Sinclair C5 (original TV advert)
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- čas přidán 7. 12. 2009
- The Sinclair C5 was a battery electric vehicle invented by Sir Clive Sinclair and launched in the United Kingdom on 10 January 1985. It was a battery-assisted tricycle steered by handles on each side of the driver's seat. Powered operation was possible making it unnecessary for the driver to pedal. Its top speed of 15 miles per hour (24 km/h), was the fastest allowed in the UK without a driving licence. It sold for £399 plus £29 for delivery. It became an object of media and popular ridicule and was a commercial disaster, selling only around 12,000 units.
- Auta a dopravní prostředky
I bought one for about 25£ when I was 15 ish. The batteries never worked so we used to pedal it. One of the brake cables snapped & it was too much pissing about to fix. The boot used to drop off when you overloaded it (a 2 litre bottle of ironbrue mixed with whisky). It was an absolute death trap, but loads of fun.
Could've just nicked a shopping trolley and saved your dough!
I occasionally spare a thought for whoever was riding in them at the time of immersion when I see those shopping trolleys in the stream/river/canal thingy that wends its way past the big Tesco.
@@danielpatrick3761 lmfao
And would be worth a fortune now.
Yeah! And you could’ve fitted the iron bru whisky bottle in there without the trolley cap sizing as well!!!!
Sometimes what we call failure is just being ahead of time. R.I.P Sir Clive
@@ButterfatFarms Just seen QF2 climbing out of London for the 16.5hrs hop to Darwin, a hundred years ago, the same journey would have taken over seven days by air but the seven days would have been a monumental leap in ability against the Wright Brothers or Otto Lilienthal and other pioneers. Point am trying to make is, everything starts somewhere in the evolution of things. Regards🙏
@@ButterfatFarms 🙏🙏👍
its time will never come
@@solar_power 👍👍. Compliments of the season 🙏
It's not "ahead of time" if the product isn't fit to be used. The idea of electric vehicles was around decades before the C5.
Imagine a vehicle that can transport you almost anywhere for almost no money at all and which needs no licence...it's called a bicycle!
If we all ride bicycles, i'm sure there would be some kind of taxation. Parasitic system must somehow parasitize. Leeches somehow always find victims. ;)
(*i ride bicycle almost every day :) )
also electric bikes
Well, there was the Sinclair Zike.
Imagine a vehicle that can transport you almost anywhere at speed 70km/h for almost no money at all and which needs no licence...it's called ebike!
What, it wasn't cheap enough??
Alternately, you could wait until 1987 & pick a brand-new one up for £75 in Comet.
It is a shame that the C5 never took off, It was so far ahead of it's time. I just feel the British press had it in for the C5 before it's launch
It was meant to take off? Didn't know that.
The C5 did take off, C5 Galaxy that is, lol (a giant US military cargo plane)
These were absolutely perfect for driving on empty roads in the countryside, which is course where everyone lives in the UK.
my friend Davis he lives in the UK and he says they are still widely used over there because gas is like 10 dollars a gallon :-O
*****
Is that per liter or per gallon?
*****
I live in Aruba. Also, US gallons are different than imperial gallons, apparently, or something.
***** I am talking about the UK not the USA. These are widely used in the UK and that`s a fact, davis should know, he lives there :-P
***** I've seen these on the road a couple of times, though not since the mid 80s.
RIP Sir Clive Sinclair 🙏
You were really ahead of your time!!
Love your codename!! Suits this upload!!!!
Ahead how? The concept of electric vehicles predates the C5 by decades.
@michaeldeluca6331 Leonardo DaVinci's concepts of flight mechanics pre-dates the Wright brothers but yet it was they who revolutionised flight as we know it today.
The same is true of Sir Clive Sinclair on so many levels .... Mass produced electric vehicles as an alternative to petrol/diesel....Home computers for mainstream lifestyles etc etc.
Your point about Sir Clive is mute
Love the music!
Sounds like a Bruton Music Production
Love that music. Very much of the time.
I want to see a biker gang in those things, it will make my day.
People slagging the c5 off forget one thing sir Clive was well ahead of his time he knew way back then the electric car was the future , yes granted it may of been not fully thought through but without the c5, electric cars would still be a thing of fantasy today, so please think before you speak ! , well done sir Clive you are a genius :)
Do you have any evidence that modern electric cars are influenced by the Sinclair C5? It's not even a car, it's a cross between a bicycle and a milk float. If anything, its commercial failure was harmful to the prospects of electric vehicles, not helpful.
Silly, electric motors in cars had been around decades before this ridiculous contraption was spat upon the world. The C5 is an example of exactly the type of electric vehicle people DON'T want.
C5 or no C5, I think Tesla would still be making electric cars today. Also the C5 was quite unknown outside of the UK.
Way ahead of it's time - companies can't make enough ebike's today.
Can you imagine riding in central London on this? You'd be breathing in the exhaust right in front of you.
What? As opposed to on the side like everyone else?>
The toyota prius has come a long way.
Prius?
truly
Tried one of these once. Having to sit on the handlebars is the killer
This comment needs a laughing emoji.
@@Gary55379😂
Way ahead of its time. R.I.P Clive
Синклер опередил свое время. Он смотрел в будущее, которое до сих пор не настало. Но все ещё впереди.
That would be £1,133.44 according to the inflation calculator at the end of 2022.
Great memories.
I want one!!
Qué patinete eléctrico ni qué leches!!! Lo que la gente necesita es un Sinclair C5!!! (•‿•)
Great idea ahead of its time,,the technology wasn't there then,now it is. Electric vehicles are everywhere now.
Hopefully, the 8-bit Guy will review it.
The Nimbus 1 EV is perhaps a modern day version that people might actually want.
This vehicle occupies a bitter spot: too bulky for pavements, too low-profile for public roads (hard to spot by drivers). Most people would choose an electric bike or a (kick) scooter.
people slag this off but I see no end of 'mobility scooters' all over place used by elderly or fat people, this is just a very basic version of those. It got the ball rolling now electric cars or mobility scooters are everywhere.
yes this is totally right
try and tell this to chris devine lol
We slag those, too, or haven't you noticed
If he'd marketed this thing as a fun little runabout he might have turned enough of a profit on it to build a more practical version as his next vehicle project, but alas, Uncle Clive wanted us to take this thing seriously.
I would give an entire nail, half of an ear and a quarter of my liver to find out more abut the soundtrack. Where can I find this or something similar?
Somebody recently on eBay was selling a shit load of brand new C5's that they had discovered stored away in a Warehouse!!
Damn shame this never took off, can you imagine what the roads would look like now!!
It was dangerous enough on the ground, mate.
Damn shame, I often think the oil companies were in cahoots with car manufacturing and government. If these did take off, the design would be amazing by now, we wouldn't need cars, just self driving electric tron cars that charge themselves.. Deisel lung anyone?
It would have been mayhem. Too low to be seen by drivers, too silent to be heard by pedestrians!. Too slow to avoid being passed by grandad on his bike!
Lol my m8's brother actually bought and used one last 2 years of high school then when 16 went pub in it and after home.😂
It was a brave move, and there’s no denying that Clive Sinclair was a genius. But in this case you can’t help but think that he was better at developing home computers! I wonder if without this diversion, Sinclair might be around today making rival tech to knock those plucky Apple guys off their perch!
The 80's road vehicle that was as dangerous as the Group B machines, yet slower than some of the oldest cars in the world. No wonder the Sinclair failed so hard.
people werent ready for this
Sounds like the Dr Who music department scored this advert.
don't suppose the operator at Freefone C5 was exactly rushed off her feet.
Saw a couple of these at one of my local pubs. They looked to be in a sorry state though.
I remember these uncool death sentences! A doomed concept.
ayo why the fuck didn't this take off WTF
It's too cheap to keep on the road = it wouldn't cost you enough on a daily basis to satisfy the capitalistic interests around = commercial fail on the first level.
The reason it could only go 15 miles per hour is due to the 1983 UK law on 'Electric assisted cycles' which STILL applies today. Anything faster then that under electric power requires a driving licence, insurance and vehicle tax. It is still much faster then people walk and (ignoring downhill) faster then most people cycle manually on a push bike.
I wanted one of these but my dad said no. Would have been great fun no doubt but 25 or so years later I can sort of see where he was coming from.
Your Dad was a wise man and a responsible parent. You owe him your life (twice over if you think about it!)
I would've bought this
Really solid concept.
Three wheels is always a questionable choice when it comes to safety (high speed turn tipping hazard) but I bet that has more to do with regulation than intent
Too early with his ideas
Wonder if he’d come up with electric scooter instead ? But battery tech was so limited
This is the future
By 1987 you could buy these brand new at Comet for £75.
Clive...you was so ahead in your thinking yet mocked by all and sundrae. Petrol and Diesel out by 2040...Clive should be smiling at the news tonight 😁
This could well be a Monty Python sketch.
Chamillionaire - Ridin' ft. Krayzie Bone
Blast this while driving it
Haha. I get it,I think.
For me I think its
czcams.com/video/N9qYF9DZPdw/video.html
Please remind me what was regular salary in Uk back in 1985?
nice one i remember it, but always wondered what about the rain?
Rains when you're on a bike or scooter too.
I’d love to see the chavs in this
I still cannot understand why the steering should be below the knees... any mechanic?
A death trap.
Just needed to be a bit bigger, maybe swap out the engine for a petrol version and add a few seats and it could have done well.
Its just looks and feels so so modern. Even 35 years ago since it was made. Amazing. When I first saw this CZcams video I thought it was a brand new product they're bringing out. I couldn't believe it. There must have been panic buying for this. People must have been queuing up at the shops or ordering it online (or what ever the equivalent was then) to own one! Lots of these most sought after vehicles must have been stolen and used by joyriders back in the day. Security must have been a nightmare as much as insuring them.
unfortunately not good on roads
The windshield looks as dangerous as the "neck belt" from the Onion movie
Ma che bel bidet!!!!! Mo lo compro al posto di tonic Ideal
For towns and cities with cycle routes these would be much more cost effective than electric cars. People would attempt to fix them themselves also.
You could add in gps and cameras, make them safer.
People don’t need massive cars for urban areas.
@TomElliotMarshall Well, I guess you could try contacting Sinclair Research's marketing department.
It looks a little like a vacuum cleaner...
The Stoner Mobile!
A real life lightcycle?
I have just farted.
While oil doesn't exhaust, they won't let you make those things happen. Sad but true.
cool
the futur???
15mph was the top speed without pedalling.
It was unfairly treated by ignorant journalists (who haven't changed at all) and the launch in the coldest January 'since records began' didn't help! The C5 is still around (2014) has a considerable following (see: www.c5owners.com/
) and with improvements in battery technology is finally performing well.
I feel a well-designed recumbent bicycle probably performs even better. And now you can have those electrically powered as well!
Basically a good idea - it just looked ridiculous. Like driving around in a motorbike sidecar without the motorbike.
Don't be hypnotised. I have 20 and they get in the way
Tron in real life!
A mobility scooter for the youth! Did these need a registration plate for use on a public road? Never seen one on the road, must have been worth high points in an I-Spy book
There were no legal requirements for any kind of registration, insurance or licence. Clive Sinclair specifically designed it so that it would fall outside the bounds of needing any. However, that is why the end product was so ineffective.
They are classed in exactly the same way as an ebike.
😍
that is the most awkward steering bar position. but not as awkward as a steering solution where you had to sick between your legs and you had to move a shaft up and down to steer left or right. but still wtf
I want one, where can I buy it, please?
Ebay
@@mike7201 I've tried Ebay and Amazon and can't with no luck.
Keep looking. They come up from time to time. Be prepared to pay a pretty penny if you want a decent condition one.
Facebook Marketplace have them.
Make a larger one with modern batteries..Oh damn its a Twizzy now..
If the C10 had released that would have been exactly a Twizy.
Anyone else watching this for technology work? Just me? Okay then 😂
Actually so am I 😐 bloody hate dt
What's wrong with a f*****g STEERING WHEEL!!!😁
@dunbustin i really want to call that
Looks like a moped out of a science fiction B-movie...
Nice commercial.
Didn't they do a sports model lol
That thing had one seat for a reason, there is no way you're getting any driving that thing
AllTime10's sent me here.. lel
Good job Sinclair, you invented the golf cart.
Don't suppose you know how to go about getting the rights to this footage - to use in a short film?
He obviously had watched too much Blake's 7!
looks cool. why wasn't it a success?
+dedpxl
It was very very slow.
And intimidating to drive amongst normal traffic, you were so low down.
(It was much smaller than it appears from the pix.)
A complete one is worth a bob or two now as a curiosity now.
Advanced little vehicle for it's time just not safe because of the sad likelihood that someone's stupidity (in Clive's neatly mapped out sim city like brain there is no room for stupid but sadly it exists and must be acknowledged) would result in a serious accident on the roads but imagine the fun having races round the botanical gardens in these things whilst trying to bash each other off the path.
why not just take the concept of motorized bicycles, why make it look so dorky
Анна Гейст well it was the 80s.. a helluva lotta stuff back then looked dorky tbf
GCSE DT student gang rise up
Got to love the corny music. :)
Whos here cuz of James May ?
Am not sure, if safe enough for road,s with traffice! but would they be ideal for the cyclepaths, am thinking of people with balance difficulties! who would not manage the balance, of a bike niether electrice pedal assisted or ordinary. Would it come under an electric pedal assisted trike. If it was classed as a bike or a trike that could be ridden on cycle paths, then good idea.
It is actually classified as an electrically-assisted bicycle by the law. That's why it did not need any license.
Dials 100... FREEPHONE C5!!!..... ... What do you mean merghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh O.o merghhhhhhhhhh
Also just got one decided now would be a good time to research it hahaa
I don't think any vehicle pays "road tax". That was abolished in 1937. I think they mean "Vehicle Excise Duty"?
Nautilus Fitness Club.......
A very plucky, very English failure. Poor old Clive must have been living in his own world.
@beac310 Oh yeah,I can just see riding about on something that tops out it a whole 15MPH! Yeah,that's a terrifying picture of the future with all the traffic speeding around you. No, this was far too limited,and it deserved to fail. The research was more in the design instead of actual practicality.