Rare car floats Ansonia man's boat

Ted Olenski glanced behind him while driving away from his Ansonia home recently. When he spotted a police car, he smiled. "We've got a cop behind us," the 51-year-old said mischievously. "Let's see if they can follow us into the river."

To be clear, Olenski wasn't fleeing from the police. He hadn't committed a crime. He's just a proud car owner who wants to show off his pride and joy.

Olenski is one of a handful of people to own the Amphicar — a vehicle that's part car, part boat, capable of functioning on land or water. He's had it since 1991, but the novelty of his unusual machine still hasn't worn off.

He loves it when heads turn as the bright red convertible, which looks like an old-fashioned sports car, cruises down the

street. He loves it even more when people gawk as his vehicle drives off a boat launch, into a body of water — and floats.

"It's just awesome, because of what it can do," Olenski said. "Everybody should have one."

Olenski owns a business that restores antique cars, and has quite a collection of unique items, including a turquoise Nash Metropolitan convertible. But he'd always wanted an Amphicar, a rare vehicle designed and built in Germany between 1961 and 1968. Only 3,878 were produced, and about 3,046 of them were imported into the United States. By chance, Olenski found a man in Cromwell selling one of the amphibious vehicles more than 20 years ago, and tried to buy it, but the deal fell through. It seemed the car was lost. Then, 10 years later, he saw an ad for the same car for sale in Middletown. With a few improvements, the car was back in fighting shape, and ready for the road or the river.

Though it's unknown exactly how many working Amphicars exist today, Olenski said that it's "an extremely low number," maybe a few hundred. He actually bought a second Amphicar five years after his original purchase, intending to use it for parts. But, since the vehicles are so scarce and valuable, he changed his mind, and hopes to restore it one day as well.

The standard transmission Amphicar sports two large propellers under the car's rear bumper. Once in the water, the driver shifts into neutral. A second, smaller stick shift powers the propellers, and the car's wheels act like rudders in the drink, allowing the Amphicar to turn.

Olenski's purchase wasn't a tremendous shock to those who know him well. A childhood friend, Robert Lambert of Stratford, said he's used to Olenski buying "car toys," but was impressed that he'd gotten his hands on such a rare item. "Nothing Ted does surprises me, yet everything Ted does surprises me," Lambert said.

He's since been in the car many times, and loves it. "You can go right in the water and cruise around," Lambert said.

When he bought the Amphicar, Olenski and his wife, Brenda Krysinel, were only dating. She said she didn't really understand what the car did until Olenski first put it in the water. Before each sailing trip, Olenski has to seal up his car, so liquid doesn't seep in. He screws a plug in under the engine, near the "hull" of his vehicle to keep the water out. The doors also have additional locks on the bottom, which close them more tightly, squeezing out the elements.

At the time of his maiden voyage, Olenski hadn't quite perfected the door seals and, instead, tried to shut out the elements using duct tape.

It didn't work. "Water started coming in," Krysinel said. "It was a little scary."

Olenski has since fixed that problem, and now he can make the vehicle watertight.

On a recent afternoon he demonstrated the car's capabilities by going for a "drive" in the Housatonic River at Indian Well State Park in Shelton. It was on his way to the park that he saw the police car behind him.

The cruiser was long gone by the time Olenski actually entered the water, but he did have an audience for his feat, in the form of a man standing on shore snapping pictures of the unusual car-boat.

"I must be very handsome," Olenski quipped.

Entering the Housatonic in the Amphicar proved simple — all Olenski had to do was drive right in.

When the car hit the river, water splashed up around the vehicle, onto the windows and over the front of the car. Yet, the water never flopped into the car and onto passengers. Instead, only a fine mist sprayed inside. Olenski likens this effect — wet, but not too wet — to the log flume rides at amusement parks. "If I ever name the car, I think that would be a cool name — log flume," Olenski said.

The car generally runs well, both on water and on land. However, Olenski had it out of the water for about five years to work on it. He said he originally envisioned that as a brief project, but it became more involved over time and required more work.

Eventually, he got everything done and returned the car to the water last year. Olenski said that was a relief. "I was miserable without it."

On the day he took his car to Indian Well, the sky was overcast, so there weren't many people to witness the car going from land to sea. But Olenski said, on a clear, sunny day he and his vehicle are never lonely.

He remembered one day when the park's swimming area was full and he cruised by. "Everybody was standing in the water, giving me a standing ovation," he said.

Olenski never minds the attention and is usually amenable to giving people rides, answering questions and posing for photos. "You can't own one of these and not like people," he said. Krysinel agreed that the car is an instant eye-catcher, a real attention-getter. "You drive by and everybody waves," she said. "You have a friend wherever you go."