Technology Updated

The standard

Most boats are built to a price. This one was built to a standard.

There is no freshwater version and no cost-reduced variant. Every WaterCar leaves our Southern California shop built to run in saltwater, whether its owner ever sees the ocean or not. That single decision explains most of what follows.

Flotation

Loaded past ten thousand pounds. Still floating.

The hull is filled with Coast Guard closed-cell foam – each cell sealed, so a punctured section takes on no water. Under certification it carried over 10,000 pounds, the weight of two full-size pickup trucks, before it would take on water. Swamped and left overnight, it floats level. Virtually unsinkable.

Fluent in both worlds

Two languages, one machine.

Every amphibious vehicle before it failed in the same place – built by someone fluent in one world, guessing at the other. The WaterCar was engineered by people who speak both. For each decision on the road side, there is a marine cousin on the water side – and the same part has to satisfy both.

Road · chassis

Camber, caster & toe

The alignment angles that decide whether it tracks straight and returns to center.

is answered by

Water · hull

Deadrise & chine

The hull geometry that decides how it lifts, leans, and settles in a sea.

Off-road · suspension

18 in. of wheel travel

Desert-bred long-travel coil-overs that let the wheels fold up clear of trouble.

is answered by

Water · running

Wheels clear of the flow

Retracting them completely is what lets the hull climb up on plane, clean.

Road · hardware

Anodized billet & stainless

Automotive-grade parts a street mechanic already stocks and knows.

is answered by

Water · corrosion

316 stainless throughout

Marine-grade alloy that shrugs off saltwater with no coating to fail.

Road · structure

Welded aluminum unibody

The monocoque the auto world adopted – one structure carrying every load.

is answered by

Water · hull

A hull that won't rot or flex

Rigid enough to hang a full suspension on and take the pounding of open water.

Land · packaging

Open wheel wells

No doors, no actuators, no seals – fewer moving parts. Nothing to jam, nothing to maintain.

is answered by

Water · flow

A hull that still planes

Shaped so the open wells feed clean flow, and it climbs on plane like a real boat should.

Road · braking

Four independent systems

Front discs, rear discs, regen, and electronic parking – lose any one and three remain.

is answered by

Water · corrosion

316 stainless rotors

Stainless because a cast-iron rotor flash-rusts after a single launch into saltwater.

The systems

Four systems that make it amphibious.

The transition

LaunchMode™

One button at the top of the ramp. The front wheels retract hydraulically, the outboard tilts down, and marine propulsion takes over – in seconds. Custom 316 stainless cylinders rated to 3,500 PSI, driven by a Mercury pump, doing double duty as the suspension. The reverse sequence brings it back onto land just as cleanly.

The road drive

ProDrive™

A sealed, waterproof electric drive built from proven, non-proprietary parts – so it moves the boat quietly to the water and services like any utility vehicle. Instant torque off the line, no engine noise, no fumes. Governed to 25 mph, charged from any household outlet. The gas engine is saved for where it earns its keep: the water.

The trailer, gone

TowLink™

The boat is its own trailer. Connect to any standard 2-inch hitch, raise the front wheels, and it rides behind any truck, SUV, or RV on its own rear wheels, lights switching automatically to tow mode. Only possible because the welded aluminum unibody is rigid enough to tow for thousands of miles – a fiberglass hull would need a cradle.

The helm

DualCommand™

Two 8-inch touchscreens integrating Simrad GPS chartplotter, Mercury VesselView engine monitoring, and Apple CarPlay – switching as needed between water mode and road mode. No other vehicle in any category combines all three at one helm, because no other vehicle needs to.

Built from names you know

Serviceable anywhere on earth.

No proprietary black boxes. Every major system is a name a marine or auto mechanic already stocks and already knows – so you are never grounded waiting on one factory.

Mercury

Pro XS four-stroke

The best power-to-weight in its class, backed by the largest outboard dealer network on earth. It hangs off the transom, lifts clear of the water, and services anywhere.

Wilwood · 316 Stainless

Brakes that shrug off saltwater

Wilwood disc brakes on 316 stainless rotors – stainless because standard cast-iron rotors flash-rust after a single immersion. Four independent braking systems in all. The failure of any one leaves three.

Eibach · QA1 · Timken

The names a race team trusts

Independent coil-over at all four corners on Eibach and AST springs, QA1 rod ends rated to 11,595 pounds at every pivot – nearly four times the weight of the entire vehicle – riding on Timken sealed bearings. Every joint stainless or billet, because this corner of the boat goes swimming at every launch.

28

Patents

1,500

Team hours hand-building every WaterCar

Only

NMMA-certified amphibious vehicle maker in the world

30 mi

Open-ocean Catalina crossing, no support boat

RESERVE

Built to a standard. Reserved by the few who know the difference.

A refundable deposit holds your build slot. Choose Signature or Adventure later. Reservations now extending into 2027.

A boat first. Engineered to be used.

Most boats are built to a price. This one was built to a standard.

An all-welded aluminum unibody.

Loaded past ten thousand pounds. Still floating.