They may be few and far between, but amphibious cars can be bought or, in the case of Top Gear, made.
But one unlucky motorist has discovered that even an everyday motor can float long enough to make a sea voyage.
The unnamed man had left his Smart coupe parked on the north slipway of the Poole to Studland chain ferry, in Dorset, before apparently wandering off.
Despite the hapless man later assuring police that he had used the handbrake, his car is believed to have rolled off the slipway.
Passers-by raised the alarm after seeing the semi-submerged Smart drifting past Sandbanks on Tuesday morning, but lifeboat crews, unable to find it, believe it was washed out to sea.
According to BBC News, a spokesperson for the RNLI said: "A volunteer crew arrived on scene expecting the worse, preparing to search for a body, when the driver of the car appeared on the chain ferry slipway.
"It appears he left the car to go to the shop or loo and the car rolled into the water."
