The glorious Sinclair C5 at Autoeco Showroom !!
Everything about the 3 days experience at AutoEco, Oval Lingotto. Even the slowest hybrid-electric vehicle will beat the best gas-guzzler car anywhere, anytime... when we will be completely out of gasoline.
Last Update: 06/09/2007
Autoeco: 7-8-9 Sep - Turin, Oval Lingotto
I managed to get here with the school:
It's a showroom back in Turin about leading technology on alternative way to propel road vehicles. It's like the German Auto Show, but here we will be all green ! Automobile manufacturers, research center and school will be all there to sum up on what they are working today (vehicles, people, forums, industries).
I'll be there with my C5 too as part of the team H2POLITO - Molecole da corsa (
Politecnico di Torino eco racing squad) to show the projects and the people that will participate to the Shell EcoMarathon at Nagara, in may 2008: to build a very efficent vehicle propelled by hydrogen, capable of 1000km/l of equivalent energy stored in one liter of standard gas.
Why my C5? well, it was a debated issue also inside our team. We got a design for our prototype, but still no real protype. As i joined the team, we acknowledge to bring the C5 as part of our study and review project, the C5 is the testimony that 23 years ago someone already tryed a bright shift in eco-mobility, and our team is aware of that, so here it is the C5. What a destiny my little C5, born small, made of plastik, slow, fragile, old... but better than any other polluting vehicle ever produced ! Run C5, run !!
For the event, every member of the team made some materials, i did a poster and a video which (i hope) will make discover the C5 to all the people going there: Beware ! 23 years ago Sir Clive Sinclair got a dream, he built it and named C5 !! and now is backkkkkk claiming it's quota of the road !!!
I'll collect here pictures (travel, showroom), links, speeches and every kind of related info !
Autoeco: Promotional material
Click the image to download the 
poster: hope the C5 community like it !
The video (still coming) that will be shown all along the 3 days in the stand:
Flyers: <none yet>
Autoeco: 7 sep 07 - photo gallery
I'm bacckkk !!! waaaaa what a dayyy !!! i'm exaust !!! really ! i've taked all day long ! guess the subject !! the C5 !
the people, tha place, the subjects, the interests, industries, reasearchs and more more more !!
But let's me start with order ! i'm still really hot and electrified ! true ! it's all the day i'm just sparking electricity to objects, people, ground... !! and hot hot hot, red hot, entusiast of talking to really interested and meaningfull people about the project of our team and the C5 ! i was saying order, so let put all toghter in a cronological order:
You cal follow the with pictures taken from the 
7 Sep Autoeco gallery, just click the link and scroll trought the photos.
9:30 circa - i'm a rural boy, fighting with al madness of the city, a motorbike overcoming my car was nearly hitting a cyclist while i was letting him cross the road... nice beginning ! however it revealed as an isolated fact. I arrived in front of the main Oval Lingotto al 9:40, the teacher was waiting for me outside, she said "wow" and quickly encouraged me to drive straight in the fear; there is some sort of "ice" which setups between you and a new place where you right stepped into: the C5 melted that ICE as everybody was looking at me and it's quiet "bzzzzzzz" :D
10:00 - circa, as more student of our group arrives, we promply setted up our place, posters, monitors, videos playing, some ambient lights and... the C5. This was our first group work !
12:00 - Some quick food and first people where coming by the C5, mostly where other expositor, asking about it and our group. After the 5th time i explained the quick story to someone, i become an expert at relationship: people where attracted to our stand due to the C5 ! incredible ! they where all looking at it with a lot of curiosity about it, so i discovedred that just starting to explain the story helps to become friendly before they might try to ask you, really, be frinedly, give some fact, and people develop a sort of light in their eyes, they want to know more and more until they ask "may i drive a little?" SURE ! let me explain in other word, as i was saing that it's a storic vehicle not being manufactired anymore they where somewhere happier... they where afraid i was actually selling it and taking all their customers !!! :D
14:00 the fear is opening to the general public.. men ! i watched the clock and thought of being a loooong boring day, too high tech meeting nothing ready to sell, a lot of prototypes, people all dressed up nicely and elegant, and we, a group of 3 student showing our theoretical car with nothing of material.
But i was clearly wrong. We got the C5, we got a forced stop point for EVERYONE coming in. I watched he clock and was 14:30, when i noticed the time again it was 19:00... let's see !
14:30 - The first time is alwais difficoult, you don't know where to put hands, you don't know to who you are speaking, you don't know where to start... but it must be done. As i started to talk with the first people coming by i quickly developed the right touch, you see at what they are looking and you start chatting about the Sinclair C5 with a random fact every time a new people comes by. So every new person that joins to the listening group hears a different news, after the 6th man which joins the group, the first arrived thanks me for the time, for the restored C5 and for the happiness that i'm showing in the description.
The part that people like most is when i talk of the mud and the garbage from where i recovered it ! i add a bit of theatrical effect to the speech, "it was dark, it was raining, and there was a lot of mud... i knew the C5 in 2001, i pointed somewhere in my mind, then in 2006 as i saw a small part of it coming from the gound i grabbed and rescued it and..." :D i can triple assure you, they all listen carefully. Then i hit them with it's 23 years old age... and they wow at me :D
From the young that praise me to sell it one day, making a series production, to the elderly which thanks me for having restored it for being interested to the technology and atually practising it (also referring to the University project) untill some REALLY interesting people, industrials men, business men, people working at Pininfarina (a leader in industrial and vehicle and object design/style), to researcher and also some Political men that you see they are followed by at least 2 photographers and 3-4 discreet men while they approach you hear "silence" all around like an "aura" of respect... wow, they say "i'm the representant of ... bla bla bal... tell me what it is, what is your group about" ... gaa, i say my name, shake hand and go full speed with the story.
Geezz, i've talked to nearly 100-150 people in 5 hours, my toungue is dry, i standed up all day... why? well, having the C5 there was an idea of the group to attract visitors to our "empty" stand, the thing turned over me because people getting by the stand just ask "who is the owner of this?" and friends take me in front of them to tell the full story and so on! then i learned to divert all the people that i cannot talk simoultaneously to others to not loose "customers..". However i become a sort of punction point, i couldn't seat at all !
16:00 - Then... i man comes by and he smiled... "after all that time we meet again" he whispered, he asked "who is the owner?" i said "it's me!" and he said "in 1985, genuary, i was there", "where ?" i replyed , "i was near Sir Clive when he uncovered the C5".
I stood still. :O gghgghghggh....
Really ! this man, he works for Pininfarina (leading designer firms of vehicles and many other things), he was/is one of the men that designed our world today, the shape of things and so on, he knows its job. I just asked him "tell me something, i love the C5, please, tell me whatever" so he told me the true story about the C5. Back in 1985, Sir CLive put much much much hype in it's creature, it will revolution the world of personal transport. Everybody where expecting a "real car", some of the most promising men and women, designers too, where at the event. But when the envelope was taken away.. i hidden smile was on the mouth of everybody.. difficult to say, difficult for me to accept.. but the C5 wasn't right what everybody where expecting. He said: good the design, good the polipropilene body, good the hard decision, good the projects. Bad... the C5, bad the idea, bad the underlegs drive, bad the marketing, bad... and we all know how it ended, it was a playgroung for critics, it was a nice "sitting duck" to shot at.
Gee.. he was there ! i would give my best arm for that, for being there the next time !!
18:00 - as i talk to more and more and more people, they all congrats for the restoring, for the interests, for my verve in showing them the story, for letting them to try, for making them feel the fragility and unicity of the design, for the approach and so on. I found myself really excited about the C5, also the teacher told me that while i talk to people they se my eyes brighten up, waving my hands, not pushing the story, alwais ready to start again and again... it's so easy, i LOVE the C5 !!
19:00 - Event closed for the day, i decided, i'll be back again tomorrow !!! saturday !! i'll hope not to loose voice during night ! :\ i'll take a bigger bottle of water !
Autoeco: 8 sep 07
I promise, i'll have shorter words to describe the events happened today. 8 Sep Autoeco gallery
I wasn't supposed to get there on saturday. Really, but after a sleepless night feeling my C5 100km away from my garage... just i wasnt feeling right. So, in the morning the decision was clear: i pointed my head towards Turin and 1h:30m after i was in the showroom under the surprise of the teacher and my others friends.
Ahh, and what a day !! already suffering of low voice from the day after, i chatted all the day long ! we got an interesting 45m long chat with another guy (he was really good) about design, shape and speed of the vehicle, so we discovered that our ideas are not so good at all... perfect !
Then, while i was roaming along the stands, off course on my C5, i met an interested guy, he asked me to drive the C5, i agreed and then... he disappeared for 15 minutes ! when i was starting to worry i saw him again, he asked me another 15 minutes of drive... ok!
He depleted the battery ! we walked outside and we got a reaaaalllly interesting chat ! can't say more, but it turned out to be the "boss" of the event...
He: who are you?
Me: Well, James !
He: but.. i didn't invited you, right? ;)
Me: nope, but i'm with my school for another project and..
He: you have a nice toy here, where did you find it? what's its story?
Me: 2006, into a scrapyard, bla bla bla <omitted>...
He: ok , ok, take my card, let us cool down after the exposition, write something, then call me
Me: oh, well, i got some ideas but...
He: but don't stay here ! drive drive drive ! it's a showroom, show it !!
Me: rroooaaammmmm !!!!
Gosh ! when people say "a practical, electrified person". The rest of the day contined with an impressive amount of people queuing to see it, listen to the incredibile story and also to drive it ! from the young, to the elderl, from business people to normal men/women. I even got in touch with people that listened to the story back in 1985 and ever wanted to drive one, to ciclists that never got a recumbet, to hobbyst that build interesting bykes in their garage...
Then a giournalist of Repubblica comes by and... it was one of my friends we got in camping more than 18 years ago ! i found her again ! the team looked at me as i was having a very informal chat, they were thinking i gone crazy but after i told them i already knew her and our child camping and so on... i did a really good move to be there also on saturday ! i hope we will get whatever good article on the news paper ! :>
Before leaving i finally did a short trip of the expo, on the C5, taking photographs and parking the C5 near some futuristic prototipes of moped... (pic19) i can say the C5 can really widestand the company of these "futuristic" devices without loosing none of it's futuristic appeal. I can say, i a Proud owner of a C5 !!!
I also got another good chat with a man in the oil and lubrificant industry. What's the matter? well, he got captured by my passion about the C5, the story and the personal mobility problem, he said it's good to have young people think about problem and build dreams, build big "why?" & "what if", so he told me to keep the dream alive, don't be in hurry or dissatisfaid if i couldn't realize immediately my dream, but wait, wait until you know the time has come without forcing it.. he offered some commercial help too, like i give you a hand if you can help me. It's business after all ;)
In the evening i was tired tired tired, i found the bed and dropped into, that's all for today !
Autoeco: 9 sep 07
The last day has come ! 9 Sep Autoeco gallery
And so, you are asking, what else can you do after all this happenings? easy: get to know the C5 to even more and more people !!
I got nice nice nice chat with a man who electrified an old 500, we got some words about our current government (ahem.. left wing) and it's failed mission, for one vote, about the liberty to modify our vehicles into electric ones. We still got to go to germany to... ough cugh omologate them.
I met also other people 40ish-50ish-60ish-70ish that know about the C5 already and again talked about it, this time i tried to stay outside the building, in the opening in front of the main gate, so we could easisly build group of people, disposed in a ring while i described it and performed some test drive on the paved road. Men, if only it was still in production...
Then we meet the team of Rome who already runned on the past Shell Eco Marathon, geeee they let me drove their vehicle !!! (photo31) and after we disputed a small "race". They were able to take a standard 50cc engine from a quad, fit into their vehicle and drive it with an impressive figure of 103Km/l !!! a commercial engine, a vehicle built by thair hands !
Toady i also met another interested guy, an high school teacher and we got to chat about ergonomy, phisical exercize, he is also a member of some road analisys incident team for motorbyke and bycicle.. he want to teach teenager that there exists other vehicles different from bikes and from motorikes too, and that 2 legs are just enough to drive you around. We got some projects too, exchanged contacts and..
I also meet friends and new students interested in partecipating the School team !
Today also, after we got confident with the space in the expo, 2 members of the team carryed their RC model and got some phun time roaming around their models :)
I got also to know the Vectrix, the first commercially available electric maxi scooter, 34 powehorse, 210Kg of weight, 2 seater... beast !
then it comes the time to repack everything togheter, say hi to our new friends and congrats with everybody and hope we can meet again in may 2008 at Nogaro ! our final destination ! and compete, not for profit, with our vehicles in the Shell Eco Marathon !!!
In the end
What to say more.. this was my first expo as expositor, i was very electric, friendly and learned to talk friendly also with "the stranger", that indeed, it was not so strange at all, but rather interested, motivated and enough eager to listen to our words.
I hope i can carry on all the contacts i got, and try to realize little by little my dreams from now on !
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