Unusual. An amphibious car "made in France" for sale

This amphibious Hobbycar B612 will be offered for sale.

A rare Hobbycar B612, a French amphibious car from the 1990s, will be auctioned in Paris on October 24, 2021. Powered by a Peugeot diesel engine and two hydrojets, it bears witness to an ephemeral industrial adventure.

The Automobiles on the Fields auction of the Artcurial house, to be held on October 24 in Paris, will be an opportunity to get your hands on an astonishing amphibious car, French what is more : a Hobbycar B612. Now forgotten, the Hobbycar brand had great ambitions in the 1990s.

Hobbycar B612 cockpit — Once on the water, the B612 is controlled using a joystick.

Hobbycar, an emerging brand quickly cast

Hobbycar was founded in 1990 by a former Renault F1 engineer named François Wardavoir and funded by his friend Serge Desmarais. The B612, the manufacturer’s first car, was also a boat. Its composite chassis and four-seater cabin, with retractable windshield and folding seats, was covered with a waterproof double shell. On the road, the car moved with the force of a four-cylinder 1.9 L Peugeot 92 hp diesel in a central position. Citroën hydropneumatic suspension and all-wheel drive made the B612 a go-anywhere. Once on the water, this surprising ship was propelled by two hydrojets and could reach around 15 km / h. Announced with a model in 1990, this all-terrain vehicle was launched in 1994; it was produced in France in Thenay in the Loir-et-Cher. Its price, which today would be equivalent to around € 80,000, intended it for a wealthy clientele in addition to being limited.

Hobbycar B612 seats — The shell seats can be folded into the floor.

Hobbycar B612 engine — The Peugeot diesel engine is at the center of the vehicle.

This positioning, reliability problems and the industrial-economic difficulties inherent in these nascent projects quickly got the better of the adventure. Hobbycar was placed in receivership at the end of 1994 and filed for bankruptcy in 1995 when variants of the B612 (for the army in particular) as well as a minivan called Passport were in development. About sixty B612s were assembled and only about twenty remain today in France., including the one that is about to be put on sale.

One of the latest Hobbycar

Hobbycar B612 brochure — This copy is accompanied by original documentation.

It was in 2002, after the bankruptcy of Hobbycar, that the first owner of this B612 acquired it. He had to complete the assembly of the vehicle himself. The latter was then sold to a Belgian collector, before being purchased in 2011 by its current owner. Registered in France, this B612 has driven very little. It was revised in 2016. Offered without a reserve price, it is estimated between € 30,000 and € 40,000.