Editing Sinclair C5 (section)

===From flop to cult===
[[File:C5 Alive rally.jpg|right|thumb|C5 enthusiasts gather at the [[Brooklands Museum]] in Surrey]]
[[File:Sinclair C5 jet engine.jpg|right|thumb|A heavily modified C5 fitted with a [[jet engine]]]]
Despite its lack of commercial success when it was first released, the C5 gained an unexpected degree of cult status in the later years.<ref name="Scotsman-10-Jan-2005" /> Collectors began purchasing them as investment items,<ref>{{cite news|title=1985: Down Memory Lane in the Sinclair C5|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/witness/january/10/newsid_4111000/4111177.stm|work=BBC News|access-date=11 September 2014}}</ref> reselling them for considerably more than their original retail price. One such investor, Adam Harper, bought 600 C5s from a film company as a speculative investment in 1987. He sold all but four within two years, selling them to customers who wanted a novel or more environmentally friendly form of transportation. He also found willing customers among drivers who had been banned from the road, as the C5 did not need a driving licence or vehicle tax.<ref name="Times-7-Aug-1989" /> According to Harper, C5s could be resold for as much as £2,500 – more than six times the original retail price.<ref>{{cite news|title=Derided Sinclair C5 has last laugh at 72mph|last=Eason|first=Kevin|page=1|work=The Times}}</ref> By 1996, a Special Edition C5 in its original box was reported to be worth more than £5,000 to collectors.<ref name="Charge">{{cite magazine|title=Charge!|url=http://yoz.com/wired/2.02/features/charge.html|last=Flint|first=James|magazine=Wired|issue=2|date=February 1996|volume=2|access-date=11 September 2014}}</ref>

C5 owners began modifying their vehicles to achieve levels of performance far beyond anything envisaged by Sinclair. Adam Harper used one C5 as a stunt vehicle, driving it through a {{convert|70|ft|abbr=on}} tunnel of fire,<ref name="Charge"/> and adapted another to run at {{convert|150|mph}}, aiming to break a world land speed record for a three-wheeled electric vehicle and the British record for any type of electric vehicle.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://yoz.com/wired/2.02/features/charge.html|title=Charge!|last=Flint|first=James|magazine=Wired|issue=2|date=February 1996|volume=2}}</ref><ref name="150mph"/> He said later: "Up to 100 mph [160 km/h] it's like you're running on rails, it's really stable. Then at about 110 to 120 mph [180–195 km/h] it starts getting tricky. At that point if a tire blew up or something happened you would be surely dead".<ref name="150mph">{{cite news|title=Speedy Sinclair C5 set 150mph record|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Speedy+Sinclair+C5+set+150mph+record.-a0121138116|work=South Wales Echo|date=23 August 2004}}</ref>

As quoted in the 1987 ''[[Guinness Book of Records]]'' under battery powered vehicle: "John W. Owen and Roy Harvey travelled 919 miles (1479 km) from [[John O'Groats]] to [[Land's End]] in a Sinclair C5 in 103 hr 15 min on 30 Apr-4 May 1985" ({{convert|8.9|mph|km/h|abbr=on|disp=x|/}} average).

Chris Crosskey, an engineer from [[Abingdon-on-Thames|Abingdon]], set a record for the longest journey completed on a C5 on a trip to [[Glastonbury]] – {{convert|103|mi}} away ("I nearly died of exhaustion")<ref>{{cite news|title=Pedal pushers&nbsp;...|work=Sunday Express|date=2 January 2005|page=21}}</ref> – and tried three times to drive one from [[Land's End to John o' Groats]], a distance of {{convert|874|mi}}.<ref name="Scotsman-10-Jan-2005" /> Another engineer, Adrian Bennett, fitted a jet engine to his C5,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jetpower.co.uk/jet-powered-sinclair-c5/|title=Jet Sinclair C5|access-date=10 January 2020}}</ref> while plumber and inventor [[Colin Furze]] turned one into a {{convert|5|ft|m|adj=mid|-high}} "monster trike" with {{convert|2|ft|1}} wheels and a petrol engine capable of propelling it at {{convert|40|mph}}.<ref>{{cite news|title=Plumber spends £1,000 transforming dud 80s invention into a monster trike|url=http://metro.co.uk/2012/04/03/plumber-spends-1000-transforming-dud-80s-invention-into-a-monster-trike-375411/|date=3 April 2014|work=Metro|access-date=14 September 2014}}</ref>

The singer [[John Otway]] has used a C5 in his stage show and publicity.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/top_news/11511985.Rock_and_Roll___s_greatest_failure_hits_the_road/ |title=Rock and Roll's greatest failure hits the road |website=Oxford Mail |date=3 October 2014 |access-date=10 May 2024}}</ref>