Gibbs Quadski: Part ATV and personal watercraft

AUBURN HILLS — What do you get when you cross an all-terrain vehicle with a personal watercraft? A Quadski, of course.

In an exclusive interview at the company’s U.S. headquarters and research facility, Gibbs Technologies Chairman Neil Jenkins said Quadski production will begin in the second or third quarter of 2010, making it the company’s first product.

While Gibbs Technologies struggles to gain federal regulatory approval for its amphibious car, the Aquada, such issues are not a problem for the Quadski.

Jenkins said the company has not yet worked out a price for the first Amphibian it will bring to market. He expects that the company will build between 500 and 2,500 of them the first year. The company has not started taking orders, although Jenkins noted that there has been interest from possible distributors.

A Gibbs brochure from 2005 says that before the recent current recession, the global market for ATVs was about 1 million units per year and 120,000 for PWCs.

The Quadski will be capable of about 45 mph on land or water. Like the Aquada, the vehicle will be able to transition from land to water in about five seconds.

Like Gibbs’ other products, the Quadski will use a drivetrain where the wheels can be decoupled. The jet impeller turns anytime the transmission is in gear. One of the keys to Gibbs’ High-Speed Amphibian technology is wheels that flip up into the wheel wells when the vehicle is in the water.

Jenkins said he was not ready to release a photo or sketch of the Quadski, which will have far different styling than one Gibbs has been testing for several years. He did say that the production Quadski will be a “quantum leap” forward compared to the development models.

“The one that we are going to put (into production) really is pretty special,” Jenkins said. “It’s nothing like what you would expect.”

While the Quadski will likely steal some sales from traditional ATV and PWC makers such as Honda and SeaDoo, Jenkins said it may sell to a whole new group of buyers who previously wouldn’t buy one because of the limitation of staying on land or in the water.

“We think we are going to attract a whole new group of people,” Jenkins said.

Gibbs will build the Quadski itself, Jenkins said. The company has not chosen a location for the factory, but will in the next six months. It is considering locations in Michigan, Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio and two locations outside of the United States.

The company was founded in 1996 by New Zealand native Alan Gibbs, who is now chairman emeritus. Jenkins later joined Gibbs as a partner in the company. Jenkins said in 2007 that the company had spent about $100 million developing its products. While Jenkins didn’t want to say how much that number has climbed, it’s a good bet it has increased signifcantly since then.

Gibbs is also working on a range of vehicles aimed at first responders and the military.