Volkswagen engineers underwater car for shark week

Here on EE Times, we may be more accustomed to writing about FinFETS than shark fins, but we’re about to make an exception.

The reason being that car maker Volkswagen is sinking to new advertising depths for the 25th anniversary of  Shark Week, a beloved Discovery Channel yearly institution, which kicks off today (August 15) and runs through until August 19th.

Volkswagen’s great white advertising hope takes the shape of an underwater drive-able VW Beetle, which revs around the ocean floor, chasing sharks, and getting some incredible footage in the process.

Open Waters meets open topped classic, if you will.

The Beetle is something of a cross between a shark cage (albeit not a particularly safe looking one) and James Bond’s wet dream, made from tubular aluminum, with alloy wheels, propellers and an inbuilt air system that allows the driver (diver?) to plug into before taking it for a spin, under the surf.



Engineered from the ground up, using blueprints for the actual VW Beetle, the Volkswagen team and marine biologist Luke Tipple said the car took approximately three weeks to build and is only about an inch off the above water version.

The car will be featured in a three-part short-form series to be aired during Shark Week and viewers will get a chance to check out the design process, the construction, and eventual submersion of the Beetle.

Something to sink your teeth into, isn’t it?
Good (g)reef!