by Gabrielle DeSantis

From converted jet-ski scooters to Jeep-inspired Panthers, the idea of combining car and boat has lead to some interesting creations. Some, like the Amphicar, reached full-scale production, while others remain intriguing one-offs. And now, one of these unique amphibious cars, the Dobbertin Hydrocar, is up for sale.

The Dobbertin Hydrocar is an amphibious car from the mind of a hot rodder

Before he designed his first amphibious car, Rick Dobbertin earned a solid reputation as a hot rod builder and designer. His works won awards from publications like Hot Rod throughout the ‘80s, Silodrome explains. But his imagination soon led him to pursue other projects.

Dobbertin’s first amphibious car project was the Surface Orbiter, a vehicle designed to circumnavigate the Earth. And while Rick and his wife Karen didn’t have enough funds to complete the journey, they covered a significant distance, Silodrome notes. The duo covered 27,300 miles on land and 3000 miles on the water, visiting 28 countries and 38 states. And after returning, Dobbertin sold it along with several hot rods to fund his next build, the Hydrocar, Wired reports.

The Dobbertin Hydrocar wasn’t designed as a circumnavigating survival vehicle, Silodrome says. Although it incorporates lessons learned from the Surface Orbiter, it’s more like a speedboat in comparison. Given what it’s made out of and what powers it, that’s an understandable statement.

Under its wild looks is a Chevrolet V8 and so much more

Under its aluminum body panels, the Dobbertin Hydrocar is built on a stainless-steel tubular-frame chassis, Motor1 reports. And it’s powered by a 9.4-liter all-aluminum World/Merlin Chevrolet V8 rated at 762 hp and 712 lb-ft of torque.

On land, that power goes to the front wheels via a four-speed automatic transmission and an Atlas transfer case. Said transfer case is also what sends power to the propeller via an Arneson Surface Drive when in the water. All this gives the Hydrocar a claimed land top speed of 125 mph, and an aquatic top speed of 60 mph.

But the Chevrolet V8 isn’t the only party trick the Dobbertin Hydrocar offers. The amphibious car has pneumatic suspension, four-wheel disc brakes, and rear-wheel steering, The Drive notes. And those aluminum side panels also double as articulating pontoons. However, despite its size, the Hydrocar only has two seats (Recaros), and no climate control, The Drive points out. Though having gullwing doors as cabin access might soften the blow on that last part.

The Dobbertin Hydrocar is up for sale—again

If the Dobbertin Hydrocar’s design and/or looks strike your fancy, you’re in luck. As of this writing, Barrett-Jackson plans to sell the amphibious car off at its 2021 Las Vegas Auction with an accompanying custom trailer. The auction runs from June 17-19, 2021, and the Hydrocar is listed with no reserve.

Given its unique nature, it’s tough to say how much the Hydrocar will go for. However, it’s worth noting that this isn’t the first time Dobbertin’s creation has crossed the auction block. In 2018 Worldwide Auctioneers sold it for $60.5K, The Drive reports. And earlier that same year, it failed to sell on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $120,000.

Let’s just see if anyone’s willing to give this amphibious car a good home.

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by Gabrielle DeSantis

The 2022 Acura MDX is here, and so far it’s looking good. Acura skipped a year with the MDX, but it’s back and more luxurious than ever. But is the 2022 Acura MDX safe? The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) seems to think so. It awarded the 2022 Acura MDX with its top safety award, the Top Safety Pick+. Let’s take a look at what makes the 2022 Acura MDX so safe. 

What is an IIHS Top Safety Pick+ Award?

To be awarded an IIHS Top Safety Pick+ award, a vehicle must score at least a good or higher in all of the IIHS crashworthy ratings. These include the driver-side small overlap front, the passenger-side small overlap front, and the moderate overlap front. In addition to these front crash testings, the vehicle must get a good or higher in the side crash tests, roof strength, and head restraint tests. 

Additionally, the vehicle must have an advanced or superior in both the vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian tests. Headlights, often overlooked by car shoppers, must be good or acceptable on all trim levels. Oftentimes one trim level has good headlight ratings while another trim level does not. 

The 2022 Acura MDX is a luxury midsize SUV

The 2022 Acura MDX got a good score in all of the crashworthiness categories, including small overlap front: driver-side. Within this category are subcategories, including structure and safety cage, driver injury measures, and driver restraints and dummy kinematics. The 2022 Acura MDX scored a good in each of these. 

Similarly, the small overlap front: passenger-side category and subcategories were all good. So were the moderate overlap front subcategory results. 

If you’ve been following along, you probably won’t be surprised to learn that all of the side crash test ratings were good as well. And the roof? Yeah, it’s also good. If you’re into numbers, the roof’s curb weight is 4,453 and the peak force is 22,519. The strength-to-weight ratio is 5.06. This is better than the minimum required for a good rating, which is 4. The IIHS determines what the strength-to-weight ratio is by crushing the vehicle by five inches. The amount of force it takes to do that is the resulting score. This is important in the event of a rollover; you don’t want the roof to give in easily. 

Head restraints and seat ratings are important because neck injuries and whiplash are common car accident injuries. The IIHS tested a 2022 Acura MDX’s power leather seats and gave it all good ratings. This includes the overall evaluation as well as the dynamic rating and seat/head restraint geometry. 

How is crash prevention in the 2022 Acura MDX?

You already know the front crash prevention: vehicle-to-vehicle must be good, or else the IIHS wouldn’t have given the 2022 MDX a Top Safety Pick Plus award. The IIHS tested the standard Collision Mitigation Braking System and found it to be superior. The braking system met the requirements for forward collision warning, and nearly avoided a collision in the 12 mph IIHS test. In the 25 mph IIHS test, the Acura MDX did avoid a collision. 

It also found the front crash prevention: vehicle-to-pedestrian to be superior. In the crossing child test, the 2022 Acura MDX was able to avoid a collision. In the 25 mph test, it reduced speed by 19 mph before impact.

In the crossing adult test, the 2022 MDX avoided a collision in both the 12 mph and 25 mph tests. Similarly, it avoided a collision in the parallel adult test. It didn’t avoid a collision in the 37 mph test, but it did reduce speed by 30 mph. The MDX also issued a warning 2.2 seconds before impact. 

The headlight ratings in the 2022 Acura MDX were good. Although it’s not part of the Top Safety Plus Pick Award, the child seat anchors got a G+ rating, which is excellent. 

Overall, the 2022 Acura MDX is safe. If you’re looking for a midsize luxury SUV that the IIHS finds crashworthy, the 2022 MDX is a good choice. 

RELATED: Consumer Reports: 10 2021 Midsize Luxury SUVs With Advanced Safety Systems

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