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Swiss Car Designer Rinspeed Sets a World Record

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Justin Pritchard
(Photo: Rinspeed)
Swiss designer Rinspeed offers custom tuning and upgrades for a variety of European vehicles and has a reputation for extreme looking packages. Describing its amphibious hydrofoil car, the Splash, as extreme is an understatement.

It can be driven on dry land or over water, skimming the latter on a set of extendable wings as opposed to actually displacing it. Rinspeed founder Frank Rinderknecht describes the Splash's over-water motion as similar to that of a surfboard. The Splash has been a part of Rinspeed for several years, and made an appearance at the Geneva Motor Show in 2004.

Splash is a concept machine that also works, and would be challenged by an attempt to cross the English Channel. Not intended for traversing such large bodies of open water, the original design needed modifications for the record
(Photo: Rinspeed)
setting trip, mainly reinforced hydrofoil wings. Rinspeed teamed up with a Swiss engineering firm Esoro, as well as one of the world's largest plastic producers, Bayer Material Science, for the changes. Power is generated by a two-cylinder, 140 horsepower unit provided by Weber Motors.

Despite having its 80 km/h top-speed crippled by a damaging wave, the Splash successfully completed the 36 kilometre voyage between Dover and Sangatte in less than 194 minutes, making it the fastest hydrofoil car to cross the English Channel.
Justin Pritchard
Justin Pritchard
Automotive expert
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