Rinspeed Car Pictures - Page 1

Based in Zurich, Switzerland, Rinspeed's main stock-in-trade has always been outrageously fast and production performance cars. It started out turbocharging Volkswagen Golfs, then moved on to Porsches, with which it really made its name. Rinspeed surprised and occasionally shocked the world with its avant-garde dream cars. Looking at things from a new angle, thinking out of the box, and feeding the senses are major elements of the development work that has gone into modifying cars into a "Rinspeed".

"The cross-channel trip that took place on July 26th, 2006 from the British port of Dover to the French town of Sangatte was certainly an adventure. It was also the fastest ever crossing of the world`s busiest waterway by hydrofoil car in the time of 193 min 47 seconds. The world record was broken in the Rinspeed Splash - a completely new concept in amphibious vehicles."

Swiss concept car specialist Rinspeed has set a new record for crossing the English Channel … by hydrofoil car. Rinspeed boss Frank Rinderknecht drove – er, skippered – the company’s amphibious concept car, the Splash, from England to France in 1hr 33m 47s. And he reckons he could’ve gone quicker. Powered by a 103kW/150Nm two-cylinder engine built by Germany’s Weber Automotive – whose engines usually power jet skis and snowmobiles – the Splash is said to be capable of 80km/h. But that’s on placid Lake Zurich. Apparently, the 36-odd km cross-channel crossing proved a choppier challenge when a decent-sized wave early on caused what was called an “unknown defect” which slowed the Splash for the rest of its open-sea maiden voyage. It also didn’t help that the channel is one of the world’s busiest waterways.

Rinspeed Car Pictures
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