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For many of us, spontaneity and boating just don’t mix. We have to plan and prepare to either trailer our boat to the ramp or take the car to the boat to enjoy time on the water. But now, an inspired inventor from New Zealand is promising to make your time on the water much more accessible.

Part jet boat, part sports car, the Aquada, from Gibbs Technology, is the first amphibious vehicle of the 21st Century to perform capably on the water and on the road. On the water it can top 30 mph and tow a skier. On land it can run fast enough to earn you a speeding ticket in any state.

Best of all, it is ready for a swim anytime. Drive down a boat ramp or off the beach, push one button and 12 seconds later, the Aquada is on plane, cruising towards your destination.

“People really like the idea of the freedom of being able to drive on water and land,” says Alan Gibbs, who began designing the Aquada in 1997 after searching for and failing to find an amphibious vehicle suited to his personal use.

“People will buy one for fun initially, but will find it useful as well,” he maintains. In fact, Gibbs uses his Aquada on the Thames River to avoid traffic in downtown London. Imagine using one in a city with limited river crossings such as Manhattan or Washington, DC?

Gibbs’ personal difficulties launching a boat in the shallow harbor in front of his home in his native New Zealand led him to experiment with amphibious vehicles. “When the tide went out, it left a mile of mud flats,” says Gibbs. “If you towed the boat out to the water, by the time you got the trailer back on land and returned, the boat was either high and dry or a half-mile out to sea.” He initially built a large catamaran with wheels, but soon found it was clumsy and slow on both land and in the water, traits common to many early amphibians.

During World War II, the U.S. Army rolled out floating six-wheeled transports called DUKWs, commonly known as “Ducks,” that could motor at six miles per hour in the water and climb onto the beaches to deliver supplies at invasion sites. They weren’t fast, but they got the job done, by some estimates moving as much as 18 million tons of supplies ashore during the 90 days following the Normandy invasion.

The Duck’s design incorporated a water-tight hull around an existing truck body. The hull, drawn up by yacht designer, Rod Stephens, Jr. of Sparkman and Stephens Inc., proved seaworthy enough to cross the English Channel, a challenge that many amphibious vehicle designers use to test their craft. Today, tourists can board restored Ducks to sightsee in more than a dozen cities across the U.S., including Boston, Miami and Austin.

The early ’60s brought the introduction of the Amphicar to America. This water-going convertible, known as the Model 770 because it went seven miles per hour in the water and 70 on the road, was built in Germany. More than 3,000 were imported to the U.S., making the Amphicar the most common amphibious vehicle designed for recreational use ever built. Today, the International Amphicar Owners Club estimates that some 600 or more Amphicars remain seaworthy.

John Lambert, a longtime owner of an Amphicar and member of the club, says the floating cars appeal to car enthusiasts and collectors, many of whom remember seeing one during their childhood and never forgot the experience.

“When we go to our local lakes, people still say ‘Wow, what is that?’ It’s an attention getter,” says Lambert. “When you drive head-first down the boat ramp, people think you’re trying to kill yourself.”

Once in the water, an Amphicar can run all day, taking about an-hour-and-a-half to burn a gallon of gas. The car is pushed by a pair of nylon propellers driven by a special transmission. The front wheels serve as rudders, steering the car while afloat.

Many club members, following nautical tradition, have named their Amphicars and also maintain dual registrations as both a car and a boat. Carrying both car and boat insurance is a common practice as well.

The club holds its annual international convention in Celina, OH, each July. Last year more than 60 Amphicars and their owners gathered for parades, “swim-ins” and other amphibian-themed activities.

The continued appeal of the Amphicar more than 40 years after its introduction may bode well for Gibbs’ Aquada. But the vehicle itself shares little of its predecessor’s technology or attributes, other than the convertible top.

The Aquada’s composite body is designed to get up on plane rather than push through the water at displacement speeds. The wheels retract to reduce drag. Powered by an impeller rather than a propeller, it handles like a jet boat. Preproduction models used a 2.5-liter, 160-hp Range Rover engine, but the engine will be upgraded to a 3.2-liter, generating 230 hp, for the version that will eventually be sold in the U.S. The increase in horsepower should lead to higher top end speeds. Maximum draft is about two feet when the wheels are down.

n 2004, an Aquada crossed the English Channel, doing so in just over two hours, four hours faster than the existing record. The Aquada’s top speed of more than 30 mph shattered the old amphibious vehicle speed record of just eight mph. Billionaire and Virgin Galactic chief Richard Branson piloted the vehicle on its historic crossing.

When the Aquada enters the water a single button directs the onboard computer to begin the changeover from land to sea. The vehicle automatically disengages the drivetrain, retracts the wheels, locks the transmission in the proper gear, and engages the water jet impeller. The transition takes about five seconds and the Aquada is up to full speed a few seconds later. The driver simply continues driving and steering as though on land, except the brakes no longer work.

Of course, all this technology doesn’t come cheap. When introduced in the U.S. in 2009, the expected asking price for a new Aquada will be around $85,000. However, Gibbs has also developed a more budget-friendly amphibian.

The Quadski, a combination ATV and PWC, is also expected to be on sale in 2009. The vehicle can run at more than 40 miles per hour on the water and handle the beach or trail with ease. While designed for the recreational market, the Quadski’s added usefulness in the water could benefit wilderness search and rescue groups and others who patrol the outdoors. The target price for the Quadski is $15,000-$18,000.

Gibbs has not restricted his design work to the recreational market. The research and development of the Aquada, more than $100 million worth by his count, has spawned more than 70 patents, technology that he is offering to the military as well.

Teamed up with Lockheed Martin, Gibbs has developed several potential amphibious craft for the military, including the Humdinga, a swimming version of the Humvee. The four-wheel-drive Humdinga runs at more than 100 mph on land and can go 40 mph on the water.

While it remains to be seen whether or not the Aquada will be a hit in the U.S., it certainly represents a huge leap forward in performance on both land and water. And while it may never grow into more than a novel way to get around, like the Segway, driving a car down a boat ramp and taking off across the lake will always turn heads.