Saturday 23 November 2013

The Sinclair C5 - the "green" vehicle that was way ahead of its time

The Sinclair C5 - shown here superinposed with a "Mini" for size comparison.
Picture from the official press release that accompanied the launch of the C5 on 10th January 1985
(and, therefore, as it was part of a press release,
my use of it in this article would appear to be both legal and ethical)

Read my C5 review here.

The Sinclair C5 was released in Britain on the 10th of January 1985, and initailly priced at about 400 pounds (640 dollars, 480 euros, at current exchange rates, but not allowing for inflation!).

Although it was a commercial failure, it is a very good case study of a "green" vehicle.

I remember the original release (I'm nearly 50 years old!), and later, the C5s being sold at half-price to get rid of the stock.

I didn't buy one, as back in January 2005, I was a clerk at the Ministry of Defence (if you're an American, think Department of Defense, and you're pretty close!), and iirc, my MONTHLY wage was about 400 pounds before taxes etc. and about 300 pounds by the time it actually reached my bank account, so being priced at five-and-a-half weeks pay, the Sinclair C5 (at the original price) wasn't exactly cheap!

Iirc, about 10 or 15 years, some C5s were uprated to have solar panels on them and were sold in iirc California.

I am posting this article because it might inspire someone to design a practical, modern, "green" vehicle, but do read my review first, for my comments on actually driving (riding?) the Sinclair C5!
Anyway, onto the dimensions.
There are a few link at the end of this piece where you can go to download manuals etc. for the Sinclair C5.


Size
  • Overall length: 1.744m (5' 9")