Hagerty's Festival of the Unexceptional will spotlight the quirky Sinclair C5 on its 40th anniversary this July.
One of Britain’s most notorious commercial flops, the Sinclair C5 electric trike, will take center stage at the 2025 Hagerty Festival of the Unexceptional as the event marks its 40th anniversary.
Held July 26 at the Grimsthorpe Castle estate in Lincolnshire, the festival will feature a special display of up to 20 Sinclair C5s, including a rare pre-production prototype and several well-preserved examples. Once dismissed as a failed experiment, the C5 has since achieved cult status among enthusiasts and collectors, many of whom now consider it an icon of 1980s British innovation.
Designed by Sir Clive Sinclair and launched in 1985, the three-wheeled C5 was envisioned as an affordable, clean-energy commuter vehicle. It was powered by a small electric motor sourced from a truck cooling fan and backed up by pedals to assist when the battery ran low. The C5 had a limited top speed of 15 mph and a theoretical range of 20 miles, though real-world use often fell short.
Despite the backing of major partners like Lotus and Hoover, the C5 sold poorly, with production ceasing just eight months after launch. Only about 5,000 of the 14,000 units built ever found buyers. Nevertheless, its legacy lives on, bolstered by a growing collector market and a dedicated online community.
“The C5 might have flopped commercially, but it’s become a beloved part of British motoring history,” said Sam Rowell, owner of C5 Depot and a leading figure in the restoration and modification of the quirky EV. “At car shows, it turns more heads than a Ferrari.”
This year’s Festival of the Unexceptional will also feature returning hosts and motoring personalities Smith and Sniff, who will lead an interactive live stage show. The event, known for celebrating humble and often-overlooked vehicles from the 1970s through the 1990s, promises another lively mix of nostalgia, eccentric engineering, and automotive oddities.
