For that sum at the same auction you could have bought a blue-chip 1961 Ferrari 250GTE 2+2 (£78,000) and a 1963 Jaguar E-type roadster (£35,000) and still be left with enough change for the petrol home.

Of course, any amphibious vehicle is something of a compromise. Apparently the Schwimmwagen's suspension is a little soggy, the brakes are spongy and it corners like a cross-channel ferry.

And on land, so the critics say, it's all at sea...