That really is total bollox !

Every reliability problem with Amphicar is caused by lack of maintenance or
bad maintenance by someone who hasn't read the manual.
Most modifications get reversed after a few years as owners get to
understand the cars and the reasons why the factory did things the factory
way.
Sure there are some limitations in the design (brake efficiency, wipers etc)
but try driving a similar car from the period, Amphicar was as good as it
gets for the time.
Get hold of the "60 reasons why I love my Amphicar" booklet which was
written when the cars were new to understand the above.
Amphicar was NEVER built to a price. The best engineering available was
used. That's almost unheard of in car production.
The only real failure in the Amphicar story was the sales and marketing.
The 10 worst cars thing: As explained to me by the author of the book is
about... selling the book. Amphicar was chosen for the book not on merit
but because they would sell more copies with its picture on the cover than
if they had an early 1970s Ford/Chev/Chrysler/Rover etc. that might
actually deserve the title.
1500 engine is not a good mod for Amphicar, it's long stroke (done by
Triumph to reduce cost) means it doesn't rev. Was sort of fixed in the
Triumph Spitfire by fitting an overdrive but that's not an option for
Amphicar. Also it's higher internal friction and inherent inefficiency due
to the large crank means it's not much quicker than a well sorted 1147 or
1300.

David C in the UK
(30,000 miles driven in Amphicars and countless hours on the water over 20
years with 7 cars !)


        
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