A spiritual descendant of the Volkswagen Schwimmwagen,[3] and the Trippel SG6, the Amphicar offered only modest performance compared to most contemporary boats or cars, featured navigation lights and flag as mandated by the US Coast Guard – and after operation in water, required greasing at 13 points, one of which required removal of the rear seat.

Front and rear bumpers are placed low on the body panels (but fairly high in relation to dry ground).

The Amphicar engine had a power output of 43 hp (32 kW) at 4750 rpm, slightly more than the Triumph Herald due to a shorter exhaust.

[14] Lea Edgar wrote in BC Shipping News, October 2018: “One more local story regarding the Amphicar is that of the 1967 Yukon River Flotilla.

[17][18] Amphicars appear in the films Rotten to the Core (1965), The Sandwich Man (1966), The President's Analyst (1967), Inspector Clouseau (1968), The Laughing Woman (1969), Savannah Smiles (1982), and Pontiac Moon (1994), and in episode five of season four of The Avengers ("Castle De'ath", 1965).

In a fifth-season episode of The Simpsons, an antique filmstrip touts Springfield's famous "aqua-car" factory, showing Amphicars rolling off an assembly line and into the water.

Although the inventory could not be sold in the U.S. in the 1968 model year or later due to new environmental and USDOT emissions and safety equipment standards, they were available in other countries into 1968.

The remaining inventory of unused parts was eventually purchased by Hugh Gordon of Santa Fe Springs, California.

[23] Amphicar owners regularly convene during the spring, summer, and fall at various locations nationwide for "swim-ins",[24] the largest of which is held at Grand Lake St. Marys State Park, Ohio.

Disney heavily re-engineered and enhanced the eight Amphicars of various original colors[26] in its fleet for safety, reliability, and comfort.