Amphicar restoration on National Geographic TV

DavidC

Amphicar Expert
Just spotted that on the National Geographic TV channel in the USA on Jan 14th there is a show called Man Made where they feature an Amphicar which they restore to sell at auction.
Anyone know anything about it ?
David C
 
R

Ron Green

Guest
David,

The restoration was done approximately 1 1/2 years ago here in PA (I believe) close to Philadelphia, which was documented by NG. It was to end by selling the amphi at an auction, which I don’t believe it did, as it didn’t bring enough $.

I ran into them (actually they ran into me) at the fall Hershey AACA 2008 meet where I had my amphi in the do not judge class since it is the incorrect color. They filmed me explaining some of the amphi features however I am unsure if it made the final cut. We had to do 5 takes that day as they wanted me to say something that wouldn’t come out right, a little like Elmer Fudd.

RG
 

Midwest Amphicar

Worlds Largest Amphicar Destination
Auction price is posted somewhere in this forum. It did pretty good then. In today s market the price was great. I understand there are two Amphis at Barrett Jackson. Later Dave
 

Propcar50

Member
Do I see only 2 blades on the right prop?



Randy

Gaithersburg, MD




----- Original Message -----
From: "Midwest Amphicar" <>
To: rdboggie@comcast.net
Sent: Thursday, January 14, 2010 9:12:41 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: RE: [General Amphicar Discussion-t-20667] Re: Amphicar restoration on National Geographic TV


Man-Made | Amphicar | National Geographic Channel
Here is the link. Interesting prop issue! Makes Me want to get a car done for Me. Later Dave the Wave
 

boogerballs

New Member
Yep, first time in the water they broke a blade off the prop on a submerged
tree limb or something.

Jeff

_____

From: Propcar50 [mailto:]
Sent: Thursday, January 14, 2010 10:01 AM
To: boogerballs@gmail.com
Subject: RE: [General Amphicar Discussion-t-20667] Re: Amphicar restoration
on National Geographic TV


Do I see only 2 blades on the right prop?



Randy

Gaithersburg, MD
 
This is great. Thanks for sending this over. Just think? He
restored this Amphi in 12 weeks? I'm impressed!! Mine only took 3-4
years AND the doors still don't close properly. Ina
On Jan 14, 2010, at 9:12 AM, Midwest Amphicar wrote:


> Man-Made | Amphicar | National Geographic Channel
> Here is the link. Interesting prop issue! Makes Me want to get a car
> done for Me. Later Dave the Wave
>
>
>
 
R

Ron Green

Guest
Nice show and good job, Ron! Smooth, suave, sophisticated .. .. .. stand back Brad Pitt!
--Larry


Larry, Brad Pitt has nothing to fear from Elmer Fudd Green. Tom Laferriere did an excellent job.

As usual they didn't get some of the facts correct even though they had them, plus they cut everything out regarding the club. Creating drama seemed to be the main goal.

I met his "professional" restorer and told him that it would be a lot tougher then he could imagine to correctly put it back together, and they all laughed. Seeing how they installed the rear axles and a few other things makes one wonder if it truly is mechanically sound? I even told them where to obtain a navigation light (and warned them about to high of wattage) but once again they reminded me that they are true " professionals". Overall it was a decent portrayal of the amphi.

RG
 

Tommy in Tampa

Amphicar Expert
Good job Ron, Proves you need a real Amphi mechanic.
But a good show that was interseting.
Made room arrangements today for MT. DORA WOO WOO
 

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Craig_Parada

Gold Subscriber
I watched the whole episode, but it doesn't seem available after the broadcast showing.
I suppose there's something to learn from their attitude of just getting it done on time. This wasn't it.
There's an engineering aphorism about the three variables on any project: time, cost, and quality: you can't have it all. You can increase quality and reduce cost, but it will take more time. You can get quality and speed, but it will be expensive. You can faster and cheaper, but lose quality.
These folks put so much into speed, that it was expensive and of dubious quality. Maybe that's a bit harsh, but watching them pound that swing arm was painfully like the foolish impatience of my own learning about machinery as a teenager. Their clear-coating over the approximated paint color made me gag. Publicly blaming his suppliers for their own lack of research, planning and basic understanding was just rude.
Still, listening to all the crass lust for high profit made me smile, though. Profit was the only thing they really seemed to care about, and that was denied by their own hubris.

Craig in Alviso
1964 (Helblau), four years on and over budget;
and when I'm finally done, we'll find out about quality...
 

Cap'n John

Member
Re: Amphicar restorationon National Geographic TV

Craig, FINALLY somebody who understands what I've been saying for years! As I am also of an Engineering background I fully understand this. When I do a restoration and the question comes up about time, I tell them it gets done when its up to my standards and no sooner. So far I have had only satisfied customers who were once in a rush and now value the quality of the job over getting a sub-Standard product sooner. Finesse is an important tool, as well as proper application of profanity along with RTFM! ;)
Sent from my BlackBerry

-----Original Message-----
From: Craig Parada <>
Date: Wed, 3 Feb 2010 09:39:07
To: <rma@amphicar.com>
Subject: RE: [General Amphicar Discussion-t-20667] Re: Amphicar restoration
on National Geographic TV

I watched the whole episode, but it doesn't seem available after the broadcast showing.
I suppose there's something to learn from their attitude of just getting it done on time. This wasn't it.
There's an engineering aphorism about the three variables on any project: time, cost, and quality: you can't have it all. You can increase quality and reduce cost, but it will take more time. You can get quality and speed, but it will be expensive. You can faster and cheaper, but lose quality.
These folks put so much into speed, that it was expensive and of dubious quality. Maybe that's a bit harsh, but watching them pound that swing arm was painfully like the foolish impatience of my own learning about machinery as a teenager. Their clear-coating over the approximated paint color made me gag. Publicly blaming his suppliers for their own lack of research, planning and basic understanding was just rude.
Still, listening to all the crass lust for high profit made me smile, though. Profit was the only thing they really seemed to care about, and that was denied by their own hubris.

Craig in Alviso
1964 (Helblau), four years on and over budget;
and when I'm finally done, we'll find out about quality...
 

gzink

Member
Looking for wheel cyl piston

Anyone have Front wheel cylinder piston they would sell? Even entire old wheel cylinder no matter condition as long as it has piston would be welcome. I somehow broke off or unscrewed forked tip and lost it. Contact me off list if you have.
Greg Zinkosky (Michigan) g_zink_us@yahoo.com
248-935-2264
 

Pufahl

New Member
Looking for wheel cyl piston

Hello ,

this is Holger from Germany , Gordons has them , i also can by new here in
Germany , but will be ca. 60,- Euro p.P. plus shipping .

Regards Holger



2010/2/3 gzink <>


> Anyone have Front wheel cylinder piston they would sell? Even entire old
> wheel cylinder no matter condition as long as it has piston would be
> welcome. I somehow broke off or unscrewed forked tip and lost it. Contact me
> off list if you have.
> Greg Zinkosky (Michigan) g_zink_us@yahoo.com
> 248-935-2264
>
>
>



--
Vielen Dank Holger
Tel. 0049 (0) 171 6031818
 

Pufahl

New Member
Looking for wheel cyl piston

only piston you also can use another from 22 mm from VW or Mercedes , think
they are the same , may be Pagode rear ? check the size from Mercedes
pistons ...

Holger

2010/2/3 Pufahl <>


> Hello ,
>
> this is Holger from Germany , Gordons has them , i also can by new here in
> Germany , but will be ca. 60,- Euro p.P. plus shipping .
>
> Regards Holger
>
>
>
> 2010/2/3 gzink <>
>
>
> Quote:
> > Anyone have Front wheel cylinder piston they would sell? Even entire
> old
> > wheel cylinder no matter condition as long as it has piston would be
> > welcome. I somehow broke off or unscrewed forked tip and lost it. Contact
> me
> > off list if you have.
> > Greg Zinkosky (Michigan) g_zink_us@yahoo.com
> > 248-935-2264
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> --
> Vielen Dank Holger
> Tel. 0049 (0) 171 6031818
>
>
>



--
Vielen Dank Holger
Tel. 0049 (0) 171 6031818
 

azpaul50

Member
Not disputing your observations about the series, the relationships mentioned apply to mass manufacturing. With more or less no published concourse standard (or certifying authority) for Amphicars, "quality" is pretty much left to subjective judgement of the builder (or buyer). "Quality" is also defined as the expectation for select attributes of the product (durability, originality, workmanship etc.) for the price. Their bad judgement was more an overestimation of sales value than the actual restoration itself. - azpaul50



To: azpaul50@hotmail.com
Subject: RE: [General Amphicar Discussion-t-20667] Re: Amphicar restoration on National Geographic TV
Date: Wed, 3 Feb 2010 04:39:07 -0500
From:




I watched the whole episode, but it doesn't seem available after the broadcast showing.
I suppose there's something to learn from their attitude of just getting it done on time. This wasn't it.
There's an engineering aphorism about the three variables on any project: time, cost, and quality: you can't have it all. You can increase quality and reduce cost, but it will take more time. You can get quality and speed, but it will be expensive. You can faster and cheaper, but lose quality.
These folks put so much into speed, that it was expensive and of dubious quality. Maybe that's a bit harsh, but watching them pound that swing arm was painfully like the foolish impatience of my own learning about machinery as a teenager. Their clear-coating over the approximated paint color made me gag. Publicly blaming his suppliers for their own lack of research, planning and basic understanding was just rude.
Still, listening to all the crass lust for high profit made me smile, though. Profit was the only thing they really seemed to care about, and that was denied by their own hubris.

Craig in Alviso
1964 (Helblau), four years on and over budget;
and when I'm finally done, we'll find out about quality...



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Hotmail: Trusted email with Microsoft’s powerful SPAM protection.
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Midwest Amphicar

Worlds Largest Amphicar Destination
Was the water test in fresh or salt water? Car is currently on Ebay.
1967 Other Makes Other Convertible




Car is nice looking but pics show many variances from original. Still mine is rusty and non running and theirs is done. Later Dave the Wave
 
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