Don’t want to scrap your old motor? Then turn it into a £20,000 amphibious car instead

IF you’ve got a used Ford Fiesta you should think twice before trading it in with a scrappage scheme.

The beat up runabout could be turned into a £20,000 amphibious vehicle instead.

That’s according to pioneering UK engineer Tim Dutton, who specialises in building these wacky vehicles.

Dutton, founder of Tim Dutton Amphibious Cars, has already crossed the English Channel twice in one of his eye-catching creations.

And he plans to undertake the seven-hour journey for a third time in order to celebrate his firm’s 50th anniversary in 2018.

There are currently two cars in Dutton’s amphibious range – the two-wheel-drive Reef and the four-wheel-drive Surf.

Both require a “donor” car – a Mk7 or Mk8 Fiesta for the Reef – and a Suzuki Jimny, dating from mid-2005 onwards, for the Surf.

It could be the ideal second life for a motor that you’re considering trading in with one of the diesel scrappage schemes being offered by manufacturers.

The cost of the Reef starts at £19,517 while the Surf begins at £19,395 – plus the price of your donor car.

And if you’re handy with a spanner and screwdriver you can even build the model yourself with a £9,500 kit.

Dutton, based in Littlehampton, West Sussex, created the first prototype in 1994 and is actually the oldest car maker in the world still owned by the original founder.

Since then it’s made 253 models – with around 15 completed each year and order books full until next summer.

And they’re exported around the globe including Brazil, Canada, Dubai, Europe, New Zealand, Russia, the UAE, and the USA.

They’re not just a gimmick, either.

In oil exploration, they have been used on stretches of beach to allow a company operating in eastern Europe to overcome the incoming tide.

And in the security industry, a Dutton has been deployed to help prevent thefts from boats around a marina in Amsterdam.

Closer to home, rivers authority personnel in the UK use them to study and manage waterways.

Dutton, speaking ahead of the , said: “I’d love world domination, but as it is there are one or two other companies around the world who make what they say are amphibious vehicles, but they just look like cars that float.

“It’s fair to say that the only people who make proper amphibious vehicles other than Dutton, is the military.”