Sir Clive Sinclair is a man who had some great ideas. He tended to bet on his genius rather than cards, but he made one gamble that did not pay off. Some gamblers play poker, table games, or slots. These guys take a lot of risk and it does not always pay off. You also have those who bet on business. When you bet on business it is meant to be more about the technology, abilities of the staff, and a great idea than a gamble. Yet, in the past there have been many businessmen who have taken risks, which may not pay off. Sir Clive Sinclair was like this. At first in the 80s he was making some great deals. He was showing he had the business sense to make something of himself. He seemed less like a gambler then with the pocket calculator, pocket television, and even the best selling computer of the UK called the ZX Spectrum.
It sounds like he had it all and was going to continue in this path of being a true businessman. Yet, he decided to work on something else, which turned out to be more of a gamble than what it should have been. It is this next step in his business plan that has labelled him one of the top gamblers of all times. It may not be a traditional method with the cards or table games, but it was certainly a move that fits the exact definition of what it means to gamble.
In 1985, Sinclair decided to begin work on an electric car. It was to be the first commercial car of its type called the C5. You might remember this or you may not have even heard of it because that is how wrong the thought process was on the manufacture of a commercial electric car. The concept was meant to be one of revolutionary means. It was supposed to replace every vehicle in the city for personal transport. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a car not dependent on fuel? Even back then the idea was in the works.
The idea of this car was also supposed to be cheap. In fact for 399 pounds one could get an electric car. It is obviously a significant discount compared to regular cars of the time, so why wouldn’t it be something mainstream people would be interested in?
It starts with a concept that seems out of the realm of possibilities. Conventional car makers did not help since they figured it was not really going to have the speed or wherewithal to make an impression. It seems the car was considered to have all the power of a Hoover vacuum rather than a car for the street. One should not be surprised since the vehicle only made it up to 15mph. The truth is the electric car was nothing more than a bike with a battery. Amazingly enough 17,500 were actually sold, but Sinclair lost 7 million pounds on the deal. There is one thing that makes Sinclair’s idea less of a gamble in some eyes. Given that we are working towards electric cars now it means that Sinclair’s C5 is now being bought by collectors for around 900 pounds.