Spy Review

A company by the name of Rinspeed has become the first to develop a car that can run underwater. This brings back memories of the scene with Roger Moore in James Bond film ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ where his car plaunges into the water and transforms into a submarine, only this time its for real and not on the big screen.

The car known as sQuba can run as deep as 30 feet with driver (and passengers) required to wear a mask attached to an oxygen tank in the car. The car uses several electrical motors or propellers to move it whilst under water.

The bad news is that the man who designed the car, Frank Rinderknecht, claims there are no plans to develop such cars on a commercial basis, though he has spoken to large car manufucterers about the possibility of developing a handful of such cars, possibly as a novelty item for those that can afford it with an indication price below that of a new Rolls, if they were to be built of course. Experts, however, quashed the idea of a commercial car due to the impracticality of it.

Demonstration of the Car in Use

I am sceptical of the idea because I also don’t see the pratical aspect of a car like this. There must also be safety concerns as water resistance can make it impossible to open doors in case of an emergency, although it is likely they would have taken that into consideration when building the car. We are told the car will automatically float to the top becuase of the mechanics to do that are in place. If a driver wants to ride under water then it must be steered that way otherwise it is supposed to float at the top

Do people really need to drive under water? It may lighten the traffic on the streets of London if some us were were floating across the Thames rather than gridlocking its roads, though! Having said that, at speeds of around 5MPH when floating and even slower when under water, I think its safe to assume people would rather face the gridlocks. If they wanted to travel at those speeds, surely the comfort of boat would be a better option than get their clothes wet in a car.

The car is being showcased in Geneva Auto Show next month.