ABOUT THE COVER (part one)
Hey, that’s my kid on the front cover!
If you’ve been a subscriber to TIME DESIGNS for awhile, you may have noticed that I never really mention a whole lot about my family or personal matters. I have always felt that our customers pay for computer information, and it’s computer info that you’ll get. TS HORIZONS and CTM were two magazines (now defunct) that I enjoyed, and remember reading frequently about family members in their editorial pages.
So what the heck. Just this once. Yep, that’s my two year-old son, Timothy Dean (or “T.D.” for short). As I am writing this column, my wife and I are expecting our second child. It will be any day now, and T.D. will have a little brother or sister.
And what is that curious vehicle that T.D. is riding on? Hard core Sinclair fanatics will recognize it at once. It’s a Sinclair “C5” personal electric vehicle. I had the opportunity to purchase a used one here recently, and went for it. Now my son (who can’t really drive it yet) can brag to his friends that he’s the only one on the block with a C5.
The C5 is the newest addition to my Sinclair “museum”, which also includes a ZX80 computer, the pocket TV, the FM digital watch, and a whole bunch of Timex goodies, like the original Timex 2068 disk drive system (with Timex labels), and a genuine Timex joystick for the 2068. I keep looking for other goodies, and once in awhile (especially at the Timex computer shows), I run into another fellow fanatic who also has a collection. Such items as the original Sinclair programmable calculator, the Sinclair “black watch”, and a 2050 modem with actual Timex logo decals.
But the C5 is certainly the centerpiece of my collection, and perhaps the strangest. It was a Clive Sinclair failure. I remember hearing about the research being conducted on electric vehicles several years ago. But I never imagined that the C5 would be the result of this research. A sort-of snowmobile on wheels.
I have taken my C5 completely apart, partly out of curiosity, partly to lubricate critical moving parts, and just general restoration. In doing so, I found the elusive Sinclair custom Integrated Circuit (chip) that monitors motor and battery status. It’s a ULA, and I swear, it looks suspiciously like the one that resides in the ZX81!
The C5 went on sale for just a short time here in the U.S. through mail order, but I bet that only a few hundred were sold. The big problem was that the vehicle has a one-piece molded plastic body nearly six feet in length. Too big for UPS and Federal Express. I had to have it trucked from the east coast which added over $100 to the price. Someone in engineering was not thinking. If only it could be folded up or disassembled into a smaller package.
And to add insult to injury, Sinclair had contracted HOOVER to manufacture the vehicle. Does that name sound familiar? It should, as just about every department store sells their line of vacuum cleaners! In fact, Hoover was also responsible for warranty service and parts. I called over to England to try and locate some parts my C5 was missing, and found that Hoover still stocks some of the items.
But after all of the criticism is raised about the C5, there is one aspect that is usually overlooked about the machine. It is darn fun to drive! It’s a tad bit slow, but one trip around the block and your hooked. Everyone on the road will stare. There is simply nothing else like it around.
While it would be nice to close this little chapter of Sinclair history, and write the C5 off as a curious “boondoggle” that had some possibilities. But, lo and behold, I was told on good authority that Clive is still working on electric vehicles. Guess I’ll have to make some more room in the “museum”.
ABOUT THE COVER (part two)
Turning our attention back to the front cover of this issue…did you notice anything different??
A big “thank you” to Paul Bingham for designing our new TIME DESIGNS logo. I think it’s clever and attractive, and I hope that you all like it too. This logo is the sixth revision to our very first logo which appeared on Volume One Number One. I had planned to unveil this new logo for the Nov/Dec issue, but I liked it so much, that I couldn’t wait to showcase it.
We have the ever talented and artistic Paul Bingham working on some other projects for us. But he hasn’t forgotten his CLASSY FRONT END column, which will resume next issue. Be sure to check out his write up and evaluation of the Z88 portable computer and how it sizes up to previous Sinclair computers, inside this issue.
In closing, I might add, that this issue contains a whole lot of pre-Christmas advertising from a variety of Timex Sinclair vendors. I do hope that you will patronize them in one way or another, as they support TIME DESIGNS. Why not drop a hint to Santa, that a new disk drive system, or software package is just the thing you need to further your “hobby”?
Tim Woods