During his presidency, Johnson wasn’t just a visionary of the Great Society, but had a vision for pranks as well. On his ranch in Stonewall, Texas, his hometown, he had a sizable car collection. The vehicles he owned ranged from convertibles to drive in his downtime to a small, blue, amphibious car. (aka. The Amphicar).
The Amphicar was developed in Germany where only 3,878 cars were built in four colors, Johnson chose Lagoon Blue
One day on the ranch, Johnson, along with Joseph A. Califano Jr., the president’s domestic affairs assistant and white house secretary at the time, Vicky McCammon, were in said Amphicar.
The group was on a hill incline near a lake, the perfect setup for Johnson. From Califano’s recollection, the President started shouting, “The brakes don’t work! The brakes won’t hold! We’re going under!”. From there the car rolled into the lake, Califano (understandably) tried to escape out of the car. The Amphicar then began to level, soon putting around the lake. At the expense of his domestic affairs assistant, Johnson teased, "Vicky, did you see what Joe did? He didn’t give a damn about his President. He just wanted to save his own skin and get out of the car”.
We all know Johnson declared a War on Poverty, but after learning about his Amphicar incident, I wouldn’t be surprised if he declared pranks wars as well.
Sources:
https://www.businessinsider.com/lyndon-johnson-played-terrifying-prank-with-his-amphicar-2014-8
https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/lyndon-b-johnson
https://www.autotrader.com/car-news/lyndon-b-johnson-loved-pranking-people-his-amphicar-274655
I really liked reading this blog, it was so humorous and showed a different side of the president. I was interested in the car he used because it is strange to see a car in this era do that. It turns out that the car is a chassis of the German military Schwimmwagen and built with a stylish convertible body on top. The car was not entirely reliable as the chassis leaked and only 4000 models were built but it lots of owners loved it because it was unique.
ReplyDeleteSource: https://mashable.com/2016/04/01/amphicar/
I really enjoyed reading this post! I was a little surprised to find out that the Amphicar wasn't an easy vehicle to sell, despite its popularity. In attempt to boost Amphicar sales, their marketing team planned a marketing stunt: two Amphicars would drive from London to the Frankfurt Auto Show in Germany. This meant that the Amphicars needed to drive from London to Dover, motor across the English Channel to Calais, then drive again from Calais to Frankfurt. Unfortunately, this feat was quite a flop. The English Channel proved to be a challenge for the cars, as water kept splashing into the convertible-style seating area. Although the two cars were equipped with pumps to remove water, the pump in one of the cars clogged. Soon after, the engine flooded, which forced the other Amphicar to tow the broken Amphicar to shore. Both cars eventually made it to Frankfurt and were met with applause (but applause seemed to be all the Amphicars got, as their sales only minimally increased after the marketing feat).
ReplyDeletehttps://groovyhistory.com/lyndon-johnson-amphibious-car-amphicar
I liked reading your blog post! I didn't know any of this information before so I found this to be very interesting and intriguing. I found it funny how President Johnson would pretend the brakes didn't work and drive his car purposely in the water. After doing a bit of research, I found that the Amphicar was produced in Germany, however, only 3,878 vehicles were created. These days, only about 500 Amphicars still function.
ReplyDeleteSources: https://www.nps.gov/lyjo/planyourvisit/presidentialvehicles.htm