In This Age of Anything Goes How About a Production Hovercraft Supercar?
Is this an odd-looking beast or what? In some views, it is hard to tell that this is a hovercraft. The VonMercier Arosa Sports Hovercraft, to be exact. It’s amphibious, which means it can be used as either a car or a boat, and will soon be in production.
The Arosa is an all-terrain, amphibious hovercraft for two
You could call this an all-terrain vehicle traveling on a cushion of air. VonMercier has had this in development for many years, with many iterations. Now, it has settled on the design and plans to produce it in very limited numbers.
It’s looking to sell 250 over a three-year period for around $95,000. To be honest, that sounds cheap for a limited-production vehicle like this. But the fact remains that even at this price and functionality it is more of a toy than honest transportation. Or is it?
Are hovercraft very maneuverable?
VonMercier says this is the most maneuverable hovercraft in the world. It features a patented control system that gives the Arosa Sports high maneuverability. Changes in terrain are taken up by the air cushion contained inside of a flexible reinforced skirt.
Tandem open seating means this is a fair-weather vehicle. Those black wheel-looking things on the sides are side thrust intakes. The side decks help keep the water out as you glide along the lake or sea. They also function as additional seating, but not on the highway.
There are steps and decks to get you in and out in any type of surrounding
The top decks also allow for easy egress and ingress from a dock, with lower hull decks to get you in and out of the water. There are also recessed side steps for hopping in and out on land.
Power is from a gas engine that generates electricity for three motors. The battery pack holds extra power for when you stab the trigger. Earlier examples saw 80 mph maximum speeds according to some reports. But that brings up the one missing link for this whole deal.
There are no images of the Arosa actually running
Scouring the internet, there is nothing that shows the Arosa under power. Even videos show only pans of the stationary vehicle. No prototypes or mules are anywhere to be found. Which leads to the question, “Is the VonMercier really real?”
We’re sure there is much more info available to “members.” MotorBiscuit is not a member. So, while the Arosa sounds fantastic, we will have to wait to see any results. The website says that the prototype should be undergoing testing right now. So when the results of those tests find their way to the site we’ll follow back around because, in theory, this sounds like it could be a lot of fun.
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