This is one motoring prototype guaranteed to make waves. Next month’s Geneva Motor Show will see the unveiling of the Splash, a car whose manufacturers claim will not only manage 125mph on the road but also reach 50mph across water.

Whereas previous amphibious vehicles have managed a reasonable impression of small speed boats, this is the first to transform at the flick of a switch into a hydrofoil, enabling it to “fly” along 2ft above the water.

The car’s debut is causing a flurry of anticipation in the motoring world, but last week Sunday Times Driving was given an exclusive sneak preview and test drive at the headquarters near Zurich of Rinspeed, the company behind the craft.

“James Bond cars were never functional: it was all Hollywood magic,” says Frank Rinderknecht, Rinspeed’s founder. “This is the real thing. It’s been my dream since I was a boy, and now it’s reality.”

For 27 years Rinspeed’s core business has been tuning Porsches and other sports cars for increased performance, but recently it has attempted to wow each Geneva show with increasingly outrageous concept cars. Rinderknecht says this is the “wildest yet”.

This prototype, which cost more than £700,000 to build, was shipped to a remote lake in Florida for testing and photography at the end of January. A cross-Channel record attempt is also planned for this summer.

The secret of its abilities lies in the car’s lightness and the concealed hydrofoils that fold down from the vehicle when it is in the water. The Splash, which is 12ft long and 4ft high, weighs in at just 1,819lb. The body is made of carbon-fibre composite.

When the car is in water the rear wing folds down 180 degrees, the two front hydrofoils fold out from its sides into V shapes, and a conventional speedboat propeller system folds down from a hatch at the rear.

Sitting inside the car you have the feeling of being ensconced in a powerboat. There are no doors — you have to climb into it — and with no roof the driver faces a potential drenching if it rains. The thin plastic seats are a clear indication that those at the wheel are expected to get wet, and the fire extinguisher on the floor appears almost like a practical joke.

Splash also lacks the comforts of a radio, power steering, air-conditioning and heating. The dashboard is dominated by black metal toggle switches which set it apart from conventional cars and give the impression that it was designed for a secret service mission.

Lights above the switches turn from red to green to confirm activation when everything is done in the right order — Bond’s colleague Q would have loved it — and electronic safety devices prevent the deployment of the hydraulic components while the car is on the motorway.

Two metal levers beside the steering wheel are used during boat mode: one to move between forward and reverse, the other to accelerate. The car can be used in as little as 20in of water, but needs a depth of 4ft to drop the hydrofoils and enter “flying” mode. It must be stationary in the water while the wings fold down, a process completed in less than 30 seconds.

“On the water, adjusting the correct trim angle of the wings can be a bit tricky because their angles when you take off and the position they end up in when airborne need to be different,” says Rinderknecht.