The Amphibious Volvo

I remember seeing the 1990 Dudley Moore movie Crazy People where he came up with a catchphrase to sell the Volvos of the era: “They’re boxy, but they’re good.“ And while the boxy Volvo 240 had a design that only a mother could love, it certainly was a durable, safe and pragmatic car. Now, let’s add one more selling point: the Volvo 240 can swim.

At first glance, the THEONOMICS Evolvo may look like an ordinary Volvo 240 station wagon, but when you see it out of the water, it’s obviously been heavily modified. Created by Theon Parseghian, the amphibious Volvo can drive on land, and directly into the water. Naturally, the doors had to be welded shut so the only way to get in or out of the Evolvo is to climb onto the window ledges and through its open roof. Speaking of which, this car wins the award for Best Panoramic Sunroof.

The car seems to do quite well going from land to water and back, especially thanks to its lowrider-style adjustable suspension system which lowers the car for the water, and raises it when it gets back on land. Awesome job, Theon!

About the only thing not to like about this thing is the horrific camera vibration in the video clips. Dude, you can build a Volvo that turns into a boat, but you can’t come up with a camera with image stabilization?