Launched in Britain on 10 January 1985, the Sinclair C5 was a three-wheeled personal transport battery electric vehicle invented by Sir Clive Sinclair. Relatively cheap to purchase (it sold for £399 + £29 for delivery), it quickly became an object of popular ridicule, and was a commercial disaster, with only around 17,000 being sold.

Sinclair had first started to think about electric vehicles as a teenager and it was an idea he toyed with over the coming decades. In the early 1970s Sinclair Radionics was working on the project. Sinclair considered that the problem would be best addressed by working on the electric motor and he had Chris Curry work on the problem. However, the company's focus shifted onto calculators and no further work was done on vehicles until the late 1970s. Development work began again in 1979 and progressed erratically until, in 1983, it became apparent that new legislation would alter the market considerably and make it possible to sell a vehicle very closely resembling their development efforts.

In March 1983, Sinclair sold some of his shares in Sinclair Research and raised £12-million to finance vehicle development. In May a new company, Sinclair Vehicles Ltd, was spun out of Sinclair Research and a development contract was entered into with Lotus to take the basic C5 design through to production. Around the same time, Hoover Ltd at Merthyr Tydfil entered into a contract to manufacture the C5. The engines were made by Polymotor in Italy, starting the urban legend that the C5 was powered by washing machine motors.^* In 1984 Sinclair Vehicles set up its head office at the University of Warwick Science Park. Despite a promotional campaign involving former formula one racing driver Stirling Moss, the immediate reaction after the launch was that the C5 was impractical in the British climate and possibly dangerous on busy roads. On 13 August 1985 Hoover stopped production. Fewer than 17,000 C5s were sold. Sinclair Vehicles was put into receivership on 12 October 1985.

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Just did a drive-by in a Sinclair C5
TommyShankarm (Mr Tommy Shankarm) Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:33:55 -0000
Just did a drive-by in a Sinclair C5
@Sharooz It's Sinclair isn't it? You're gonna deliver all samples by the C5! he he he!
dylanrhymes (Dylan Rhymes) Wed, 09 Dec 2009 13:07:00 -0000
@Sharooz It's Sinclair isn't it? You're gonna deliver all samples by the C5! he he he!
Electric vehicles exempted from company car tax for 5 years. Good news if you have a Sinclair C5 :o) #PBR09
Confused_com (Confused_com) Wed, 09 Dec 2009 13:04:36 -0000
Electric vehicles exempted from company car tax for 5 years. Good news if you have a Sinclair C5 :o) #PBR09
Can't believe you can get a sinclair C5 on ebay.... Wasn't allowed one as a kid. I got an electric police motorbike with stabilisers. REBEL
thegoat04 (steven o'donnell) Mon, 07 Dec 2009 21:41:01 -0000
Can't believe you can get a sinclair C5 on ebay.... Wasn't allowed one as a kid. I got an electric police motorbike with stabilisers. REBEL
Nostalgia trip.I want speak n spell, spectrum ZX, raleigh super tuff burner, ET kuwahara and a sinclair C5 for christmas. That's all for now
thegoat04 (steven o'donnell) Mon, 07 Dec 2009 21:37:21 -0000
Nostalgia trip.I want speak n spell, spectrum ZX, raleigh super tuff burner, ET kuwahara and a sinclair C5 for christmas. That's all for now
Google "Sinclair C5" Wave (via @BrianLimond)
thismanslife (James Mellers) Mon, 07 Dec 2009 13:02:52 -0000
Google "Sinclair C5" Wave (via @BrianLimond)

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