An encounter with a Sinclair C5

I was exploring the Waterfront Museum in Swansea after an origami convention and alongside an apparently working reconstruction of Trevivick's first steam locomotive, there were a couple of the original Sinclair C5s. In case you're not a student of computing history, the C5 was the brainchild of one of the early UK computer pioneers, a guy called Clive Sinclair. He's probably most famous for the Sinclair Spectrum, but he's also responsible for some of the first digital watches and the first pocket calculators. He was knighted for his contributions and rightly so: the man is a genius. But even a genius can have an off day.

The Sinclair C5 was insane!

Imagine an sort of large open running shoe with three wheels and an electric motor. It's big enough to recline in, with your head resting on the inside of the shoe's heel. There's a steering handle where the shoelaces would be and foot-pedals near the toes. That was the Sinclair C5.

The Sinclair C5

The technology was undoubtedly brilliant, but the reality was that no-one in a non-suicidal frame of mind would ever even think of driving one on a road. Your head would be at about the same height as a car wheel and you'd have such a low profile, you'd be instant road-kill. If the batteries failed on you, you'd be stuck in the middle of a busy road, with only the most limited chance of escape.

Drive one on the pavement and you'd be risking injury to pedestrians. What's more, your viewpoint would be obscenely low and would probably get you arrested as a peeping tom.

The thing was, everyone in Sinclair's company knew the C5 was insane, but since Clive Sinclair was a genius, they thought he knew something they didn't. It was the classic case of The Emperor's new clothes and it contributed to the fall of the Sinclair computing empire, although it would probably have struggled to compete with the American companies anyway. In fairness, Clive Sinclair did learn the lesson and went on to produce a range of clever and innovative battery powered bicycles.

The craziest thing is that although the electric go cart was a bad idea, the electric wheelchair was a great one, and all it took was a higher sitting position and a different type of customer and it would have been a success. Disabled carts are everywhere these days and they've undoubtedly improved many people's lives. All it took was a different angle and some improved technology. We'll probably never see the like of the C5 again, but it was certainly original!