包括从圣地亚哥开到卡塔利娜岛，沿阿拉斯加育空河 460 英里，甚至挑战英吉利海峡，对抗 20 英尺的巨浪。

The vehicle even impressed President Lyndon B. Johnson, who used it to prank unsuspecting guests by pretending the brakes had failed and rolling it into his lake.

这车甚至让美国总统林登·约翰逊都印象深刻，他曾假装刹车失灵，把车直接开进自家湖里吓唬客人。

What a joker.

真是个大幽默家。

Despite the press, the performances and the promise, the Amphicar flopped.

尽管有媒体曝光、出色表现和各种噱头，Amphicar 还是扑街了。

Only around 4,000 were ever sold.

总共只卖出大约四千辆。

So what went wrong?

那到底哪里出了问题？

为什么我们都不开这种能游的车？

David?

大卫？

There are various levers and various things that you have to do in a certain order.

它有很多杆子和步骤，必须按照特定顺序操作。

The car has to be well-maintained.

车子得保养得特别好。

If you're on the river and it breaks down, it doesn't stop.

要是你在河里抛锚，它可不会停下。

It carries on going whichever way the river's going.

只会顺着水流继续漂。

Every river has its own license, which you need to buy every year.

每条河都有自己的许可证，你每年都得买。

You also need a boat MOT, which is hilarious, really.

还得做船的年检，听着就搞笑。

Really, you need two of everything.

真的，几乎所有东西都要两份。

You need two licenses, you need two safety checks, you need two insurances.

两张证，两次安全检查，两份保险。

But like a man in love, David accepts the Amphicar, flaws and all.

但像一个痴情汉一样，大卫照单全收。

It still makes me smile.

它还是能让我笑出声。

You can do things you can't in an ordinary car.

很多事普通车根本做不到。

You can ask for forgiveness rather than permission because people can't really get cross with you when you're sat with a hat like this in a bright red amphibious car.

你可以先干后求原谅，因为谁也不会对戴着这种帽子、开着亮红两栖车的人生气。

And of course, a hobby, however niche, can bring people together too.

当然，再小众的爱好也能让人们聚在一起。

These are Amphicars.

这些都是 Amphicar。

This was a gift from my Amphicar friends in the USA.

这是我在美国的 Amphicar 朋友送的礼物。

The Amphicar community is a real close-knit bunch of friends.

Amphicar 社区是个非常紧密的朋友圈。

Anyone needs parts, we all bring them along.

谁缺零件，我们都会带去。

I attended the first Amphi meeting 38 years ago in Holland.

我 38 年前在荷兰参加了第一次 Amphi 聚会。

The last meeting I went to, there were 11 different countries and 200 people.

我上一次参加时，有来自 11 个不同国家的 200 人。

So the club is quite a big thing.

这个俱乐部规模不小。

It's a nice slow pace of life on the water, isn't it?

在水上生活的节奏就是悠闲，不是吗？

Driving in the water, you never beat that feeling.

开车在水里，那感觉永远无可替代。

Do you have a different horn to a normal car?

喇叭跟普通车不一样吗？

No.

没有。

Oh my Jesus.

我的天。

Oh yeah, sorry, I shouldn't have asked about that.

哎呀，抱歉，我不该问这个。

It's a bit louder, that's all.

就是声音大点，仅此而已。

And that 007 mission I mentioned?

至于刚提到的 007 任务？

David used his swimming car in a real-life rescue.

大卫真的开着他的“船车”去救过人。

We had some really serious flooding here and a friend of ours gave me a call and said, my son's stuck in the school, they've closed all the roads, he needs his diabetic medicine.

那次这里发生了严重的洪灾，一个朋友打电话给我说，我儿子被困在学校，所有路都封了，他需要胰岛素药。

We know you've got the boat car, can you pick me up and can we go there and take him his medicine?

他们知道你有这辆船车，能不能来接我，一起去给他送药？

Our son was also on the motorway all night in the floods and the night seemed to go on forever and ever.

我们儿子那晚也困在高速上，洪水整晚没退，感觉夜晚无尽头。

There was a moment where they had the rescue helicopters, and one of those, I think, thought I was stuck.

有一刻，救援直升机飞过，其中一架可能以为我被困住了。

And so, as I was going along through the floodwater, the water at the side, almost like a Hollywood movie, was going bu-bu-bu-bu-bu, like this, and it was the downdraft from the helicopter.

当我开过洪水时，水面被吹得像好莱坞电影那样，“噗噗噗”地起浪，那是直升机下压的气流。

David and his swimming car made it with the medicine, but the night wasn't over yet.

大卫和他的船车带着药赶到了，但夜晚远没结束。

There were hundreds of kids there.

那儿有上百个孩子。

They had no food.

他们没有食物。

It was clear they were going to be there overnight.

显然得在学校过夜。

And the caretaker said, can you go in the Amphicar and bring some cornflakes and milk so that we can feed these kids in the morning?

管理员说，你能不能开着 Amphicar 去买点玉米片和牛奶，早上给孩子们当早餐？

We did maybe seven or eight journeys until maybe 2 or 3 AM.