zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Buying
/
Own The Road And Sea With This $275,000 Amphibious LS-Powered Convertible
Own The Road And Sea With This $275,000 Amphibious LS-Powered Convertible-July 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:09:27

I made a car, I made it swim for you

This may be a bit of a hot take to post here on Jalopnik Dot Com, but I personally think vehicles should be fun. Sure, you could get a Corolla, or you could spice it up a bit with a . You could buy a Boston Whaler, or spend that same money on a used wakeboard boat. But what about you lovers of or ? Is there no performance alternative for you?

Never fear: we’ve got you covered. How does a 450 horsepower, LS-engined, manual transmission, two-door drop top sound? One that, unlike a Camaro, doesn’t sacrifice your love of driving a car straight into a lake without calling your insurance agency. Even better, we’ve found you one for a steal — marked down from $275,000 to a current bid of $5,890.

Look at its little face, with the headlight eyes and the enormous panel gap mouth. I wanna hug it.

I present: The 2008 CAMI Hydra Spyder. It’s tested up to 125 mph on the streets, and 46 knots (about 53 mph) on water, so its performance credentials are legit. Its five-speed manual transmission send power to the front wheels, but CAMI used the originally-longitudinally-placed LS2 rather than the LS4. Is this a Saab-style longitudinal FWD layout? CAMI’s website doesn’t say, so it seems I have no choice but to buy this and find out for myself. I’ll have to start a GoFundMe.

CAMI’s brochure brags that the Hydra Spyder “looks like a car,” which is both generous and understated — it doesn’t look like a car, it looks like many. Also, it still looks unmistakably like a boat. The Hydra Spyder’s overall shape echoes the New Edge Mustang, but with headlights from an alternate universe where Oldsmobile made the Viper. The tail end is somewhere between a Meyers Manx and a Barbie Jeep, but with all the width and flares and weird bumpers of a car meant to sail the seven seas.

Image for article titled Own The Road And Sea With This $275,000 Amphibious LS-Powered Convertible

Awesome Joe Auctions claims this Hydra Spyder is one of only six cars built, though CAMI never seems to give an indication of how many amphibious two-doors they’ve unleashed on the world. The company’s shows photos of at least five distinct cars, none of which match this particular example.

Interestingly, this color combination and weird horizontal rear bar appears to most closely resemble a Shock Top Lemon Shandy promotional vehicle featured in a . If the Awesome Joe numbers are accurate, this has to be the same vehicle — and if they aren’t, there’s still a good chance.

The ignition is on the left of the steering wheel, so it’s basically a Porsche

When the Hydra Spyder was new, it cost , but this one has only been bid up to $5,890 with one day left on the auction. It’s even located just outside St. Louis — maybe you could take it down the Mississippi on the route home.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Buying
At $10,000, Could This 1992 VW Passat GL Wagon Be A Perfect Harlequin Romance?
At $10,000, Could This 1992 VW Passat GL Wagon Be A Perfect Harlequin Romance?
It’s hard to believe, but VW actually made a couple of multi-color “Harlekin/Harlequin” models over the years. Today’s Passat may not one of those factory Rubik’s Cubes, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t interesting. Let’s see if its price is too. Porsches have always been classy cars, and for...
Jul 12, 2026
13 Low-Mile MkIV Supras Go Up For Auction in Massachusetts Next Month
13 Low-Mile MkIV Supras Go Up For Auction in Massachusetts Next Month
Back in 2020, from an alleged drug trafficker outside Springfield. The cars, referred to in local news coverage as “,” turned out to be : Mk IV Supras, E46 M3s, Mitsubishi Evos, Zs, and more. After the raid, the cars were locked up in impound lots, never seeing the...
Jul 12, 2026
I'm A College Kid With A Limited Budget And I Need A Reliable Ride! What Car Should I Buy?
I'm A College Kid With A Limited Budget And I Need A Reliable Ride! What Car Should I Buy?
Ryleigh is a college student in Michigan looking to pay about $8,000 in cash for something reliable. It doesn’t need to be fancy just a decent ride with Bluetooth for the tunes. What car should Ryleigh buy? (Welcome back to ? Where we give real people real advice about...
Jul 12, 2026
At $7,500, Is This 1995 Ford F-150 A Work Truck With A Price That Just Plain Works?
At $7,500, Is This 1995 Ford F-150 A Work Truck With A Price That Just Plain Works?
Ford’s F-Series has long been a perennial best-seller in the States, and as today’s F-150 shows, that’s not because they’re wearing out and being replaced. Let’s see what this working truck might reasonably be worth. Yesterday’s proved to be yet another squeaker of a vote, with many of you...
Jul 12, 2026
At $52,000, Does This 1990 964 Cabriolet Postpone the Porsche Tax?
At $52,000, Does This 1990 964 Cabriolet Postpone the Porsche Tax?
The opportunity to get into an air-cooled 911 at anything less than a crazy price is fading fast. We’ll have to decide if today’s 964 is one of the last chances to get one at a non-crazy price. Or if it’s already too late. I get asked a lot...
Jul 12, 2026
There's a
There's a "Brand New" 1990 Buick Reatta Convertible For Sale in Kentucky
Sitting on a dealership’s floor in Kentucky is a pristine example of what Buick saw as a halo car in the late 1980s. The is delightfully retro, and you can buy one that has never been titled and has all of 11,203 miles on its digital odometer. General Motors...
Jul 12, 2026
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved