Amphibious vehicle

Abstract

An amphibious vehicle capable of operation on both land and in water, comprising a cockpit body and floats attached to the cockpit body to keep the vehicle afloat while in the water. The floats comprise either a plurality of pontoons or a hull comprised of a plurality of longitudinally extending mini-hulls. The vehicle has a plurality of retractable wheels mounted to the cockpit body for operating the vehicle on land. The vehicle includes apparatus for retracting and deploying the wheels such that in the retracted position, the wheels are raised above the water line of the vehicle and in the deployed position, at least a portion of each wheel is disposed below the bottom surface of the float means. This way, the vehicle may be operated in the water without the wheels contacting the surface of the water, and also on land without the bottom of the floats contacting the land. The vehicle is powered by an engine coupled to a retractable propeller drive for propelling the vehicle through the water and coupled to a transmission which transfers power to the front wheels for land operation. The vehicle is equipped with a steering device coupled to the front wheels and propeller drive for steering the vehicle both through water and on land. A braking mechanism is coupled to the wheels for stopping the vehicle during land operation.