Just in case you thought you'd seen everything on eBay

[TonyHuntimer]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQitemZ330449878945

Have it for a pittance of $565,000!

Tony Huntimer
RaceHome.com

[derekf]

"I have always wanted a hybrid between a car and a boat, and I have spent years of my life building a car that does neither very well"

[Happyfunballs]

oof

A+ for effort
D for execution

[twosaturns]

you remember who this is right? Rick Dobbertin, he built that crazy Pontiac J2000 pro street car back in the day! he was the darling of Car Craft magazine in the late 80's!
somewhere between then and this, he also was building a amphibious truck-thing (made from a stainless milk trailer!)to go around the world.
guy smokes a lot of weed apparently...

[John Wright]

Good thing he put plenty of bilge pumps on it...looks like it needs all 11,000gph of them to keep up with the water it must take on when he speeds up and dips the nose under.

[Rhino]

I'm all for a good set of gauges... but really??? I can't even fathom a need for half of that.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/07/21B29iVNNQEGk7E28KGrHqR21iYEv10IUIBMN5MF-1.jpg

[jocko124]

I guess the guy figured for $565,000, you better get a hell of a lot gauges!

[John Wright]

What!!!! no submarine belt?

[twosaturns]

this is his website, you can see all the crazy/weird stuff he's done before:
http://www.dobbertinhydrocar.com/Home.htm

[Scott Parkhurst]

His craftsmanship and talent are phenomenal.

I wish he'd have chosen to build competition cars instead of crazy stuff.

The wiring job is epic. The fab is stunning.

Too bad it doesn't work.

I remember the J2000 and the Nova he did before it. Great stuff.

[ArtosDracon]

That thing is actually pretty slick and does function on water reasonably well, the only real issue it has is that it can't go over speed bumps, at all. It's not that it will high-center, it will actually dig the nose in and tear it up well before you could get a wheel to the speed bump. Ground clearance is literally around ~2".

[Van B]

What!!!! no submarine belt?

:lol:

[GM Muscle]

talent well wasted!

[Kenova]

His craftsmanship and talent are phenomenal.

I wish he'd have chosen to build competition cars instead of crazy stuff.

The wiring job is epic. The fab is stunning.

Too bad it doesn't work.

I remember the J2000 and the Nova he did before it. Great stuff.
My thoughts exactly!

Ken

[novaderrik]

i see that thing going to one of two places- Japan or Dubai.
no one anywhere else would be willing to drop that kind of coin on something like that..

[MrQuick]

i like it....looks like the reserve is $595,000.25


don't let Rupp see that dash.

[Patrick]

So he put pontoons and an outboard on a Vector W8


https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

[Mingus]

I saw the J-2000 in person. Not really functional besides tooling around the fairgrounds but an incredible car. I remember when he made the Grand Am FWD pro-streeter. Hot Rod or Car Craft (probably both) hailed it as the wave of the future. I think it is still the only FWD pro street car I've ever seen (and that's not a bad thing). I kind of dig the IMSA Monza. It is too bad that he has gotten away from building "real" cars. As real as you can call the Nova and J-2000 anyway.

[Kenova]

I guess the thing that astounds me the most is that despite all of the complexities of Rick's projects, the damn things just plain work.
I would love to see him build something more mainstream with a reasonable budget. It would most likely be similar to his Chevy II (in execution at least).

Ken

[justasquid]

I know people think he has talent. but honestly, I don't consider it talent when you build something that is suppose to go on land and water, but won't do either worth a crap. A pedal bike would beat it on the road and a row boat would beat it on the water. the prop is so high, its throwing a rooster tail just from the prop itself, and its only going like 2 mph. Im sure it draws a crowd. But for that kind of money, I can think of much better ways to draw attention to myself..:)

Whats the point of this thing?

Its sort of like someone reinventing the wheel... only making it sqaure.

[twosaturns]

I guess the thing that astounds me the most is that despite all of the complexities of Rick's projects, the damn things just plain work.

I don't know if you can even say THAT. do they actually WORK? this yellow thing by his own admission doesn't work. the previous amphibious vehicle wrecked his marriage and ran out of money. the nova and the J2000 just barely moved under their own power.
I think the guy should just get a regular job and stop trying to live pipe dreams.

[Scott Parkhurst]

Yet another reason Buttera is a legend. He built stuff with just as much craftsmanship, but it worked on the race track.

Rick Dobbertin's stuff is rolling sculpture, and just as functional as a statue on wheels.

[ArtosDracon]

I don't know if you can even say THAT. do they actually WORK? this yellow thing by his own admission doesn't work. the previous amphibious vehicle wrecked his marriage and ran out of money. the nova and the J2000 just barely moved under their own power.
I think the guy should just get a regular job and stop trying to live pipe dreams.

I conversely commend the man for living his pipe dreams out. Everyone is forced in their lives to make decisions about priorities and he's made his. So long as he's fine with the consequences of his deicisions to live out his pipe dreams I say good for him. I think too many people make too many comprimises in their lives, myself included, so I can respect the man for deciding to live his dreams regaurdless of the consequences.

[CHRIS67]

Hmmmm. No bidders. I guess there isn't a big market for rich guys looking to drive a yellow Star Wars snow speeder.