Sir Clive Sinclair’s C5 was a tiny electric vehicle, released in the mid-1980s to a skeptical British public that did not buy many of them. It looks surprisingly attractive now, two decades later, but that sleek pearly-white design conceals serious design flaws: pedals to make up for the dreadful battery and a highway safety profile analogous to riding a motorcycle, in the nude, down a ski ramp.
From Wikipedia:
Powered operation was possible making it unnecessary for the driver to pedal. It had a top speed of 15 miles per hour (24 km/h), chosen because vehicles unable to travel faster could be driven without a driving licence in the UK.
Despite being relatively cheap to purchase (it sold for £399 + £29 for delivery), the C5 quickly became an object of popular ridicule, and was a commercial disaster with only around 12,000 being sold.
Here is a jet-powered one:
Or strip it down and you have yourself a space-bike (Lister’s ride in Red Dwarf)
Actually, the law was changed so that anyone over 15 could drive a C5 without a licence, specifically for the C5.
Sir Clive had a very similar reality distortion field to Steve Jobs, except in his case it was used to sell things that looked innovative but don’t actually work that well. It worked especially well on governments, which Steve hasn’t managed to do yet.
wow, a sit down segway
Ah, Sinclair. the UK’s premier crapvendor of the 80s.
The computers were actually very good in the early days. They had the misfortune of remaining popular while they were obviously obsolete.