The 30th birthday of the Sinclair C5, one of the most unusual vehicles built in Britain, is being celebrated by the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu.
Visitors can again see this electrically-powered tricycle, which was gifted to the museum by its manufacturer after its launch on 10 January, 1985.
Despite failing to catch the public’s imagination at its launch, today the C5 is regarded as an icon of 1980s design and a pioneer of alternative-fuelled transport, as well as an endearing British failure.
The Sinclair C5, masterminded by inventor and entrepreneur Sir Clive Sinclair, was designed to be an inexpensive and nimble alternative for one person to travelling by car, bus or bicycle. Marketed as ‘a new power in personal transport,’ it had a retail price of £399 and could reputedly be driven for five miles on just one penny’s worth of electricity.
Sinclair had long been fascinated by electric vehicles and experimented with much larger designs before focusing on the single-seater C5. He later claimed that the C5 was intended to fund the development of a much larger, four-seat electric vehicle, which could travel at speeds of up to 80mph. However, the C5’s commercial failure meant that this never happened.
The C5 can be seen as part of a visit to the whole Beaulieu attraction, which also includes Palace House, Beaulieu Abbey and World of Top Gear.
More about the C5 in the February issue of BDN.