Amphibious Motorcycle Side Car — Video of the Day

Apr 26, 2016 at 4:00am ET

By: Jim Downs

It's not so simple to know for certain which contemporary ideas will take hold and which will be relegated to amusing engineering missteps.

Some ideas are ahead of their time, others are ahead of any time.

Take this English sidecar boat concept from the 1960s, for example. People love boats, people love motorcycles, so why not give them both in one convenient package?

As the narrator of this short lilts along in his anglified, mid-atlantic accent, he dares to speculate about a future where motorcycle riding seamen have invented a new cross-disciplinary jargon that incorporates the best phrases of sailors and motorcyclists alike. Today, we have the benefit of history to let us know that the Canterbury Belle would never go on to influence the colloquial vernacular of power sports enthusiasts around the world, even with it's incredible 11 knot capability.

Posted by Motorcyclepedia Museum on Sunday, April 24, 2016

While it's easy to laugh off the ill-fated inventions of yesteryear, it's not so simple to know for certain which contemporary ideas will take hold and which will be relegated to amusing engineering missteps. Inventions are conceived by risk takers who think outside the bounds of their time. Throughout history, new things have always had to stand up to the criticisms of their period's naysayers. Like the ones who thought the "horseless carriage" (the automobile) was redundant and unnecessary. Or the ones who thought that "talkies" (movies with sound) were just a passing fad.

So you never know which new idea will "veer sharply to port and prang you right in the skuffers," or which one will land us on the moon.