1967 Amphicar 770 convertible

Bonhams, Philadelphia 8 October

THIS IS ONE of perhaps 3000 Amphicars built in total. Production ceased when US safety and emissions laws began in 1968 and Amphicar’s largest market dried up overnight. It was made in Germany with a British-sourced Triumph Herald motor in the back (1147cc, single Solex carburettor), and one American car magazine described the new Amphicar as driving like a boat and swimming like a car. Ouch.

The Bonhams car featured red trim, wheels and hood. Unusually, and despite originally being supplied to the US, it had right-hand drive – one of just 97 so equipped. That’s because the first of its two owners was a pilot who preferred to steer on the starboard side. It was said to have been recently tested on both road and water and was an older restoration, with some paint flaws visible but the chrome mostly good bar some pitting on small bits.

Amphicar prices increased dramatically a few years ago, and a restored example famously sold at a televised auction for over $100,000. Suddenly many neglected Amphicars got restored, not always to the highest of standards. Cutting corners on any restoration is bad enough, but add water and it could prove disastrous.

As ever, a few of the best (and first to market) examples of a newly fashionable classic bring huge money, then we find the market is not as deep as we thought and the price drops back to the old level. At $50,400 this Amphicar was perhaps $10,000 too cheap, with no bonus for being a rare factory RHD.

Dave Kinney is an auction analyst, an expert on the US market scene and publishes the Hagerty Price Guide.