Museum Car: 1967 Amphicar 770
Despite being equipped for water use, this 1967 Amphicar is severely land-locked in a auto museum somewhere in Orlando, Florida. Looking like a nice specimen that’s ready for open water, the Amphicar is commanding strong bids at the moment to the tune of $20K with the reserve unmet. There’s a strong market for these cars in solid condition but also not so nice that the asking price is well above what most folks are willing to pay for a purely “fun” car. Find this clean Amphicar here on eBay with just over three days left.
The paint isn’t overly sharp, which leads me to believe this is an older restoration; I could be wrong, as there’s not much info in the listing. The good news is that the Amphicar is not rusty, and I’d expect a museum display vehicle to be kept in good condition. The chrome bits look nice and the Amphicar looks to remain highly original, down to its hubcaps. My eyes could be deceiving me, but is that overspray on the back of the rear tire?
Inside, the cabin looks clean and orderly, and the dash appears to be crack-free with original controls in place. The rear seat looks baggy but the fronts appear far tighter, and the matching door panels look good as well. No word on whether the manequin is included with the sale, or what his connection is to the Amphicar brand. On a side note, this museum looks like a fun place to spend time outside of the usual sights in Orlando.
There’s an entertainment venue near the Disney park in Orlando called The Boathouse, which apparently provides Amphicar rides to guests staying nearby. The Amphicar in the video sure looks like this one featured here, but given the limited color palette when new, it may simply be a twin residing in the same town. Regardless, one would hope a classic car museum would only be selling the type of Amphicar that could take a dunk tomorrow, but there’s really only one way to find out.
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Comments
Love the car, always have wanted one however the seller I’m not sure about. They are new to eBay which is fine but if you bid you will absolutely get an email from them asking thanking you for contacting them and to make an offer and to contact them. I replied to the email asking for more pictures of another car they had previously listed and they never replied to numerous emails. I hope these cars they are selling are on the up and up but….
Their phone number is displayed on their site, try calling if you’re interested. I got the same email from them when I bid on a Crosley they were selling and I think they are doing what I’ve seen other dealers do, which is to set high reserves on vehicles and to just use Ebay as a marketing tool. That way they can drum up interest and then make sales outside of Ebay and not pay a commission.
jmolsn, thanks for that info- someone could have just as easily gone into the museum , taken some pics, and generated a fleabay ad from it. Sorry to be negative, but between fleabay, and the 2 large car auctions, there is so much fraud out there that its sickening. Best way to handle is to go look at the car in person, or send someone. Caveat Emptor.
Cheers
GPC
Also frees them of the guarantees provided by eBay
And,uh just what guarantees provided by eBay might that be?? I don’t think eBay gurantees anything where cars are concy except to collect their listing fees and commissios.
Lots of cars for sale. Looks to be a dealer…….I mean…museum…….. where everything is for sale. On the other hand, given the few we have seen for sale I wonder if you could restore one that was trashed for twenty grand?
Based on most of the museums I have been to, an Amphicar would be hard pressed to be ready to take a dunk. I would do a lengthy inspection before getting this one near the water.
This car is for sale by the Orlando Auto Museum which is supposed to open this spring. All of their cars are for sale according to their website. (But can you spot any of the cars listed for sale on their website in any of their pictures?)None of their numbers connect you to a live person. If you did want to inspect this car, it would be difficult to arrange. How will the winner of this auction actually purchase this Amphicar? It doesn’t sound like it would be a good idea to send a deposit without at least speaking to someone. Also, this same company also owns Dezerland Action Park, also closed, so this Amphicar could have been used there. The Amphicar may not be the only thing in this listing which can swim.
And this… This guy Dizer is converting a closed shopping center to his “Action Park” but the city of Orlando has issued a stop work order.
https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2019/02/11/city-of-orlando-issues-stop-work-order-on-dezerland-action-park
The “museum” is just a front for a car dealer for permitting purposes. Good luck to anyone who gets in the middle of this mess.
These were 750.00 new.
Better to buy a real boat
Seems like these would have been more usable as a car and stable as a boat if they were mid-sized, not so teeny-tiny.
I know where there is one sitting with about 120 other cars, Not for sale, going to fix’em all up. Very nice man( about 80 years).
Yep one every year for the next hundred twenty years right.
Nice one. A blue one in like condition bid closed at $28,500 last week without running.
That “overspray” you’re seeing is tire shine.
I saw one of these on the Potomac River back in my youth. A bunch of my friends and I were swimming nearby and we saw a car enter the water.
Being the heroes that we were, we started swimming toward it screaming that help was on the way… and it left a bunch of 10-year-olds in its wake as the family waved at us. We stared in awe and wondered what the hell we just saw.
I must admit, I’ve always wanted one of them…
These were terrible cars,and even worse boats,but one heck of an eye catching novelty item.When you put one of these puppies in the lake bitd ,you may as well have been launching a super yacht !These peaked at about $125k back in 2007,less than half that now.
‘Strong bids” – I disagree. Today good ones typically sell for $50-70k. Still a long way to go to that level. You need a PPI to be sure but it looks good in the many ebay pictures.
You are correct peter r. Most of these in Hemmings go around $70K. Still slow on land and slower in the water.
The museum and owner is absolutely legit. Michael Dezer is his name. He has several jaw-dropping auto museums in Miami and Ft Lauderdale, and after purchasing a defunct shopping center is consolidating them in Orlando.
The Miami museum, besides it’s huge selection of classic automobiles, also had dozens of movie-cars, bicycles, mopeds, outboard motors, pinball machines, and several huge rooms of James Bond collectibles including cars and airplanes used in the movies. Michael purchased my 1960 Imperial a couple years back and we toured his Miami facility last year. Prepare to drool!
Well, they may have been legit years ago but my recent experience is not good. Back in February I inquired about three cars listed in their inventory and spoke to a guy named Jim Pope who is supposed to be the General Manager. I requested photos and current price. He told me that all three cars were there and he would send me photos the next day. I waited a few days as I had not received anything and he said he would get them to me shortly. Then I found out that one of the three cars was sold years ago and is in the UK. I contacted the current owner who verified that he bought the car years ago from a Museum in Miami. Well, after numerous emails and phone calls, I still have not received the photos or current prices and it has been over a month. Obviously, the museum/sales facility is not being run as it was in the past.
Bill K, I understand your frustration. Seeing what I read in the papers, it seems that city of Orlando is making it difficult on Mr. Dezer to get this place open for biz. Understandably, your issues may be on his back burner. Contact me off-list for his direct email.
Hi Jim,
Thanks for your offer but I’m not sure how to contact you off-list. I did hear today from another person at Dezer who is also a General Manager named Scott so at least someone got back to me.
When we first moved to the Bronx, yes the Bronx, a guy had one onWilliamsbridge rd, always parked near the bridge, my dad used to tell me it was parked there cause under the bridge was water and the car swam every day, not true, no water under that overpass, my dad was the best, I was 5 so don’t laugh
Lol! Admit it , you still believe it! Great story. Dads can be the best!
I seen a TV show I don’t remember when but they went to a museum in Puerto Rico if I remember right and it is a Volkswagen museum and they have a VW beetle amphicar that was supposedly built for Hitler and never got drove or put in the water and they say that it was the only VW beetle amphicar ever made and I wish I would of taken pictures of the car on TV so I could of showed them