Sleek, white, and advertised with sexy typography, minimalism and reflective surfaces, the iMac Sinclair C5 was an electronic vehicle ahead of its time: a design that appeared ridiculous to contemporary critics, but which now has an unnervingly current look to it.
Launched on Jan. 10, 1985, to much fanfare, the £400 ($800), three-wheeled trike quickly became an object of popular ridicule and was a commercial disaster, with only around 17,000 being sold.
The British media claimed they were dangerously small, and went to great efforts to ridicule its sci-fi looks and relative flimsiness. Even without their efforts, the open-top C5 was a hard sell to Britons well aware of the local climate.
(More on the device's demise and history after the jump, including early concept designs.)
By October 1985, Sinclair Vehicles was in receivership, and by Christmas, C5s were on sale for £140 by retailers desperate to rid themselves of them.
Design problems were also present. The Battery did not perform well in cold weather and speed was capped at 15 MPH, allowing youngsters and other unlicensed drivers to drive it on the roads. The motor lacked gears, and was supplemented by poorly-situated pedals.
The c5's failure ended a brilliant run by British inventor Clive Sinclair, whose successes with calculators and home computers throughout the 1980s earned him a knighthood and the love of the nation.
According to wikipedia, a modified C5 holds the land speed record for a land vehicle, having peaked at 150 mph. Sir Clive offers a mod kit to uncap the 15 MPH limit, allowing the C5 to hit a more reasonable 30 MPH.
Sinclair himself restored some of his former glory recently with the A-Bike, a bicycle that folds up for easy carriage -- some might see it as a step down from electronic marvels like his computers or electronic vehicles, but let's face it: it's a near perfect mode of transport for busy professionals, and it's not hard to see why it succeeds where the C5 failed.
For those desirous of a more sensible, if rather uglier electrical vehicle, check out the TWIKE. True believers can find C5s on eBay
Sinclair Research [Official Website]
c5Alive [Enthusiast site]
Sinclair C5 Enthusiasts [Enthusiast site]
