By FRAN O'SULLIVAN assistant editor
Half a world away from the London launch of the Aquada, the New Zealand inventor behind the James Bond-style car is delighting at the realisation of his 15-year-old dream.
In Britain, New Zealand multi-millionaire Alan Gibbs is savouring the international media spotlight after the car's launch this
week.
But 20,000km away, inventor Terry Roycroft is also revelling in the occasion.
Mr Roycroft's share of the limelight is small. But he has no regrets at staying home while Mr Gibbs runs the international media circus.
The Kiwi inventor is "chuffed" his two technical breakthroughs have paved the way for the world's first high-speed amphibious sports car, which comes with a £150,000 price tag ($413,000) for the first 100 of the three-seaters.
In the 1990s Mr Roycroft sold to Mr Gibbs critical intellectual property that is key to Aquada's success. And now he's busy working on other inventions at his Manukau Heads workshop on the back of his profit.
"Alan treated me very honourably," Mr Roycroft said. "I'm very comfortable."
The former marine engineer began thinking in the late 1980s about "building a car that could perform like a full speedboat".
He developed a wheel-retraction concept and a nifty power train system to eliminate drag and increase the car's speed in the water.
His Sealander - a chunky, primitive-looking thing - made headlines at the time.
It reached about 20 knots but was never driven flat out. "I established all the principles to make a car become a speedboat," he said. Patents were issued to protect his ideas.
It was not until Mr Gibbs discovered the Sealander at a design display in a Wellington art gallery that the two paired up.
Seven years later Mr Roycroft is pursuing ideas such as a mechanism to reduce emissions from engines ("everyone's working on that") and a lighter lawnmower.
And then there's a "top-secret" project. "I won't be letting on about that."
