Reply to: I want to buy a C5...

[conned tractor]

It is free. Sadly, the upstairs has just been closed for refurbishment, as has the Blitz section.
(

Thanks for the info Mr Cranium, may take the little one one of the weekends now that the weather is starting to get a bit autumnal.

Only kidding about the waist size - the beer doesn't help either.

[RichardCranium]

Coventry Transport Museum

Been meaning to go to the transport museum for donkeys, just never got there. Am I right in thinking it is even free entry?

It is free. Sadly, the upstairs has just been closed for refurbishment, as has the Blitz section.

However, the THRUST 2 and THRUST FFS simulator (it's not FFS but it should have been) are there. They are impresssive.

I went round at the weekend with a female friend and was in there for about 2½ hours. (I got a slap for pointing at the white TR7 with a black PVC roof and saying "Wow, what a fanny magnet that was".)

When we came out there was a 2CV rally going on outside!

They have a Doctor Who exhibition on; entry is £8. I don't know if it is any good.

28" - really?

6' tall and 28" waist, yep. Then on my 28th birthday all my jeans and trousers and suits didn't fit: I had gone to 32" overnight. Weird.

I stayed there until I gave up the evil weed, my weight and health have never recovered from stopping smoking.

[conned tractor]

There's quite an active community making parts for C5s and keeping them running.

There's one in the Coventry Transport Museum (along with a Chopper). It has not aged well.

It is in the ironic 'future' section which has a variety of electric cars spanning about 40 years, all of which were intended to be the future.

It is difficult to see those electric cars (one I remember seeing on Tomorrow's World back in the days when I still wore 28" waist jeans) and not suspect the oil industry is holding back progress whilst it poisons the planet.

Been meaning to go to the transport museum for donkeys, just never got there. Am I right in thinking it is even free entry?

28" - really?

[bogeyman]

It is in the ironic 'future' section which has a variety of electric cars spanning about 40 years, all of which were intended to be the future.

If Sir Clive had played his cards right, we'd all have flying cars by now!

Damn the BBC and Acorn

[RichardCranium]

There's quite an active community making parts for C5s and keeping them running.

There's one in the Coventry Transport Museum (along with a Chopper). It has not aged well.

It is in the ironic 'future' section which has a variety of electric cars spanning about 40 years, all of which were intended to be the future.

It is difficult to see those electric cars (one I remember seeing on Tomorrow's World back in the days when I still wore 28" waist jeans) and not suspect the oil industry is holding back progress whilst it poisons the planet.

[conned tractor]

It's not about aerodynamics - it's about soul.

That'll be about right.

[conned tractor]

I drove a C5 whilst on holiday many years ago. Hired it by the hour. It was great fun but was broken ever other day.

An alternative idea.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xitMWUfeLk

Go Kart drifting .... nice idea.

I have other plans to build something else, but the C5 is more about the restoration than the ride. I reckon it wouldn't be that hard to do.

[BoredBloke]

Clive looked cool in one.

I don't think he ever looked cool

[bogeyman]

It combines a lot of disadvantages of a car with the disadvantages of an electric bike though. One thing that a recumbent posture has going for it is the potential for far better aerodynamics than a bike, which for the latter is awful (worse than a car).

Oh God! Stop being so bloody practical.

Just imagine humming along in your C5 chariot, heading South over Westminster Bridge, in the dying embers of a July sunset, with the breeze in what remains of your hair.

It's not about aerodynamics - it's about soul.

[TimberWolf]

An electric bike you lie down on totally could be really efficient, and it would seem like you are going really fast too.

[DimPrawn]

I drove a C5 whilst on holiday many years ago. Hired it by the hour. It was great fun but was broken ever other day.

An alternative idea.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xitMWUfeLk

[TimberWolf]

You can't recline in a stylish and slightly rakish manner on a bike.

It combines a lot of disadvantages of a car with the disadvantages of an electric bike though. One thing that a recumbent posture has going for it is the potential for far better aerodynamics than a bike, which for the latter is awful (worse than a car).

[conned tractor]

How about a petrol powered kart, quad or mini moto? Something like that?

They sound too dangerous.

[bogeyman]

It doesn't have the nostalgia or the iconic place in history as one of the biggest flops.

Indeed. I think some here are missing the point entirely.

If you manage to get a C5, you could hack a Sinclair QL into an onboard Sat Nav. How cool would that be?

[BoredBloke]

Where I used to live there was a little shop that sold washing machines and he had a C5 parked outside from pretty much the day of their release. I noticed about a year ago it had gone. It used to look quite sorry for itself - dirty with flat tyres, but even when it was brand spanking new it looked rubbish!