Taking The Phibian For A Spin

Gibbs Technologies, a company founded in 1996 by New Zealand entrepreneur Alan Gibbs, has demonstrated its newest amphibian vehicle model on land and in the waters of the Potomac River in Arlington, Virginia. The Phibian, a sinister-looking mash-up of patrol boat and patrol truck can transition from terra firma to aquatic mode in under 10 seconds, and reach 50km per hour on water and highway speeds on land, the company claims. Like a James Bond product, the Phibian’s wheels fold inward when the craft heads for the damp. The Phibian’s smaller sibling, called the Humdinga, uses a single V-8 and is not explicitly intended for patrol and rescue applications. Chairman of Gibbs Neil Jenkins said: “Natural disasters in recent memory, such as the earthquake and tsunamis in Japan, Thailand and Sri Lanka; as well as the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, illustrate the need for amphibians as capable, versatile and efficient as Phibian and Humdinga.”