While legend has it the original Volkswagen Beetle could float, Chevrolet's rear-engined answer to the Beetle and its many variants never developed a similar reputation. However, if a couple of imaginative GM engineers had their way, it very well might have, given that the prototype they built - the Corphibian amphibious Corvan, which will head to auction in January - actually kept above the waves.

Richard E. Hulten and Roger D. Holm likely drew inspiration from another rear-engined German vehicle, however. The Triumph-powered Amphicar washed up on American shores in 1961, and though it didn't come anywhere close to the Volkswagen's sales volume, it nevertheless generated plenty of interest, surely enough to reach Hulten and Holm, two GM engineers who decided to give the Amphicar some home-grown competition.

Here's the story of one aftermarket garage that turned VWs into vessels.