007’s underwater car is no longer fiction!

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by Alex Zaharov-Reutt

Friday, 15 February 2008

Page 1 of 4 ! If you’ve ever wished you could drive your car underwater like James Bond in ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’, Swiss company Rinspeed have launched the sQuba, letting drivers do just that – but at a cost of US $1.5 million it’ll be a while before most consumers take to the water – in their cars! Related stories Microsoft IE8 Beta 2 released: the web browser for jerk-offs? Call for content ratings on Apple's App Store Demand growing for mobile content and services Music videos coming to PS3 - downloads to follow Apple iPhone 2.0.2 not the fix most users hope for Set to be launched at the Geneva Motor Show (March 6-16, 2008), the “sQuba” from Swiss motor company Rinspeed is a submersible car that can not only ‘fly’ through water, but uses three electric motors for a zero-emission marvel that was inspired by one of James Bond’s escapades. For anyone that thought some kind of special underwater car had been created for the 007 classic ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’, Rinspeed remind us that the Lotus Esprit seen in the 1977 movie was a mix of animation and special effects: it never actually ‘drove’ underwater. But Rinspeed’s sQuba turns science fiction into science fact, thanks to the vision of Rinspeed’s 52 year old founder and automotive creator, Frank M. Rinderknecht, a name that almost sounds like it belongs to one of the villains in Bond movies always trying to both kill James Bond and take over the world. Rinderknecht is apparently an acknowledged James Bond enthusiast, and he kept revisiting the underwater car scene from the Bond movie in his mind over and over. He said: “For three decades I have tried to imagine how it might be possible to build a car that can fly under water. Now we have made this dream come true.” The car actually ‘flies’ underwater, up to a depth of 10 metres, unlike military vehicles that can drive into water but are really driving over submerged ground, and not swimming like a fish. Rinderknecht said that: “It is undoubtedly not an easy task to make a car watertight and pressure resistant enough to be manoeuvrable under water. The real challenge however was to create a submersible car that moves like a fish in water.” Rinspeed said their car “had to be a sports car” just like the movie, which was converted into a diving dream in the facilities of Swiss engineering specialist Esoro. First, the combustion engine was removed and replaced by several electric motors, thereby giving Rinspeed the ability to claim the car as a green-friendly zero-emission vehicle. There are three electric motors are located in the rear, with one providing propulsion on land, driving the rear wheels, while the other two drive the screws for underwater motoring.  These motors are supported by two powerful Seabob jet drives in the front, which ‘breathe’ through special rotating louvers from HS Genion (for opening and closing the water intake). The rotating outlet jets were designed to be extremely light yet twist resistant by using high-tech nano materials, so-called Carbon Nano Tubes. So, what is it actually like to drive or ‘fly’ the car underwater? Please read onto page 2. << First page <   1 2 3 4 Next page > Last page - Post your comment >>

 

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