Book description
Biography of one of New Zealand's most influential and controversial
businessmen and Aquada developer . When Sir Richard Branson drove the
Aquada high speed amphibious car across the English Channel it was a
watershed moment. At last, had the holy grail of amphibious transport
been achieved? The developer of the car, New Zealander Alan Gibbs, has
since gone on to unveil a range of amphibious vehicles, including the
Quadski, Humdinga and Phibian. Businessman, inventor, merchant banker,
philanthropist, art collector, adventurer and inveterate traveller,
Gibbs life has been far from ordinary. The onetime socialist became a
very active participant and free-market champion when New Zealand s
economy was transformed in the mid to late 1980s. These days he is also
focussed on developing Gibbs Farm, his remarkable sculpture park on the
Kaipara Harbour, in New Zealand. The Farm, which has works by Richard
Serra, Bernar Venet, Anish Kapoor, Tony Oursler and Andy Goldsworthy,
among others, is of international stature. Gibbs lives in London and has
factories in the UK, Detroit and New Zealand. It s a life, as
biographer Paul Goldsmith engagingly conveys, that s been a lot of
serious fun. Biography of one of New Zealand's most influential and
controversial businessmen and Aquada developer . When Sir Richard
Branson drove the glamorous amphibious car the Aquada across the English
Channel it was a watershed moment. At last, had the holy grail of
amphibious personal transport been achieved? Paul Goldsmith is the
author of several very successful and highly regarded biographies, among
them those of John Banks and Douglas Myers. A onetime Auckland City
councillor, he lives in Auckland and became a National List MP at the
2011 general election.
