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- Опубликовано: 29 июл 2013
- Dave goes back to the future and takes a 1985 vintage Sinclair C5 electric "car" for a spin, one of only a handful in the country. This was Sir Clive Sinclair's vision for personal transport.
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When the C5 flopped the motors were widely available from technical surplus companies and were much sought after as they were a pretty good motor at that time. As far as safety goes, my favourite line was "The C5 has had a major impact and should bounce back." I like the simplicity of the single driven wheel. Ghost-train cars could have learned from that. They tended to have two locked wheels on a single driven axle and the current tends to rocket when they go round the many tight corners.
@@jeremys6387 Look up the "Velotilt" and the "EV4" bike from Aero Service Poland.
When they went on the market We made several electric bikes with those motors from recovered frames from a local tip. They had 16 mile range at about 15 miles per hour and were perfect for pub runs in the New Forest. I even broke a tooth when I came off one night in the fog after hitting a bridge bollard. The helmet was fine, but my face wasn’t! We also made a go kart with one motor that we used to drive around Safeway car park. We also had to make a proper start/stop as the drive was to the front wheels otherwise it would flip the kart and bike.
I do remember watching Robot Wars and most motors in a lot of the Robots were from a C5!
"When this baby reaches 8.8mph", jokes. :D
this is one of the best eevblogs ever
Loved it Dave!!! Thanks so much for your efforts to teach ...
sense of humor is priceless!!!!
I suppose the Renault Twizy is what the C5 always wanted to be - a full size, sensible range, sensible speed electric vehicle. But with no windows, it's still pretty useless in cold, rainy Great Britain.
I'm pretty sure you can buy a window kit for the Twizy. It's also possible to map them so that they are lots more fun to drive.
Truly a rare treat. I love the 80s aesthetic.. a child of the 80s myself. Before you introduced it I thought, wow, Buck Rogers. Micronauts. Totally 80s style and 80s electronics. Give that thing a tech upgrade, some shocks, regen. braking and real power in the drive train and batteries.. a canopy.. (ok, basically everything but the Lotus/Sinclair style) you've got a big seller. Great trip to the days of future past. G'donya you Aussie 'tronic beauty. Can't wait for your next vid.
Awesome teardown Dave. I'm old enough to have had a Sinclair spectrum back in the 80's so I have a lot of fondness for that logo.
That was awesome. Thanks for the ride. Not only are you genius in electronics, electromechanical, etc., you are also a great (excellent) cinematographer!
Thankyou Mr Sinclair for a wonderful 8 bit youth that shaped perhaps my main passion in life!
They look like a lot of fun to drive, and the shape they’re in for the year they were made, pretty good!
BEST. TEARDOWN. EVER. Now I want one! Love the vintage 1980's LED indicators, so dim unlike today's LEDs. Looks like fun to ride, too. Thanks for posting!
I pick up one of these on Monday, can't wait to take it out for a run.
What a great intro! Thanks for all the entertainment Dave
Soon as the video started I already melted into the couch thinking "this is gonna be bloody brilliant" - Thanks Dave
Thanks for excellent visual and audio quality making for a very clear and enjoyable presentation.....and I always thought I had difficulty understanding folks from "down-under"!!
There was something very satisfying about watching this. Where I live (Margate, UK), the local funfair (Dreamland) offers Sinclair C5s for hire to get you around the park at £35 per day. They're also let out occasionally when the local classic car club is out and about.
Sir Clive was definetly years ahead of his time. This is a true candidate for a modern re-work, new materials like carbon fibre, battery technology, etc.
That's gotta be one of my favourite teardowns, even if there wasn't much to tear down! They were totally slated on this side of the world when they came out, a comedy routine wasn't complete without a pop at one, but I always thought they looked like great fun. Still do.
It's not a low serial number. V1000
Thanks for showing this! Awesome!
we need dreamers like Sinclair
omg Dave awesome. "outta time", love the vids/podcast, keep it up :) (i recently started at amphour #1 and have thus far listened to them ALL in order, up to #110 (took a few weeks :) love it!) thanks for making all the content! back to #111 woop woop!
ps your enthusiasm and refusing to not "dumb-down" on your podcast/vids has reawakened my love of nerdy sports like soldering, and has got me back into electronics as a hobby, ty matey!
Wow, that is so cool!!! I'd love to have one of these...
Mr. Sinclair was born on July 30th 1940. just check google or wiki. thats why i thought you where doing this video was for his birthday. if this was just by accident then thats fricken awesome.
then again your channel is fricken awesome anyway.
Brilliant video guys! I remember these being launched here in the UK and honestly thought Sir Clive had lost the plot! I'd love one now. I'll stick to the ZX Spectrum!
On a small island or an isolated community without long commutes you'll see lots of people getting around in golf carts or driving e-bikes of similar power... To me this looks like a better design, with better stability than an e-bike and better road feel and cornering than a golf cart -- also much lighter, giving better range. The one thing I couldn't live with would be the all-or-nothing "speed control." Thanks for the time travel, Dave!
Awesome video! Thanks Dave & Mal.
I can remember very good when they were introduced and they drive around here in the past.
Very nice video !
so cool, what a great little rig.
I was a student in Wolverhampton from 84 to 86 and went down the Rhondda valley, South Wales. It had two notable factories, one ( (i think ) was the Hotpoint factory, a washing machine brand ) and on the opposite side of the road the Sinclair Vehicle Division . I following year I spent some time round Coventry Poly , and found the engineering department had a number of C5 hung on the walls , Cov Poly was noted for it's vehicle design & development projects .
Ok now I just bought half of one off ebay! Happy days are ahead!! Thanks Dave!
Loved the ride around Collaroy Plateau.
TIL I'm nobody ;)
I have to admit I like looking back on his classic episodes, but at least tune in for fundamental Fridays. This guy has knowledge he's willing to share, I think that's worth celebrating.
Sinclair needs more POWEEEEEERRR...
I’m not too far from Dave (30min drive), he’s got one but needs some serious restoration. We were talking about fitting a hub motor or mid drive, let’s see if I can convince him to get his one rolling with an Insanely powerful drivetrain hahaha ohhh yeaaahhh
Tim Tylor?
Cool. Happy Birthday Sir Clive.
I've just caught this very interesting video! I remember back in the 1980s, someone was convicted of drink driving in one of these!! In all honesty, Clive was ahead of his time. The C5 would be much more accepted in 2022 than the early/mid 1980s.
I clearly remember when these were first talked about on programs like 'Tomorrow's World' in the UK as a possible commuter transport. They were very highly publicised in an attempt to gain popularity but never really caught on due to the limitations of building to a price point. With today's bicycle technology and modern batteries etc, these could actually be a viable mode of transport, it certainly would be very interesting to see them 're-born'.
Great vid Dave !
So popular were Hoover vacuum cleaners in the uk that to this day we refer to vacuuming as 'hoovering up', also when buying a new vacuum cleaner we say we`re buying a new Hoover. Twats aren't we lol.. Merry Christmas to one and all and may the new year bring you prosperity.
Micromen is an awesome film. It was Hermann Hauser and Chris Curry, along with Sophie Wilson and Steve Furber behind Acorn and the start of ARM. I now want a C5. There wasn't much about the C5 in Micromen, but is was featured in a couple of scenes.
My mum's old Philips washing machine, badged as an Electra, from our local Electricity Board, had a motor that was very similar. Made by "Polymotor Italia" from memory and it was a permag motor.
+River Huntingdon probably a Permanent-magnet D.C. electric motor:
www.google.com/patents/EP0106002A1?cl=en
Good review, thank you for sharing.
Fab product but at the time the world wasn't ready for sir Clive and his vision, shame really good fun to drive ....
The Lotus connection was the steel chassis - the plastic body was the input of a firm called Ogle Design, (who did some styling work on Britain's other infamous three-wheeler!), and still looks kinda futuristic today. Flawed, but I still would like one...
That intro was so awesome :D
I'm running one on a 12v 40ah lifepo battery and they're great for getting around in and hill climbing is much better!
I really enjoyed the video, Dave, lots of fun, and the northern beaches look great!
You know you can easily repair that crack in the plastic chassis with a wide chisel tipped soldering iron and some plastic zip tie strips as filler "wire". Look up for some videos on it. I was surprised how easy it was when i tried it (I repaired a plastic fan blade).It's kinda like TIG welding but way easier. You should do a kind of deep push into the plastic, fill, then pull back and move along. Hope this helps. Cool video...i remember these well!
Excellent video, really enjoyed this one!
Made in the Hoover Factory in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, just 30 miles up the road from me! Sadly the Hoover factory closed a few years ago, with the parent company Candy relocating manufacturing abroad. Luckily the C5 didn't have any input to the closure!
The frame and body flexes to give some suspension. Only really good for smooth surfaces
This is the "Fun Size" version of the Reliant Robin, with added challenge of getting your hands up in time to shield yourself haha!
Best video ever. Mal is a good sport
I feel like dave can't be outsmarted in what he does, He intimidates everybody he does a teardown with!
These are so cute! I want one!
Here in the uk quite a few blokes fitted small motorbike or scooter motors to them just for the hell of it, that REALLY fried the brakes and front wheel. A lot were trashed that way. Dave UK
I have one of these that I got for free. This is the first vid of yours i ever saw for that reason. I've become a big fan of your channel.
Those Anderson power connectors remind me of those days I used to regularly operate a power lift in retail.
Brilliant video! Enjoyed every second of it! Oh man, I wished I had a C5 myself :)
11:26 you can see a lean mean green machine in the background. I think that’s what they were called and I remember always wanting one as a kid. It’s kind of like a big wheel but the back wheels turn and you could do some really cool power slides with it
Sinclair is my hero.
I also have one of these. Many were brought in for the film "Total Recall" which was to be made here in Australia. The film was cancelled and move back to Hollywood and the Sinclairs remained. I have one. Loved your doco BTW.
oh, for Total Recall... That may explain how 200 of them ended up for sale in a Sydney bike shop :)
Борат Сагдиев do you know if any are still for sale
do you know if any are still for sale
shayne g
I would probably sell mine. Its in bits and currently not running but all there I'm sure. Contact me through here. I'm in Australia.
Clive had some absolute dogs and some absolute brilliant products..this being a dog and the ZX spectrum was a hit!
Micro Men is also on RUclips. Brilliant piece of television about microcomputer pioneers.
These were assembled in my home town in the UK, I live near the hoover factory in fact.
Hi Dave, I like all your videos - your intelligence, knowledge, enthusiasm, subject matter "ELECTRICITY!" etc. This video is just Great! The Best. I didn't even know the C5 existed. Thanks for everything. So much.... and please do - keep up the good work :-)
Sweet!
Wow. Very interesting. Thank you!
Far ahead of its time! With an enclosed cabin, Pedelec-Style motor, Li-Ion Battery, a bit larger wheels and an adjustable seat, this would beat any ordinary bicycle. At least, if it would be sold at a reasonable price.
Just noticed you have exactly 555 videos on this channel, congratulations!
This is a pretty sweet design, with some modern upgrades it would be very functional
Japan made one in 1986 and she was solar powered and called the Sanyo Armorton Car.
There was also a BBC series called "Electric Dreams" where a modern family had to live in a different decade in each episode (starting in the 70's, with a different year every day).
Another fantastic series, I've watched them a few times now.
Their house is transformed, and they can only use the gadgets from each era.
In the 80's episode, the Speccy and the C5 makes an appearance (very funny, don't want to spoil it).
Great vid btw!
This reminded me to watch the movie :) Thanks
30 years ahead of time .Be interesting to see what one would be like with modern batteries and motor
I have one of these in Australia. It was purchased from the shipment of 200 C5s that were sold at a bike shop in Granville (Sydney) in the late 80's. The serial number on mine is even lower than the one shown in this video, and the boot on mine is dark, not light like these ones...
I have been keeping an eye on ebay for gearbox only but they are quite rare. The motor holders have the metal brackets to prevent them flexing.
A great movie to watch about the time these were made (more about the computers, but had a lot of info of Sinclair) is called Micromen. Made by BBC some years ago and everyone should go watch it!
There is SO much potential in this design these days!
Put in a couple of Li-ion in these and some newer, less power consuming electronics - and i would buy one!
Great video!
Great Vid.. Thanks for putting it together. I know that this is 1980's technology however; I really do think that pedal / battery assist bikes / mini cars etc will be the norm for local transportation in the near future and it looks a lot of fun.. Regards John
Very interesting video!
There's only one word to describe these machines. WICKED!
Interesting idea!
I like that one.
when the sinclair c5 came out i did think of getting one but quickly changed my mind
Now with a Li-ion, LiPO, LiFePo battery, it would be even lighter, go further.
It would be interesting to see what could be done recreating it with modern batteries, motors, systems and materials.
Driving a Ebike for 2 years now and at first wondered aswell why nobody uses those batteries. Simply answer is, they are too expensive,and get stolen VERY frequently. batteries in general get stolen often since they are the most expensive part in an ebike. Also if you live in a country with infrastructure build around Ebike`s, in a city you always find a place to charge it, have a nice cake & tea/coffee and continue ur ride.
Over here both Samsung and Panasonic LiPo cells retail for around $ 0.25
per Wh. That pretty much equals the price of a lead-acid battery. In practice the energy density of a LiPo cell would be 3-6 times higher.
On a vehicle which isn't supposed to go faster then 25km/h weight however is less of an issue you may expect. Being it a regular bicycle or a streamlined vehicle you need somewhere between 120-240 Watts to drive the thing at 25km/h with 4km/h headwind. (for 20km that's significantly less, 90-140 Watts.) Each extra added kg however only accounts for less then 1 Watts.
Making the Sinclair C5 lighter would be no significant improvement. Extending it's battery capacity would.
Nah, the better ones all have locks. I never need to plug in my ELF, it charges all day long in the sun. I have never run my battery flat.
I wasn't thinking making it lighter, more making it ride smoother and handle the terrain better.
Three things I would love to see;
1) Those reflective strips replaced with EL panel strips for the true 80s cyberpunk look.
2) A C5 getting pulled over by a police officer on a Segway. Best car-chase ever.
3) The sped-up sections with the William Tell Overture added in the background.
I really do want have one! It's perfect for around here in suburb northern Bangkok!
Fantastic idea.
It is difficult to understand - why it was not become world wide success ...
Of course I know a few improvements were necessary, but I believe - it was one of the most important invention ...
Nice video and c5s. I Think the wrap on those resisters is to contain the cermics when they blow apart under fault.
Epic video
I'm not sure which surprises me more, that Citroen would release a new car of their own called the C5 or that Amstrad, who bought out Sinclair or Sir Clive himself (who I think held onto the rights to the C5 after having to sell off the rest of his company, perhaps the court case would have got in the way of his poker)
I think Sir Clive did release an electric bike (I think it might have been called the Zike)
And as for it being cheap and made to a price point, you have to realise, this was made by Sinclair!
I only wish I didn't chuck my Bush Internet TV box, that would have made for an interesting teardown (though an actual Bush Internet TV set would be more interesting) as would an Amstrad E-Mailer!
Truly the Segway of its day!
Wow, thanks! It is a cool feature, but the warping can get to be a bit much.
great! love your videos man.
Nice video! I remember when these were mentioned in computer magazines.
You said at the end that you'd want a modern one, Kickstarter style. Check LitMotors C1. They're taking orders. The same thing 21st century style.
I believe I saw a vehicle like this a couple of 80's/90's sci-fi flicks. I wouldn't mind having one of these to tool around town in during the summer. It would be an interesting project to modify or improve on something like this. Or even start fresh and build a newer redesigned model.
Hilarious intro! Well done!
With a 1hp motor, Lipo batteries and some weather protection this could be pretty useful for going around town, although a regular electric bike is probably far cheaper and more practical.
Sinclair Was a cool company , my first computer was a ZX Spectrum :)
From memory the price was £399. I remember seeing one in my local electricity showroom, amidst all the washing machines and vacuum cleaners. Don't think I ever saw one actually on the road.
Copying the body but building up one with a front ebike hub motor, differential and an in-gear-hub jackshaft, led lights, modern frame building methods, and a modern controller using torque sensing, modern lithium battery, regen brake for the front, single disc on the differential housing (or the i-g-h) then boom, modernised