Annals Of (Dubious) Achievement–“Ferry, We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Ferry!”: British media mogul/hound Richard Branson has found a fast and easy way to get himself back in the record books. The hirsute honcho of the Virgin group just hopped into an “Aquada” amphibious car and drove from England to Calais, France in just an hour and forty minutes. The amphibious record for crossing the Channel is not exactly highly contested. There have been only two previous attempts, the first by Brit Ben Carlin in he 1950s (in a time of seven and a half hours), and the second by a pair of Frenchman, who usurped the record in the 1960s in a time of just over six hours. So let’s see. Using a modern amphibious car–which does 100 mph on land and 30 mph on water–Branson slashed, oh, four and a half hours off the record. Not exactly a nail-biter (though he was cool enough to wear a tux jacket and a bow tie). Now if Branson drove that sucker across the Atlantic, that would be impressive…



Branson’s Latest Ride: “Heh-heh. Another record stolen from the sleeping Frogs. It’s a good thing Napoleon didn’t have any of these…”

(Photo: Associated Press)