Scamander is the strangest TVR

British niche sports car manufacturer TVR once tried to build an amphibious off-roader. It was called the Scamander, and it turns out that a working prototype still exists.

The Scamander was a pet project of Peter Wheeler, who owned TVR from 1981 to 2005; Wheeler, who died in 2009, continued building the prototype after he sold the company, and it is now owned by his son Joe.YouTube In a recent video on channel Harry's Garage (via The Drive), young Wheeler shows the inside and outside of this unique vehicle.

Although it looks like an extraterrestrial military vehicle on the outside, the Scamander has a center driving position like the McLaren F1 and the recent McLaren Speedtail. It also has a modular design, with a rear passenger compartment that can be replaced with a pickup bed or machine gun mount.

The Scamander was always intended to be a multi-purpose vehicle; in a 2008 interview with Metcalfe for Evo magazine, Wheeler explained that he wanted a car that would allow him to indulge both his track driving and outdoor interests.

The prototype was initially powered by a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine, but is now powered by a 275-horsepower V-6 sourced from Ford. Power is sent to the rear wheels via an automatic transmission. After experimenting with rear wheel paddles to propel the Scamander through the water, Wheeler switched to a rear-mounted propeller, similar to the arrangement used by the famous Amphicar in the 1960s.

The prototype Scamander was built as a fully roadworthy vehicle, but had not been engineered for a decade until it was pulled from storage for this video.

The TVR itself is still in limbo. The company has teased a new Griffith sports car starting in 2017, but has yet to produce a V-8 car.