All I want for Christmas this year!

Here is something that might just catch your eye sometime soon on an South Carolina lake or even the intercostal waterway, an aquatic car. Unlike the $300,000 Aquada piloted across the English Channel by Sir Richard Branson, the"Hydra-Spyder will be more affordable (base price is 155k) and mass produced. The amphibious auto is being built in an unlikely looking South Carolina factory off of I-95 near Bluffton. Cool Amphibious Manufacturers International LLC founder John Giljam is excited about its prospects.

Giljam tingles at the idea of anglers taking their cars out on lakes for a day of fishing; of rush-hour commuters bypassing congestion by taking a river as an alternate route; of water-skiers bouncing along in the wake of a speedboat with four wheels.

No word yet if a casting deck is an option for the fly angler. If you decide to purchase one, you should be prepared for some stares:

One afternoon, moments after rolling the Hydra Spyder smoothly off a dock in Bluffton, South Carolina, John Giljam remembers how "a lady came running pell-mell down the dock, screaming: 'Don't worry! We've called 911! The fire department is on its way!"'

If a sport car is not your speed, perhaps they could interest you in a floating bus?


Here is a link to the CNN.Com / Associated Press article (Photo Courtesy of Cool Amphibious Manufacturers International LLC)