If you’ve read any of my stories by now, you probably know that I love buying silly things that few others like. It’s how I’ve ended up with no less than five Smart Fortwos. But I found something perhaps even less practical than a Smart. It’s not really a car, nor a scooter… it’s sort of just a thing with wheels. There’s a Sinclair C5 coming up for sale that sat, sealed in its factory box for 37 years.
Automotive and motorcycle history is chock-full of blunders. Sometimes, an automaker puts a car on the market, expecting something resembling decent sales, and instead things go down like a brick in a pond. A sad example of this is the quirky Th!nk City car from this week’s Parts Bin Puzzle. And when it comes to motorcycles, countless manufacturers have experimented with rotary power, all to end up at the same dead end. It’s hard to classify what a Sinclair C5 is. It’s certainly not a car, but it’s also not a motorcycle or scooter, either. Perhaps a Sinclair C5 is best described as “one of the vehicles of all time.”
Our own Jason Torchinsky has written about this little guy a number of times, and he once described it as “the biggest failure in British motoring history.” And for this, I’ll let him take the mic, because his telling of the Sinclair story leaves me rolling on the floor:
It was the brainchild of Sir Clive Sinclair, Britain’s more-affable Steve Jobs, the head of Sinclair Research, the company that gave the U.K. their first real mass-market personal computer, the glorious, rubber-keyed Sinclair Spectrum.
When Sinclair unveiled the C5 in 1985, they made a point to let people know it was a “vehicle, not a car” as though there was any chance in hell anyone would mistake the thing that looked like you were riding on a white plastic hair dryer for a car.
The C5’s electric motor made all of 0.34 horsepower, which is, what, like a part of a horse’s leg and some intestines? It also had a pedal assist, which let you add one humanpower to that incredibly small number, for a total output of, let’s see, carry the two, hardly any.
Perhaps more incredible is that Clive Sinclair intended for people to drive these things to work, in Britain, a country famous for its clammy, cold rain, and the C5’s weather protection was something known in the auto industry as “jack shit.”
Imagine a gray, drizzling morning and you can choose to go to work in either a heated, toasty Mini or sitting on an open lump of plastic. Which would you choose?
To be clear, Sinclair did offer operators of the C5 some weather protection, but it amounted to essentially laying a tarp over the C5 while you wore a poncho. Basically, you got about the same weather protection as a motorcyclist.
The C5 lacked somewhat in performance. Power came from an electric motor making 0.34 horsepower. And feeding the motor was a lead-acid battery. This setup allowed for a top speed of just 15 mph and a range of about 20 miles. In case you need a little more oomph, or that battery dies, you’re also provided with a set of pedals.
That bit of kit was wrapped up in an injection-molded plastic shell that looked quite futuristic, and underneath, it rode on a Y-frame chassis designed by Lotus. Completed with a battery, a C5 weighed in at 99 pounds. For a comparison from the two-wheeled world, sitting in my living room is a 1986 Honda Spree, a 50cc two stroke scooter capable of 35 mph and weighing in at 86 pounds.
To pilot the C5, you sit down into its sleek body like you would a recumbent bike. But, as Jason noted in his review (below) the handlebar is positioned just in front of your crotch. I can’t think of any other vehicle with padded handlebars meant to protect your family jewels.
This wasn’t Sinclair’s only idea. He also had an idea for a two seat vehicle that looked like a proto-Smart, but without doors. There was also the C10, which also gave off vibes of a Smart built in the 1980s. Our Daydreaming Designer, the Bishop, went through the hard work of redesigning the C5 into a vehicle that people might have bought, and I highly recommend that you read his piece on it!
Oh yeah, so about those sales. As the UK’s the Sunday Times notes, Sinclair expected to sell 200,000 per year, with sales projected to increase to 500,000 units. The C5 was built at the Hoover washing machine plant in the south Wales town of Merthyr Tydfil. Hoover was also tasked with servicing the vehicles.
Unfortunately, as the Sunday Times notes, the C5 was a disaster at launch, with motors overheating and batteries dying in just minutes. And perhaps there was some bad timing, too, as the launch event reportedly took place during a time when roads were covered in ice and snow, something that the C5 couldn’t traverse. Making matters worse was having to pedal the 99-pound thing while passing vehicles blew fumes into your face.
Sinclair tried to keep the C5’s selling price at £399 by making things like mirrors, turn signals, and a horn as options. The C5 found a number of celebrity and royal buyers from Elton John and Prince Harry as well as Prince William. Yet, Sinclair never sold anywhere near the projected numbers. As Jason pointed out in his review and the Lane Motor Museum notes on its site, Sinclair made fewer than 17,000 of these. And of that number, just 5,000 of them found homes. Apparently, Sinclair never did any market research, and expected the C5 to sell itself. That means that there are about 12,000 Sinclair C5s just sitting around, doing nothing.
That brings us to this C5, found first by Silodrome. According to Silverstone Auctions, this C5 was built in 1985. Then, when Sinclair Vehicles failed in November 1985, it was pulled out of the Merthyr Tydfil Hoover factory. Since then, the C5 sat in long term storage. The only picture provided shows the Sinclair sitting in a box in a storage unit, sandwiched between some ducting and another box. Since it’s sealed in that box, you get two keys, a battery charger, a fixing kit, and a tool kit.
If you want it, the C5 rolls across the Silverstone Auctions block on November 13, where it’s expected to sell for £2,000 to £3,000, or $2,291 to $3,437 at current exchange rates.
Funny enough, the Sinclair story doesn’t end in 1985. The concept was revived again by Sinclair’s nephew Grant Sinclair. The IRIS eTrike uses today’s better technology to fix the faults of the C5. It can go over 30 mph and has a 30-mile range thanks to lithium-ion batteries. Plus, it’s enclosed, making it a better option for when the weather sucks.
As for Sinclair, he continued working on electric vehicle concepts, including the X-1, an electric bike along similar lines as the C5. Despite his inventions, one time he was quoted saying that he didn’t even use computers. Sinclair died in September 2021 at 81 years old. While the C5 may have been a failure, today it seems to have a cult following of sorts. And that’s not surprising, as this little plastic thing sort of predicted our present day of electric mobility machines, just 37 years ago.
“Sinclair [..] expected the C5 to sell itself.”
Well the Sinclair ZX81 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum sold themselves in that era…
It was a ZX or a Coleco, a VCS2600, an ORIC 1 or an ORIC Atmos… If you had the money there was the Apple II option.
( I won’t go in the French subsidised TO-7 and MO-5 that were proudly ( mostly ) taking dust in all the French school ).
I can’t believe you left out the Commodore 64, best of any of those.
Trying doing stuff like this on those machines.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7QL6-MrDnk
It seems like they couldn’t have done a better job of combining all of the drawbacks of a Vespa-type scooter, a bicycle, a car and a mobility scooter with none of the advantages of any of them if that was what they were trying to do.
I’d feel bad tearing up one that was still in the box but if I somehow ended up with this, I don’t think I’d be able to stop myself from trying to stick a Predator 212 in there
Top Gear turned one into a bobsled.
How hard was it for that guy to keep a straight face wearing a poncho and a tarp?
It’s just still so funny and crazy that somebody actually thought these were something that would have mainstream appeal, with the public, to drive on public roads, mixed in with other traffic.
As a kid’s toy to run in circles around the yard, sure
About that…..The new Prince of Wales was born in June ’83……so he was 3 when he received his? Yeah, no market research apparently done, with predictable results. Hey, he tried!
This was the ultimate emperor has no clothes product. It was hailed by the media and many people bought them.
It is an absolutely terrible design on every level: practicality, ease of use, and safety.
Reminds me of a Scooty Puff Jr.
I applaud your Futurama reference but I disagree. This is open air the SPJ was really a sealed limited space vehicle.
I believe you’re thinking of the Scooty Puff Sr. The Jr was barely big enough for Fry to sit on. The Sr was enclosed.
Jason should get this to have a shootout with his other EV.
That’s nice, but how much can it tow?
Sounds like a job for Mercedes to find out.
The production/sales figures go some way to explain why a museum in Swansea has two of the things
I smell a comparison video in the future. The Sinclair C5 and the Mazda Suitcase car.
“This wasn’t Sinclair’s only idea.”
It certainly wasn’t. There’s also the Sinclair ZETA (Zero Emission Transport Accessory), ZETA II, and ZETA III, each being a small electric motor intended to be bolted to a bicycle to provide friction-drive to a wheel, either front, rear, or your choice, depending on the model.
I may very well have one of each.
I may very well have them all affixed so as to each drive a different wheel on a Higgins Ultralite (a British racing tricycle), because I somehow thought that would be a good idea.
It is not a good idea.
Yes if you take dog crap and goat poop, and then sheep shit you still just have a pile of shit.
How does the friction part of this drive mechanism not wear out your tires? I’m imagining some type of wheel directly contacting the tire so if that’s not the case then question withdrawn.
All three designs do indeed make use of a roller pressing against the tread; there was no attempt to avoid accelerated tire wear. I’ve got a French microcar that works on the same principle, so I’m used to it:
https://clunkbucket.com/wp-content/gallery/1980-kv-mini-1/img_6618.jpg
The Lotus tie in is interesting. That weather protection looks very advanced compared to what you got on a 7.
Anybody else find it ironic that a rainy country like England produced so many cars with ‘some assembly required’ umbrellas for roofs?
It’s rainy. Chances are you already got as wet as you can get just walking to your car, so what’s a bit more rain going to do?
Ah you see, it’s all part of the plan!
It’s Sunday, you’ve just a roast dinner, and you fancy a blat around some B-roads. However, when you look outside, disaster! It’s one of the 350 day of the year when it’s raining!
Oh well, have to leave the Triumph Spitfire in the garage for another week.
*And so your Triumph lasts one extra week without breaking down*
If we could drive our cars every day, they’d break down in no time!
/s
Some influencer will buy it and do an unboxing video. Take that iPhone unboxers!
More like some influencer will buy it and then crash it into a ditch and destroy it for the likes…..
<>
Arrrgh!@$#@!#%#$$^
That was supposed to say “Insert ‘Why not both?’ gif”
Sidenote to DT/JT – if you guys can’t figure out how to enable edittable comments and insert pics/gifs by the site’s 1st birthday, I am going to be in such a huff!
I would unironically love one of these little things. I live in a quiet rural area on a dead-end road so a C5 would make a great little runabout. Especially with better batteries.
This one should stay in the box, but I wonder how a C5 would do with a modern e-bike drive train and Lithium Ion batteries.
There are other possibilities to contemplate as well:
https://www.jetpower.co.uk/jet-powered-sinclair-c5/
From the linked story: “…I know for a fact that there is a C5, electric powered that will travel well over 100mph and get to 60 in less than 7 seconds.”
On three teensy little tires? I can’t even imagine how sketchy a C5 would be at highway speed; 100+ mph is one small bit of debris away from a half-mile, 50-revolution rollover.
I’m sorely tempted to restomod a C5 with E-bike/E-scooter parts; either a couple of hub motors (maybe 3 for AWD?) for a stock-ish style, or a go-kart axle with drift tyres for a drift trike-style setup; vaguely beat up examples seem to show up on ebay for not much, and I’ve got a source of cheap 48v LiIon packs; all that’s really holding me back atm is space, of which I have none; may have to see if I can persuade my work to let me keep one in the workshop…