This is a six-wheel-drive MAX 2 880-S Amphibious ATV, it’s a factory-built special, using the independent-suspension Springer chassis coupled to a traditional-style MAX 2 upper body.
Power is provided by a 627cc Briggs & Stratton Vanguard OHV V-twin and the vehicle uses a skid steer system, steering more like a tank than a car. These vehicles are just as happy on water as they are on land, and they make excellent vehicles for exploring remote terrain – as a river crossing will only slow you down slightly, it won’t end your day.
Fast Facts: A MAX 2 880-S Amphibious 6×6 ATV
- The MAX series of amphibious six-wheel-drive ATVs entered production in Buffalo, New York, in 1970. Developed by Recreatives Industries, these vehicles used the Borg-Warner T-20 skid-steer transmission, operated via dual hand levers. This system allowed the MAX to pivot within its own footprint while providing drive to all six wheels.
- Amphibious six-wheelers enjoyed considerable popularity in the early 1970s before competition from conventional ATVs reduced demand. The MAX remained useful for hunting, fishing, search and rescue, forestry, and surveying. Recreatives produced several models, including the two-seat MAX II, four-seat MAX IV, and utility-focused Buffalo Truck with its hydraulic tipping bed.
- Following several ownership changes, MAX production returned to Florida under Andrew Lapp, who acquired the brand in 2021. Manufacturing resumed in 2024, with modern models retaining the original skid-steer concept. The range now includes the MAX 2 Springer with independent suspension, while plans announced in 2026 called for the return of the MAX 4 and Buffalo Truck.
- The 2026 MAX 2 880-S pictured here combines a modern Springer independent-suspension chassis with traditional MAX 2 bodywork. Powered by a 23 bhp, fuel-injected 627cc Briggs & Stratton V-twin, it features camouflage bodywork, a Warn winch, roll bar, and LED lighting. Showing just 0.8 hours of operation, it’s offered for sale in Ohio.
History Speedrun: MAX Amphibious 6×6 ATVs
The Max series of amphibious ATVs went into production in Buffalo, New York, in 1970. Amazingly, more than 50 years later, the six-wheel amphibious go anywhere ATV still uses the transmission it started out with all those years ago – the T-20, a skid-steer unit designed by Borg-Warner and worked by two hand levers. As they say, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
These 6×6 amphibious ATVs have long been popular with hunters and fishermen, hunters could use them as a mobile duck hunting boat and fishermen could explore remote areas and use the ATV as a fishing boat at their leisure. Image courtesy of Recreatives Industries.
The company behind the Max ATVs, Recreatives Industries, was founded in 1969. Several changes of ownership later, the Max owned by Americans once again, and they’re now built in Bradenton, Florida.
An early prototype used a belt drive system before the firm settled on the T-20. The T-20 essentially works like two planetary-gear transmissions side by side, one for each set of three wheels. Each lever takes its side from drive through neutral to braking, so every wheel with grip keeps pulling and the Max can spin 360º within its own footprint. A feature many owners use as a bit of a party trick.
By 1970 almost 60 companies were building amphibious six-wheelers in the USA, and sales of the type fell sharply in the early 1970s. There were a few reasons for this, the market was migrating to more land-based ATVs and Japanese three-wheelers like the Honda US90 were proving hugely popular from coast to coast.
That said, these 6×6 amphibious ATVs remained popular with hunters and fishermen, hunters could use them as a mobile duck hunting boat and fishermen could explore remote areas and use the ATV as a fishing boat at their leisure. There have also been countless documented cases of these 6x6s being used by search and rescue crews, forestry teams, in oil exploration and surveying, and they’ve even had some limited military use.
Recreatives built three key 6×6 models, each with a choice of engines, there was the two-seat Max II, the four-seat Max IV, and the Buffalo Truck, which carried two people and had a hydraulically tilting cargo bed in the back.
Drive ran through a centrifugal clutch and a stepless belt-and-pulley transmission, so the only shifting was between forward and reverse. Chains then carried it to six stub axles sealed through the polyethylene hull. Funnily enough, between 1985 and 2008, 22 Max vehicles appeared on The Price Is Right TV game show, where they would have been seen by millions.
After Recreatives sold the line in 2013, the new company, Mudd-Ox, built the Max in Shipshewana, Indiana, until 2016. Britain’s Agile Vehicle Technologies then owned the brand until 2021.
Recreatives built three key 6×6 models, each with a choice of engines, there was the two-seat Max II, the four-seat Max IV, and the Buffalo Truck, which carried two people and had a hydraulically tilting cargo bed in the back. Image courtesy of Recreatives Industries.
That year it was bought by Andrew Lapp, who had grown up in Sarasota, Florida, driving a Max dealer’s demonstrators. Lapp merged it into Planet Resource Recovery and renamed that company Recreatives Industries in 2023, reviving the old firm’s original name. In September of that year he trucked what remained of the Buffalo factory’s tooling to Bradenton. He puts production over the first 47 years at more than 20,000 units.
MAX 2 production once again resumed in mid-2024. The 2027 model has a fuel-injected 627cc Vanguard V-twin rated at 23 bhp and 35 lb ft of torque, it weighs 730 lbs, and it’s 86 inches long on a 50 inch wheelbase. Its upper and lower bodies are high-density polyethylene.
The T-20 transmission is now built in-house, with ring gears and carrier drums machined from billet. Afloat, the backward-mounted tires act as paddles, giving about 2.5 to 3 mph on flat water.
The MAX 2 starts at $15,279 USD, and the MAX 2 Springer, with independent six-wheel suspension, starts at $25,979 USD. In mid-2026 Recreatives announced plans to reintroduce the MAX 4 and Buffalo Truck as 2027 models, at expected starting prices of $17,979 USD and $18,979 USD.
In September of 2026, a MAX 2 went back on The Price Is Right – just for old time’s sake.
The MAX 2 880-S Amphibious 6×6 ATV Shown Here
This is a 2026-model MAX 2 880-S, it’s a six-wheel-drive amphibious ATV built using the company’s modern Springer chassis, suspension, and running gear, combined with an older-style MAX 2 upper body. It’s finished in a distinctive green and tan Camo Swirl pattern, and it has a front-mounted Warn winch, a roll bar, LED lighting, and a rear cargo rack.
The MAX 2 is powered by a 627cc Briggs & Stratton Vanguard OHV V-twin producing a factory-rated 23 bhp, equipped with electronic fuel injection. The engine is paired with a Borg-Warner T-20 skid-steer transmission that delivers power to all six wheels, with steering controlled by two levers. Unlike earlier MAX models with rigidly mounted axles, this one has the optional Springer independent suspension system. It rides on polished 10 inch wheels shod with Grizzly Vee Rubber tires.
This is a 2026-model MAX 2 880-S, it’s a six-wheel-drive amphibious ATV built using the company’s modern Springer chassis, suspension, and running gear, combined with an older-style MAX 2 upper body.
The two-person passenger compartment has a black vinyl bench seat, a passenger grab handle, a 6,000 rpm tachometer, and a GPS speedometer reading up to 40 mph. The digital instrument display shows just 0.8 hours of runtime, the vehicle has seen very little use since its construction.
This MAX 2 880-S is being offered for sale by a dealer in Ohio, accompanied by its operator’s manual, build photographs, and Manufacturer’s Certificate of Origin. If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can visit the listing here.
Images courtesy of Bring a Trailer + Recreatives Industries
Articles that Ben Branch has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
