A president's prank, and how a strange vehicle made it possible

With Washington, D.C., for once stuck in gridlock because of weather instead of bipartisanship, let us take the day to remember politicians are just people: They fall in love, they suffer disappointments, and they laugh. One president, in particular, was fond of staging an elaborate prank for his friends and he used a strange vehicle to pull their leg. Here’s how he did it.

For some reason that defies logic, German auto engineers once believed a lucrative commercial market would love an amphibious vehicle. In 1960, a small factory outside Berlin began making the Amphicar, combining “amphibious” and “car” in a name as appealing as the product.