
Top Gear’s Top 9: supercar-inspired speedboats
Need a water vessel to complement your ride?

Riva Aquarama ‘Lamborghini’
Built in 1968, this stunning Ferrucio Lamborghini-commissioned Riva Aquarama ditched American V8 power for two Lamborghini V12s, good for a combined 700bhp and 55mph (or 48 knots). It was built in just 278 days in order to be ready for Mr Lambo’s summer holiday.
Advertisement - Page continues belowMTI Super Veloce
The Riva’s modern equivalent is this carbon-fibre hulled 1,550bhp catamaran, commissioned as a one-off in 2017 for £1.75m. Inspired by the Aventador SV, you get Lambo-spec paint, switchgear and a $25k sound system as standard.
Riva Ferrari 32
Forty of these 32-foot prancing seahorses were built in the early Nineties, complete with a not-at-all pointless F1-style wing over the top. At the back, there’s Testarossa-style slats and quad exhausts. Power comes from twin 400bhp V8s good for a claimed top speed of 62mph.
Advertisement - Page continues belowCigarette AMG Electric Drive Concept
Worried your supercar-inspired speedboat is out of touch? Worry not – just go electric. This tie-in with the Merc SLS AMG Electric Drive resulted in a 2,220bhp fully electric boat featuring 12 e-motors. Top speed? 100mph. Range? Not quoted. Better bring an outboard motor just in case.
Cigarette Mercedes SLS AMG
Come over all environmentally unfriendly? Then your other option is this $1.2m pleasure craft inspired by the SLS. It’s got two twin-turbo V8s for 1,350bhp, which is over double what you get in the gullwing supercar. But you don’t get Drift Mode. Geddit? Drifting... boat... never mind.
Aston Martin AM37
A good pub quiz fact to know: what’s the only diesel-powered Aston Martin? Ta-dah: the AM37 built by Quintessence Yachts in 2016. Available with two 430bhp petrol V8s or twin 370bhp diesel powerplants, there was also an ‘S’ model with more horsepower. Handled like a boat though.
Malibu Corvette
This one actually makes sense, given America’s sports car owes its name to small attack boats called, um, corvettes. Malibu has delivered boats themed around the angular C4 and pretty C6 Vette, complete with quad tail lamps, and 400bhp V8s, plus a 500+bhp Z06-themed craft.
Advertisement - Page continues belowPalmer Johnson Bugatti Niniette
Right, let’s get properly stupid. This one doesn’t even exist. The Chiron-inspired MegaWealth 5000 (not actual name) proposed an onboard jacuzzi and firepit – perfect for a top speed of 44 knots. But we can’t find any evidence the $4m Bugat-sea was ever built.
Fiat 500 Riva
So let’s end by flipping the formula and celebrating a superboat-inspired supermini. Just 500 (duh) examples of this Fiat/Riva team-up were made, complete with a mahogany dashboard, extra chrome and Riva-approved paint. The perfect little landborne harbour tender.
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