What's maddening about this photo of an amphibious automobile from the George Grantham Bain collection in the Library of Congress archives isn't that it's presented in the archives without context - we can easily find out the who, what, when - it's that, despite all of our research, we still don't know precisely why this amphibious automobile was built. Hans Rosloot's Amphiclopedia identifies the vehicle as the 1907 Ravaillier Canot-Voiture-Touriste, the product of years of tinkering by Parisian Jules Julien Ravaillier. Most sources simply describe Ravaillier as an engineer or inventor, but one German source describes him as an automobile builder; we've yet to find any reference to Ravaillier separate from his invention.

Fortunately, we know a good deal about the Canot-Voiture-Touriste. Essentially a four-passenger steel-hulled powerboat mated to an automobile chassis, a Gontallier 20hp (some sources say 12hp) four-cylinder gasoline engine and three-speed manual transmission sent power via shaft to the propeller at the aft of the boat. To transition to land use, a lever disconnected the propeller and directed power to the rear wheels via chain drive. The steering wheel turned both the front wheels and the rudder. On land, the get-up was worth about 22 MPH; on sea, five-and-a-half miles per hour. If it was having trouble climbing a bank to get out of the water, a capstan toward the front of the canoe-carriage could help pull it to dry land. The solid galvanized steel wheels were fitted with solid rubber tires, and every axle passage through the hull was made watertight. While the engine was water-cooled, the coolant circulated through the two deck-mounted radiators. Brakes were fitted to the transmission and the rear axle hubs.

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