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The iconic 'Puddle Duck' which used to bring tourists to Elizabeth Castle is up for sale 600 miles away from Jersey... and the German car mechanic who now owns it is hoping for a ferry-tale ending for the boat-bus.
Ingo Sillus, who is based an hour away from Hamburg and who normally sells American cars and school buses, has had the amphibious vehicle in his yard since 2013.
But now, 10 years later, he feels it is time to part ways with the blue and yellow vehicle – and is advertising it on the website ebay-kleinanzeigen.de in the hope of finding it a new home.
The Vanguard, as the ferry is known, was one of three similar crafts that were used to transport passengers to Elizabeth Castle. It started being used in 1984.
It was operated by DUKW and Puddleducks LTD until Pure Adventure took over the route in 2008.
Ingo first came across the bus when a customer asked him to test the vehicle for the TÜV - the German equivalent to the MOT – so he could take tourists in Berlin on tours of the river.
Pictured: The Puddle Duck on dry land in Neu Gülze, in the North of Germany.
Ingo said it was "completely impossible" to approve the Puddle Duck for this purpose.
"But the vehicle was then parked in Berlin and it was just stored there, in a car park, until it couldn't stay there any longer.
"So I said OK, bring it to me and then we'll think about what we're going to do."
He had the Vanguard transported on a specialised lorry and delivered to his shop, an hour away from Hamburg.
"Then another customer came along, but he never picked it up either.
"And then at some point I said, what should we do with it now? Well, it's a bit older now and he said he wasn’t getting anywhere.
"So, I took it over and had the idea of maybe making a fish restaurant out of it. So as a food truck, that you use the side, that you never use it again as a boat or as a vehicle, but that it is somehow placed somewhere as a food truck, on the beach or something."
Lacking time, Ingo finally placed an ad on the website ebay-kleinanzeigen, asking for €15,555.
Pictured: Ferry impressive! So striking is the Puddle Duck, that it is visible in Ingo's back yard on Google Maps.
He said the vehicle would probably never pass another MOT but could be used on private land, and that he liked the idea that the Puddle Duck could return to Jersey.
Ingo said the Vanguard needed some repair work, particularly when it comes to the steering – but that if a buyer wanted, he would be able to do it himself and help arrange transport to the island.
"I have respect for it, that’s why I think you don’t need to scrap something like this.
"I only need one buyer, that’s why I’m not giving up and I’m trying to find someone who’ll really appreciate it."
You can read the sale listing HERE.
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