0:00:02 > 0:00:03This is a model of KITT,
0:00:03 > 0:00:06from the 1980s TV series Knight Rider with the Hoff.
0:00:06 > 0:00:12And this is the 1966 jet-powered Batmobile.
0:00:12 > 0:00:14The fantasy cars of TV and cinema
0:00:14 > 0:00:18were formed by our dreams of the car of the future.
0:00:18 > 0:00:20We liked the idea of a car that would talk to us,
0:00:20 > 0:00:23that knew where it was going, that would fly
0:00:23 > 0:00:26and we wondered if it could actually drive itself.
0:00:26 > 0:00:28Did anything come of the wild imaginings
0:00:28 > 0:00:30of the creators of these things?
0:00:30 > 0:00:33Did any of it become reality to filter down
0:00:33 > 0:00:37to the real cars of the people?
0:00:43 > 0:00:45This week, innovation.
0:00:45 > 0:00:48Making an impression where it counts.
0:00:49 > 0:00:51It's doing terrible things to my testicles.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54A funny man lends me his funny car.
0:00:54 > 0:00:58- So it would've made a futuristic noise and a great smell.- Exactly.
0:00:58 > 0:00:59'Engineering.
0:00:59 > 0:01:00'Technology.'
0:01:00 > 0:01:03This is the hardest thing I've ever done.
0:01:03 > 0:01:05'And safety.'
0:01:06 > 0:01:09All this, plus...a bird.
0:01:09 > 0:01:10Here's a bird.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17'This week, before I deal with the people's dreams,
0:01:17 > 0:01:21'I want to start by talking about me for a change.'
0:01:21 > 0:01:24This is a BMW i3, an electric car.
0:01:26 > 0:01:27It's my car.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34If you haven't driven a modern electric car, it is worth a go,
0:01:34 > 0:01:38because it's mainly like driving a car, there's no gearbox,
0:01:38 > 0:01:40because you don't need one and some of the controls
0:01:40 > 0:01:44are slightly different, but it does feel strangely enlightened.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50'And as it's my car, it's even getting to know me a little.'
0:01:50 > 0:01:54I can have a conversation with it, of sorts.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57TONE Phonebook.
0:01:58 > 0:02:01- CAR:- Phonebook. Please say a name.
0:02:01 > 0:02:02World's biggest.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07- Did you mean world's biggest... - CAR HORN
0:02:07 > 0:02:11Yes, I did, but I don't really want to talk to Jeremy, do I? No, cancel.
0:02:11 > 0:02:13TONE
0:02:13 > 0:02:15There you go.
0:02:16 > 0:02:20Apart from sharing my opinions, this car, like many of its rivals,
0:02:20 > 0:02:24is bristling with user-friendly hi-tech.
0:02:25 > 0:02:29And like all other electric cars, it's powered by a simple battery,
0:02:29 > 0:02:32without the need for valves, pistons or gears.
0:02:32 > 0:02:34# Just the two of us... #
0:02:34 > 0:02:36You plug it in, and you plug in everything these days -
0:02:36 > 0:02:39your phone, your tablet, your toothbrush.
0:02:39 > 0:02:42Your ladyshave, whatever.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47I don't have a ladyshave, I just know that you recharge them.
0:02:47 > 0:02:49KNIGHT RIDER THEME TUNE
0:02:49 > 0:02:52'It's simple, yet sophisticated.
0:02:52 > 0:02:54'It'll even park itself...
0:02:54 > 0:02:55'while I'm doing my legs.'
0:02:57 > 0:03:01I'm not touching the pedals. I'm not touching the steering wheel.
0:03:01 > 0:03:03It's doing it by itself!
0:03:03 > 0:03:04It's witchcraft!
0:03:05 > 0:03:07Are you watching?
0:03:07 > 0:03:11It's just going to go forwards a bit and then...
0:03:11 > 0:03:12Ah. TONE
0:03:13 > 0:03:14It's good, isn't it?
0:03:16 > 0:03:18'Electric vehicles like this are at the forefront
0:03:18 > 0:03:21'of a 21st-century battle
0:03:21 > 0:03:24'to decide how our cars will be powered in the future.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27'And although rivals include the fuel cells, solar energy,
0:03:27 > 0:03:31'biofuel and liquid gas, I quite fancy its chances.'
0:03:31 > 0:03:33It's electric.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36Smooth, quiet, clean.
0:03:36 > 0:03:38Modern.
0:03:40 > 0:03:41Or is it?
0:03:41 > 0:03:43Let's go back 100 years or so.
0:03:48 > 0:03:52Here is an early car from 1909. It's a Baker.
0:03:52 > 0:03:54It looks a bit like a horse-drawn carriage
0:03:54 > 0:03:57and, if you look inside the interior,
0:03:57 > 0:04:01it's described by the current owner as a bit frou-frou,
0:04:01 > 0:04:04or rather like a Victorian brothel.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07But here's the interesting thing -
0:04:07 > 0:04:08it's electric.
0:04:10 > 0:04:13We modern people like to think that our electric dreams
0:04:13 > 0:04:16are a product of our hi-tech world.
0:04:16 > 0:04:19But in large parts of America in 1900,
0:04:19 > 0:04:23the electric car was the bestselling car of the people.
0:04:23 > 0:04:25It was as fashionable as top hats...
0:04:25 > 0:04:26and TB.
0:04:28 > 0:04:31'But, just like today, it wasn't clear which propulsion method
0:04:31 > 0:04:34'would drive the car of the future.
0:04:34 > 0:04:38'And the electric car faced some high-pressure competition.'
0:04:38 > 0:04:42This is a Stanley Model 740D Roadster,
0:04:42 > 0:04:45and as you can probably guess from the chuffing sound,
0:04:45 > 0:04:47it's steam-powered.
0:04:47 > 0:04:49Right, now this is like a car,
0:04:49 > 0:04:51in that it has a steering wheel in front of me,
0:04:51 > 0:04:53a rather vague one, I've got to be honest.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56Everything else about it is quite baffling.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59The pedals are all wrong, there's lots of lovely instruments,
0:04:59 > 0:05:01but they're talking about mysterious things.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04We've got fuel system pressure, boiler pressure,
0:05:04 > 0:05:07cylinder lubrication, oil flow, all sorts of things.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10Hang on a minute, open the regulator.
0:05:10 > 0:05:11Climb this hill.
0:05:12 > 0:05:18So all this stuff, this isn't steam punk, this is actually steam.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23Duba-duba-duba-duba, duba-duba-duba-duba...
0:05:26 > 0:05:30A steam car works in pretty much the same way as any other steam engine.
0:05:30 > 0:05:35Water is boiled in, well, a boiler, by kerosene burners and then steam -
0:05:35 > 0:05:39and I mean proper, superheated steam at 300 degrees plus,
0:05:39 > 0:05:41not the poncey vapour that comes out of your kettle -
0:05:41 > 0:05:45that is forced into cylinders, where it pushes pistons along.
0:05:45 > 0:05:47That then turns a shaft, which drives the wheels.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50That's all we've ever wanted out of all these sources of motive power,
0:05:50 > 0:05:53a rotating shaft. That's it.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56The brakes don't work, the steering is terrible,
0:05:56 > 0:05:58and you do worry that it's going to blow up.
0:05:58 > 0:06:00But, for the people of the early 20th century,
0:06:00 > 0:06:03steam power was a trusted friend.
0:06:03 > 0:06:08Steam had been around since the 18th century, it had industrialised us,
0:06:08 > 0:06:11it powered mill engines and mine pumps and, of course,
0:06:11 > 0:06:15it gave us the miracle of the railways.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18Steam was understood.
0:06:18 > 0:06:22A steam engine will really run on just about anything that will burn.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25They can go very, very wrong and become very, very sloppy
0:06:25 > 0:06:26and they still work.
0:06:27 > 0:06:31Steam power, it seemed, was not only the past but also the future.
0:06:31 > 0:06:35In America, sales began to outstrip electric cars.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39But coming up fast in their rear-view mirrors was a rival system
0:06:39 > 0:06:42destined to rule the world.
0:06:42 > 0:06:44ROCK MUSIC
0:06:47 > 0:06:50This is a Mercedes-Benz AMG DT.
0:06:50 > 0:06:55It has a four litre V8, developing 510 horsepower.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58Is that a lot? It is quite a lot, actually.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02It does 193mph,
0:07:02 > 0:07:07goes from 0 to 60 in under four seconds. It's amazing.
0:07:07 > 0:07:09And it runs on petrol.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12As indeed did the world's first true car.
0:07:12 > 0:07:16Back in 1885, when Karl Benz ran the engine of his Motorwagen
0:07:16 > 0:07:19for the first time, he described the sound it made
0:07:19 > 0:07:21as "the music of the future."
0:07:23 > 0:07:24He was right, wasn't he?
0:07:24 > 0:07:28Because if the music of the 20th century has a dominant note,
0:07:28 > 0:07:31it's that of the internal combustion engine.
0:07:31 > 0:07:32'And that's odd,
0:07:32 > 0:07:36'because the internal combustion engine is rather demanding.'
0:07:36 > 0:07:40The petrol engine in this car has to have sophisticated electronics,
0:07:40 > 0:07:43it has to have an oil pump, it has to have lubrication,
0:07:43 > 0:07:45it has to have valves going up and down and springs
0:07:45 > 0:07:49and it has to have a gearbox, blah, blah, blah.
0:07:49 > 0:07:52So, why? Why have we ended up relying so much on this thing
0:07:52 > 0:07:55when an electric motor in particular is so simple?
0:07:57 > 0:07:59The answer is not to be found in the engine,
0:07:59 > 0:08:02but at the other end of the car.
0:08:02 > 0:08:07In here is a petrol tank holding around 80, 85 litres of fuel.
0:08:07 > 0:08:08Not a very big volume, to be honest.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11That much beer would only keep the production crew
0:08:11 > 0:08:14of this programme going for about an hour and a half, two hours.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17But as petrol, it will drive this high-performance car
0:08:17 > 0:08:19all the way from my house in London
0:08:19 > 0:08:22right up into the Highlands of Scotland.
0:08:22 > 0:08:24That is very energy dense.
0:08:24 > 0:08:26Fossil fuels were a great gift from nature.
0:08:26 > 0:08:28If that were to be a battery,
0:08:28 > 0:08:31it would have to be about three or four times the size of the car
0:08:31 > 0:08:32to do the same job.
0:08:34 > 0:08:36The energy that a few gallons of oil can yield
0:08:36 > 0:08:39would send cars far across the world.
0:08:39 > 0:08:43And filling stations were quick to spring up everywhere.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47By contrast, national electricity grids simply didn't exist,
0:08:47 > 0:08:50leaving the electric car confined to the city.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54But what about the people's favourite, steam?
0:08:54 > 0:08:59Railways had conquered the globe. Surely the steam car would prevail.
0:08:59 > 0:09:01The steam car of the early 20th century
0:09:01 > 0:09:03was doomed by several factors.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06Ford's moving production line meant that his Model T,
0:09:06 > 0:09:10his car for the great multitude, came down in price constantly,
0:09:10 > 0:09:13so by the time this car came out, the Model T could be yours
0:09:13 > 0:09:16for not much more than a 10th of the price.
0:09:16 > 0:09:17And the Model T, of course,
0:09:17 > 0:09:19as well as making the car an affordable proposition,
0:09:19 > 0:09:24also cemented internal combustion as the accepted way.
0:09:25 > 0:09:26Pish.
0:09:26 > 0:09:28Infrastructure, economics
0:09:28 > 0:09:31and Ford's mass production methods, then,
0:09:31 > 0:09:33would decisively tip the balance.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36By the 1920s, the battle was as good as settled.
0:09:36 > 0:09:40The petrol age had dawned and its god was the piston engine.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51The image of an engine is quite important
0:09:51 > 0:09:54to the 20th century iconography, I'd say.
0:09:54 > 0:09:56Blokes in particular will stand around looking at the engine
0:09:56 > 0:09:59of a car as if it will inform them of something.
0:09:59 > 0:10:01It's a bit like the way they are with weapons,
0:10:01 > 0:10:04it's because they know it empowers them.
0:10:05 > 0:10:07Empowers them enormously.
0:10:07 > 0:10:10Look at this. ENGINE REVS
0:10:10 > 0:10:11I feel empowered.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19And there are a lot of people in the world who say that oil is a menace,
0:10:19 > 0:10:22it will destroy us, it will ruin the atmosphere
0:10:22 > 0:10:25and destroy wildlife and all the rest of it.
0:10:25 > 0:10:27In which case, I say, let's put it cars like this
0:10:27 > 0:10:29and get rid of it.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32Cos then it won't be a problem any more, will it?
0:10:34 > 0:10:37Clean or not, oil had got us hooked
0:10:37 > 0:10:39and had given us the mobility we craved.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44And, while engines slowly grew more powerful and reliable,
0:10:44 > 0:10:48the car itself became a catalyst for rapid change.
0:10:48 > 0:10:52Towns, cities, even nations were built around its requirements.
0:10:52 > 0:10:55- COMMENTATOR:- Roads are getting better.
0:10:55 > 0:10:59Many highways have been designed that eliminate dangers and delays.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02But, by the early '50s, there was a new kid on the block,
0:11:02 > 0:11:06leaving the piston engine trailing wistfully in its slipstream.
0:11:07 > 0:11:08Welcome...
0:11:08 > 0:11:10to the jet age.
0:11:10 > 0:11:12PLANE ROARS
0:11:12 > 0:11:15MUSIC: Richard III by Supergrass
0:11:19 > 0:11:23The jet engine would advance aviation in one giant leap.
0:11:23 > 0:11:27But no-one would be daft enough to suggest a jet-powered car.
0:11:27 > 0:11:29ENGINE WHOOSHES
0:11:29 > 0:11:32- This must be one of the world's rarest cars.- I think it is.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35- Certainly one of the world's rarest production cars.- I think it is.
0:11:35 > 0:11:37ENGINE WHOOSHES It's a great noise though, isn't it?
0:11:37 > 0:11:40- It must have seemed very futuristic then.- It still does.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43MUSIC: Apache by The Shadows
0:11:43 > 0:11:46'This is the world's last working example
0:11:46 > 0:11:48'of the Chrysler turbine car.
0:11:48 > 0:11:49'And, if you haven't already guessed,
0:11:49 > 0:11:52'it belongs to the superstar comedian Jay Leno.'
0:11:54 > 0:11:56The car is 100% original.
0:11:56 > 0:11:58Most jet cars of the period,
0:11:58 > 0:12:01like, General Motors had two or three jet cars,
0:12:01 > 0:12:04and they had the bubble top. And they looked like fighter planes.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07I mean, the jet engine itself was still a relatively new
0:12:07 > 0:12:10and remarkable thing. Most people still didn't fly anywhere,
0:12:10 > 0:12:12so to have a car come down your street in your small town
0:12:12 > 0:12:15that made the same noise as a fighter aircraft, that's...
0:12:15 > 0:12:16- Yeah.- That's incredible.
0:12:18 > 0:12:22'The car works by sucking in air to mix with a fine spray of fuel,
0:12:22 > 0:12:24'which, when ignited, drives a turbine,
0:12:24 > 0:12:26'sending power to the wheels.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29'Only 55 were ever built.'
0:12:30 > 0:12:32I mean, this does look outrageous to us now,
0:12:32 > 0:12:35because this is a bit of very flamboyant 1960s American design.
0:12:35 > 0:12:37- Yeah.- But this would have been
0:12:37 > 0:12:39- a mainstream-looking car, wouldn't it?- Sure, yeah.
0:12:39 > 0:12:41You could have built this car with a V8 engine
0:12:41 > 0:12:43- and it would have sold.- Yeah.
0:12:43 > 0:12:46They weren't trying to propose that the gas turbine car
0:12:46 > 0:12:49was an exotic, rarefied supercar or anything like that.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52It was going to be the way your normal family car was powered.
0:12:52 > 0:12:54- Right.- That was the idea, wasn't it?
0:12:54 > 0:12:57- COMMENTATOR:- The turbine car is not a special car
0:12:57 > 0:12:59designed for limited types of performance.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02This is a car for people.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05For doctors, housewives, schoolteachers.
0:13:05 > 0:13:07Average people with average,
0:13:07 > 0:13:09as well as extreme, driving requirements.
0:13:09 > 0:13:13'Chrysler wasn't sure how a huge jet that could generate temperatures
0:13:13 > 0:13:16'in excess of 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit
0:13:16 > 0:13:18'would perform in a family car.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21'So they loaned them to brave members of the public
0:13:21 > 0:13:23'to try out for three months.'
0:13:23 > 0:13:25Imagine, in this litigious society,
0:13:25 > 0:13:28having the general public do your R&D work.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31- Yeah.- You just... You give it to some guy.
0:13:31 > 0:13:33- "Oh, tell us what happens." You know?- Yeah.
0:13:33 > 0:13:35"Oh, I've burned to a crisp." "Well, sorry, mate."
0:13:35 > 0:13:37THEY LAUGH
0:13:37 > 0:13:40- The point of trying something like this is to see what happens.- Yeah.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43It's not a demonstration. You're not saying, "This is the future."
0:13:43 > 0:13:45You're saying, "Maybe this is the future,
0:13:45 > 0:13:47"but we won't know unless we try it."
0:13:51 > 0:13:53'I'm desperate to see under the bonnet
0:13:53 > 0:13:57'and to soften Jay up, so that he lets me drive it.'
0:13:57 > 0:14:00Here she is. This is all air filter right here.
0:14:00 > 0:14:04- This is what keeps it quiet. They're massive things.- Yeah. They are huge.
0:14:04 > 0:14:07Well, the programme ran for a long time. It started in the early '50s.
0:14:07 > 0:14:11And in '54, they drove a turbine car, disguised as a regular car,
0:14:11 > 0:14:14across the country. So the idea was to come up with something
0:14:14 > 0:14:15that could get the job done
0:14:15 > 0:14:17and still be reasonably, er...
0:14:18 > 0:14:20..sensible in price.
0:14:20 > 0:14:22'The turbine, however, could not compete
0:14:22 > 0:14:25'with the cheap and reliable piston engine.'
0:14:25 > 0:14:29This was hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars more.
0:14:29 > 0:14:32And plus, the V8 had been...
0:14:32 > 0:14:34pretty much perfected.
0:14:34 > 0:14:37It is interesting actually, the V8 engine, well, the piston engine,
0:14:37 > 0:14:39is actually a bit like the burger, cos you have other...
0:14:39 > 0:14:42We started to eat Japanese food in Britain and America.
0:14:42 > 0:14:44And we had Chinese food
0:14:44 > 0:14:46and we experimented with Indian and wholemeal.
0:14:46 > 0:14:48- But the burger doesn't go away, doesn't it?- No.- There's still
0:14:48 > 0:14:51- millions of burgers every day. - You'll always have the burger.- Yeah.
0:14:51 > 0:14:53The V8 is a burger.
0:14:53 > 0:14:55With cheese.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58'Now that I've managed to subtly shift Jay's attention
0:14:58 > 0:15:02'onto the best baps in LA, it's time to hit him with the big one.'
0:15:02 > 0:15:05This is a question one man shouldn't ask another,
0:15:05 > 0:15:06I know, but...
0:15:06 > 0:15:09can I have a go in your turbine car?
0:15:09 > 0:15:11It's a bit unorthodox, but...
0:15:12 > 0:15:14- ..I guess it'll be OK.- Thanks.
0:15:14 > 0:15:16Thanks, buddy. We won't tell anybody.
0:15:20 > 0:15:22Right, quick situation report.
0:15:22 > 0:15:24I'm doing 3,300rpm.
0:15:24 > 0:15:26- No, 33,000.- Sorry, 33,000.
0:15:26 > 0:15:28It's difficult to get your head round, isn't it?
0:15:28 > 0:15:30- Listen to that!- Yeah.
0:15:32 > 0:15:36The great advantage to this car was it could run on any fuel
0:15:36 > 0:15:37that burned with oxygen.
0:15:37 > 0:15:40But when they took it to Mexico, they ran it on tequila.
0:15:40 > 0:15:41When they took it to France,
0:15:41 > 0:15:43they filled the tank with Chanel No.5.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46- Quite pleasant driving around. - So that's actually true?
0:15:46 > 0:15:49- I always thought that was a bit of a myth.- That is true. No, no, no.
0:15:49 > 0:15:51It's like a car full of hookers going down the road
0:15:51 > 0:15:53with Chanel No.5. "What's going on?" You know?
0:15:53 > 0:15:55So it would have made a futuristic noise and a great smell?
0:15:55 > 0:15:57Right, exactly.
0:15:57 > 0:16:00I can't imagine why didn't catch on.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03'There was one fuel, however, that the turbine car couldn't handle.
0:16:03 > 0:16:05'It was, ironically,
0:16:05 > 0:16:09'the very fuel that had kick-started the petrol age in the first place.'
0:16:09 > 0:16:12The disadvantage was the turbine could not run on lead,
0:16:12 > 0:16:14so you couldn't fill it up at the normal gas station,
0:16:14 > 0:16:17cos the only gas available in America at the time was leaded gas.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20- Right, so the only thing it couldn't tolerate was the lead?- Right.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23Cos that would damage the blade. That's a shame.
0:16:23 > 0:16:25It's one of those things that,
0:16:25 > 0:16:29given a few slight tweaks to history,
0:16:29 > 0:16:30it might have worked.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33- We might all have been driving something like turbine cars.- Yeah.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36MUSIC: Tequila by The Champs
0:16:38 > 0:16:40So, like the early electric car,
0:16:40 > 0:16:43thwarted by an electricity grid that wasn't there,
0:16:43 > 0:16:47the turbine car came just too soon for the advent of unleaded petrol.
0:16:50 > 0:16:52In the end, Chrysler recalled and crushed
0:16:52 > 0:16:56almost all of these experimental cars.
0:16:56 > 0:16:58# Tequila! #
0:16:59 > 0:17:02But surely innovation would be the way to go?
0:17:02 > 0:17:06Especially for carmakers facing slow-off-the-mark competitors.
0:17:06 > 0:17:10There now follows a tale of two sports car makers -
0:17:10 > 0:17:11British and German.
0:17:11 > 0:17:15One of them would plug away bloody-mindedly at outmoded ideas
0:17:15 > 0:17:19about car design from the middle of the 20th century
0:17:19 > 0:17:22and keep redesigning the same basic car over and over again
0:17:22 > 0:17:25for decade after decade.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28But the other, the other one was an innovator,
0:17:28 > 0:17:31experimenting with new materials, lightweight design,
0:17:31 > 0:17:34flexible, small volume manufacturing.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37It would develop compact, powerful engines of its own
0:17:37 > 0:17:39and push at the boundaries of contemporary styling
0:17:39 > 0:17:42and even contemporary colour schemes.
0:17:42 > 0:17:44'One would go on to greatness.
0:17:44 > 0:17:46'The other would disappear.
0:17:46 > 0:17:48'And you can probably guess how this goes.'
0:17:48 > 0:17:49Or can you?
0:17:49 > 0:17:51Because the radical freethinkers
0:17:51 > 0:17:53were TVR of Blackpool.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55And the stuck-ists were Porsche.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02It's in 1963 that things become interesting,
0:18:02 > 0:18:05because that's when Porsche revealed this -
0:18:05 > 0:18:06the first of the 911s.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12Now, Porsche would go on to make many different cars, of course,
0:18:12 > 0:18:16but this is the one that would cement their reputation
0:18:16 > 0:18:18over five decades and counting.
0:18:21 > 0:18:25'For a new sports car, the 911 was already pretty old-fashioned.
0:18:25 > 0:18:27'Not least the air-cooled rear-mounted engine -
0:18:27 > 0:18:30'a layout that dated back to the 1930s.'
0:18:31 > 0:18:33This was thought to be the right way to do it.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36Engine at the back, so the drivetrain is simple.
0:18:36 > 0:18:38Nice, a lot of space inside
0:18:38 > 0:18:40and a more aerodynamic nose.
0:18:40 > 0:18:42This layout is also...
0:18:42 > 0:18:44What would be the right word?
0:18:44 > 0:18:45Er, wrong.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48Because the engine is right at the back, behind the rear wheels,
0:18:48 > 0:18:51it acts as a sort of pendulum when you're going around bends.
0:18:51 > 0:18:55This is at the root of the 911's reputation for handling trickiness.
0:18:55 > 0:18:57TYRES SQUEAL
0:18:57 > 0:19:00'But what about the boy racers from Blackpool?'
0:19:03 > 0:19:06This is a 1965 TVR Griffith.
0:19:07 > 0:19:08I know what you're thinking -
0:19:08 > 0:19:10you're thinking, "Here he goes again!
0:19:10 > 0:19:11"He's going to kick the wheels off
0:19:11 > 0:19:14"another great British motoring institution."
0:19:14 > 0:19:15But no.
0:19:15 > 0:19:17I liked TVR.
0:19:18 > 0:19:20TVR are a bit left-field.
0:19:20 > 0:19:22TVR were a laugh.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27But, look, we're in the same year.
0:19:27 > 0:19:30Porsche has given us a rather archaic and very expensive car
0:19:30 > 0:19:33that does 131mph
0:19:33 > 0:19:36and takes over eight seconds to get to 60.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39The TVR does 160mph.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42It gets to 60 in less than half the time
0:19:42 > 0:19:44and it costs less.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49'TVR were all about new thinking, new design
0:19:49 > 0:19:53'and affordable power and performance.
0:19:53 > 0:19:55'Their aim was to appeal directly
0:19:55 > 0:19:57'to the young male driver of the time.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00'And to do away with the old fuddy-duddy notions.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03'Like clothes for its sales team, evidently.'
0:20:03 > 0:20:04ENGINE REVS
0:20:06 > 0:20:08Blackpool uber alles!
0:20:08 > 0:20:10'The cars were certainly thrilling,
0:20:10 > 0:20:14'but TVR would be in a permanent state of revolution.
0:20:14 > 0:20:17'There was the Tasmin, the 400, the Griffith, the Cerbera,
0:20:17 > 0:20:21'the Tuscan and the outrageous Sagaris.
0:20:21 > 0:20:23'Models came thick and fast,
0:20:23 > 0:20:26'costing the company a fortune in start-up costs.'
0:20:29 > 0:20:31Meanwhile, boring old Porsche
0:20:31 > 0:20:34just continue to make the 911.
0:20:34 > 0:20:36I mean, the wheel arches swelled a bit,
0:20:36 > 0:20:39the engine got a bit bigger, but nothing really changed.
0:20:39 > 0:20:41It took them until 1987
0:20:41 > 0:20:45to fit a decent gearbox, for Pete's sake.
0:20:45 > 0:20:47This one, in the 1964 car...
0:20:47 > 0:20:51is rubbish. And I mean rubbish.
0:20:51 > 0:20:53I can't even find it half the time.
0:20:54 > 0:20:58'Finally, in 1993, it was completely restyled.
0:20:58 > 0:21:02'But it came out looking exactly like a 911,
0:21:02 > 0:21:04'with the engine at the back.'
0:21:04 > 0:21:06I mean, this has been going on for decades.
0:21:06 > 0:21:10Other people have realised the folly of the rear-engined car
0:21:10 > 0:21:12and thought, "No, actually, we were wrong about that.
0:21:12 > 0:21:14"It needs to be in the middle or at the front."
0:21:14 > 0:21:15But Porsche would just go,
0:21:15 > 0:21:17IN GERMAN ACCENT: "Nein, nein.
0:21:17 > 0:21:18"Nein, should be at the back.
0:21:18 > 0:21:20"We will stick with it and make it work."
0:21:20 > 0:21:22And they have done, all credit to them,
0:21:22 > 0:21:23but why not just...
0:21:24 > 0:21:26..put it up there!
0:21:30 > 0:21:32'TVR may have had the engine right,
0:21:32 > 0:21:35'but that was the only part of the business plan that worked.
0:21:35 > 0:21:38'The constant chopping and changing lead to confusion,
0:21:38 > 0:21:42'profit warnings and a string of failed attempts to revive the name.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45'The result was chaos.'
0:21:45 > 0:21:48TVR folklore is a bit too good to check, to be honest.
0:21:48 > 0:21:51It includes stories about windows falling out,
0:21:51 > 0:21:56about the owner's dogs taking a bite out of a polystyrene styling model
0:21:56 > 0:21:59and then the results being incorporated in the final car.
0:21:59 > 0:22:03And then there's the one about the workforce scrawling rude messages
0:22:03 > 0:22:06about each other on the bare glass fibre body works on the inside.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09So that, one day, when the car came to be repaired or restored,
0:22:09 > 0:22:12you'd take a piece of trim off and then, yes,
0:22:12 > 0:22:15you'd discovered that Yozza was indeed a right...
0:22:17 > 0:22:20'Porsche, on the other hand, would spend over half a century
0:22:20 > 0:22:23'cautiously evolving the 911.
0:22:23 > 0:22:25'And earning billions in profit.
0:22:25 > 0:22:30'Today, a 911 is one of the world's most coveted artefacts.
0:22:30 > 0:22:31'Who'd have thought it?'
0:22:33 > 0:22:37Just have a look at the astonishing variety that TVR produced
0:22:37 > 0:22:40over the years. Model after model.
0:22:40 > 0:22:42Modification after modification, ever bigger engines.
0:22:42 > 0:22:46Incredible, dinosaur-inspired paint schemes.
0:22:46 > 0:22:47And, if you went back to the 1960s,
0:22:47 > 0:22:50the other end of history's telescope, you would say,
0:22:50 > 0:22:53"Yes, TVR is going to win this one.
0:22:53 > 0:22:56"Not Porsche, with the dreary old 911.
0:22:56 > 0:22:59"TVR with all its innovation, all its soul, all its spirit."
0:22:59 > 0:23:03And yet, nothing has been made by TVR
0:23:03 > 0:23:05since 2006.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08'So, extreme innovation,
0:23:08 > 0:23:10'as Chrysler and TVR discovered,
0:23:10 > 0:23:12'could be a risky venture.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16'But it's nowhere near as dicey as copying that rear engine idea
0:23:16 > 0:23:18'and doing it really badly.
0:23:20 > 0:23:22'This is the Chevrolet Corvair,
0:23:22 > 0:23:26'a car that paved the way for some of the most important
0:23:26 > 0:23:29'safety innovations in history of the car.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32'Although, that wasn't Chevrolet's intention.'
0:23:34 > 0:23:37This is actually the second generation of the Corvair
0:23:37 > 0:23:40and it is quite a pleasant, nicely sorted car,
0:23:40 > 0:23:41but it wasn't always that way.
0:23:41 > 0:23:43MUSIC: Bonanza Theme
0:23:43 > 0:23:45'The first generation Corvair
0:23:45 > 0:23:48'was deftly launched in 1960 by Michael Landon...'
0:23:48 > 0:23:49Hi, I'm Mike Landon.
0:23:49 > 0:23:53'..from Bonanza and The Little House on the Prairie.
0:23:53 > 0:23:57'The trouble was, the real cowboys weren't the ones behind the wheels.'
0:23:57 > 0:23:59Yippee-yow! Corvair!
0:24:01 > 0:24:05That earlier car had a couple of horrific design flaws.
0:24:05 > 0:24:08One was that it had the obvious rear weight bias
0:24:08 > 0:24:10that you get with a rear-engined car.
0:24:10 > 0:24:13But it also didn't have a much-needed antiroll bar
0:24:13 > 0:24:15on the front suspension.
0:24:15 > 0:24:18And that was because that would have added a bit of cost,
0:24:18 > 0:24:20so the management at Chevrolet thought...
0:24:20 > 0:24:22"Well, we'll just leave it off."
0:24:23 > 0:24:27'As a result, the handling was a nightmare, especially on bends.
0:24:27 > 0:24:31'But, rather than fix the problem, Chevrolet simply improvised.'
0:24:31 > 0:24:35They addressed this, to some extent, by fiddling with the tyre pressures.
0:24:35 > 0:24:39They actually recommended tyre pressures outside of the limits
0:24:39 > 0:24:42advised by the tyre manufacturer.
0:24:42 > 0:24:44'And this cavalier approach meant that Chevrolet
0:24:44 > 0:24:47'would start losing their customers...permanently.'
0:24:47 > 0:24:51Under certain conditions going round corners, one of the rear wheels
0:24:51 > 0:24:55on the rather crude swingarm suspension could tuck under
0:24:55 > 0:24:59and you would suffer sudden and catastrophic oversteer.
0:25:02 > 0:25:04And if you're not familiar with these technical terms,
0:25:04 > 0:25:08oversteer is when you go through the hedge backwards.
0:25:08 > 0:25:11'Things got so bad that even the ads for this deathtrap
0:25:11 > 0:25:14'seemed to be offering you a one-way trip to the afterlife.'
0:25:14 > 0:25:16- VOICEOVER:- There's a car down there
0:25:16 > 0:25:19that can make you feel you're way up here.
0:25:19 > 0:25:23'By 1965, Chevrolet faced over 100 separate lawsuits
0:25:23 > 0:25:25'from the Corvair's victims.
0:25:25 > 0:25:27'But still they did nothing.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30'Until one man decided to take them,
0:25:30 > 0:25:32'and the entire motor industry, to task.'
0:25:34 > 0:25:38Now I must bring up the most famous, or perhaps notorious,
0:25:38 > 0:25:41bit of consumer campaigning in the whole of history.
0:25:41 > 0:25:43Not just the history of the car.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46It was the publication in 1965
0:25:46 > 0:25:49of Ralph Nader's Unsafe At Any Speed.
0:25:49 > 0:25:52Now, Ralph Nader believed that the American carmakers
0:25:52 > 0:25:56knew about many of the dangerous failings of their cars,
0:25:56 > 0:25:58but couldn't be bothered to deal with them.
0:25:58 > 0:25:59He talked about all sorts of things,
0:25:59 > 0:26:02from sharp edges on interiors,
0:26:02 > 0:26:04to gearboxes that could be pushed into reverse
0:26:04 > 0:26:07while you were going along and so on and so on.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10But, most famously, he addressed the issue of the Corvair.
0:26:10 > 0:26:13'And, with road deaths from all vehicles
0:26:13 > 0:26:16'topping 47,000 in the US alone,
0:26:16 > 0:26:19'Nader had the people's overwhelming support.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22- COMMENTATOR:- When the New York motor show opened this Easter,
0:26:22 > 0:26:24the city's doctors paraded with placards of protest
0:26:24 > 0:26:28about the lack of safety features on the new models from Detroit.
0:26:29 > 0:26:34What he effectively investigated was legislation covering the design,
0:26:34 > 0:26:37especially the safety features, of cars.
0:26:37 > 0:26:42For the first time, he forced the authorities to take an interest
0:26:42 > 0:26:44in what car manufacturers were getting up to.
0:26:47 > 0:26:51'As a result, the Corvair, and many other lethal cars, were modified.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54'So it's thanks to Ralph that I can happily drive this one
0:26:54 > 0:26:55'around this bend without the need
0:26:55 > 0:26:58'for my emergency pair of brown trousers.'
0:26:58 > 0:27:02What was becoming clear was that the honeymoon of our love affair
0:27:02 > 0:27:05with the car was coming to an end.
0:27:05 > 0:27:06It would no longer be allowed
0:27:06 > 0:27:09to blunder through the world unchallenged.
0:27:10 > 0:27:14'But the biggest safety innovation of them all was made by a man
0:27:14 > 0:27:15'from a far-off country
0:27:15 > 0:27:18'abusing eggs from his company's fridge.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23'And what he'd achieve would save more lives
0:27:23 > 0:27:26'than any single innovation in the history of motoring.'
0:27:26 > 0:27:29The year 1959 saw a great leap forward
0:27:29 > 0:27:32in the safety of a car's occupants.
0:27:32 > 0:27:36Something that is reckoned to reduce the risk of death in a collision
0:27:36 > 0:27:38by at least 50%.
0:27:38 > 0:27:40And you ought to be able to guess what it is,
0:27:40 > 0:27:43because you can see it in this picture.
0:27:45 > 0:27:47Yes, man on the sofa in his underpants,
0:27:47 > 0:27:48eating the takeaway pizza.
0:27:48 > 0:27:49Yes, correct.
0:27:49 > 0:27:51It is the safety belt.
0:27:51 > 0:27:54Most specifically, the three-point safety belt.
0:27:54 > 0:27:56And this car, the Volvo Amazon,
0:27:56 > 0:28:00was the first car to have such a thing fitted as standard.
0:28:03 > 0:28:06'Volvo's seatbelt pioneer, Nils Bohlin, thought long and hard
0:28:06 > 0:28:09'about where the straps should go.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12'And he'd worked out that the three-point system was the best way
0:28:12 > 0:28:16'of comfortably restraining the human body during an impact.'
0:28:17 > 0:28:20The inventor took a very philanthropic view of his idea
0:28:20 > 0:28:22and decided not to patent it,
0:28:22 > 0:28:25but to make it freely available to all carmakers.
0:28:25 > 0:28:26Very nice.
0:28:27 > 0:28:29'But, like the stubborn carmakers
0:28:29 > 0:28:31'who refused to iron out a dangerous fault,
0:28:31 > 0:28:34'many normal people were against an invention
0:28:34 > 0:28:36'that could save their lives.'
0:28:36 > 0:28:40MUSIC: Sinnerman by Nina Simone
0:28:40 > 0:28:43Weirdly, there was a lot of resistance to these seat belts.
0:28:43 > 0:28:45I can remember it, actually, as a small boy.
0:28:45 > 0:28:48People saying that they believed they would be thrown clear
0:28:48 > 0:28:51in an accident and that's what would save them.
0:28:51 > 0:28:54But, actually, it is a very, very simple idea
0:28:54 > 0:28:58that is reckoned to have saved over a million lives already.
0:28:59 > 0:29:03'Volvo's gift to the world was a generous one, but it also created
0:29:03 > 0:29:07'a new marketing strategy that the people's car hadn't known before.'
0:29:07 > 0:29:11The standard seatbelt was the beginning of a peculiar initiative
0:29:11 > 0:29:13by Volvo, which is...
0:29:13 > 0:29:16the idea of selling safety.
0:29:17 > 0:29:21Volvo would go on to produce rubber bumpers, crumple zones,
0:29:21 > 0:29:24all sorts of stuff that people liked.
0:29:24 > 0:29:27'Good for the people and great for Volvo's sales figures.'
0:29:27 > 0:29:30MUSIC: My Silver Lining by First Aid Kit
0:29:33 > 0:29:34All credit to Volvo -
0:29:34 > 0:29:37they have stuck to their guns, because, fairly recently
0:29:37 > 0:29:39they announced that, by 2020,
0:29:39 > 0:29:41no-one would be killed in a Volvo.
0:29:42 > 0:29:44That's a hell of a claim, isn't it?
0:29:46 > 0:29:50Volvos invention came just at the right time.
0:29:50 > 0:29:53'As the '60s progressed, car ownership was mushrooming
0:29:53 > 0:29:55'and that meant rocketing accident rates.
0:29:56 > 0:30:00'Across the world, the car needed more space.'
0:30:06 > 0:30:09Even when the car was still quite a new idea,
0:30:09 > 0:30:13there were people who realised there would, one day, be too many of them.
0:30:13 > 0:30:15Henry Ford and Glenn Curtis,
0:30:15 > 0:30:19who wasn't really so much to do with cars, he was an aviation pioneer.
0:30:19 > 0:30:21And these people said,
0:30:21 > 0:30:25"One day, the car and the aeroplane will be combined.
0:30:25 > 0:30:27"You can be sure of it," said Henry Ford.
0:30:27 > 0:30:29- COMMENTATOR:- Inside seven minutes flat,
0:30:29 > 0:30:32you've got yourself an all-metal motorcar.
0:30:32 > 0:30:34In America, cars are airborne.
0:30:34 > 0:30:37Over here, it's only the price that's up in the clouds.
0:30:37 > 0:30:39And it sort of makes sense, doesn't it?
0:30:39 > 0:30:42The idea that your car would also fly.
0:30:42 > 0:30:45Here is some footage of me flying a flying car
0:30:45 > 0:30:47in an earlier life.
0:30:47 > 0:30:49OVER RADIO: I am actually flying the aerocar.
0:30:49 > 0:30:51How about that?
0:30:52 > 0:30:54WHIRRING
0:30:54 > 0:30:56Hold your hands up in the air, so they know I'm doing it.
0:30:56 > 0:30:57There you go.
0:30:57 > 0:30:59'And, by the way, if you're expecting me to'
0:30:59 > 0:31:01pull back on the stick and take off,
0:31:01 > 0:31:03you're going to be disappointed.
0:31:03 > 0:31:05This isn't a flying car.
0:31:06 > 0:31:08'Nope.
0:31:08 > 0:31:10'It's a swimming one.'
0:31:10 > 0:31:11That's very rough.
0:31:13 > 0:31:15Is it afloat? It's not quite afloat.
0:31:15 > 0:31:18'At least the production team SAID this was a swimming car,
0:31:18 > 0:31:21'but maybe it's an elaborate joke for YouTube.'
0:31:21 > 0:31:23Engage propeller.
0:31:23 > 0:31:25WHIRRING
0:31:25 > 0:31:27I am a boat.
0:31:27 > 0:31:30UPBEAT BAND MUSIC
0:31:30 > 0:31:34'I do believe that, in the future, we will all take to the skies,
0:31:34 > 0:31:38'but back in 1961, they set their sights a little lower.'
0:31:38 > 0:31:41- COMMENTATOR:- This looks a perfectly normal motorcar, but what its name?
0:31:41 > 0:31:42The Amphicar.
0:31:42 > 0:31:45This is the land animal that has taken to life afloat.
0:31:45 > 0:31:47Two-way traffic on a wavy highway,
0:31:47 > 0:31:49where there's no such thing as a speed cop
0:31:49 > 0:31:51or a hold-up at the lights.
0:31:56 > 0:31:58'You might be taking your life in your hands getting it afloat,
0:31:58 > 0:32:02'but the Amphicar is actually as forward-thinking as the car plane.
0:32:02 > 0:32:06'Waterways predate tarmac roads, so why not use them?
0:32:06 > 0:32:09'To explain further, here's a flashback.'
0:32:09 > 0:32:11Here I am earlier
0:32:11 > 0:32:13and here is, basically, how it works.
0:32:13 > 0:32:15The top half is a car.
0:32:15 > 0:32:18The bottom half is sort of a boat, but it's more carbon boat, really.
0:32:18 > 0:32:21It has all the things you'd expect of a car -
0:32:21 > 0:32:23headlights, indicators, a steering wheel,
0:32:23 > 0:32:26a perfectly conventional four-speed transmission and so on.
0:32:26 > 0:32:29You drive it like a car. You're unaware of it being a boat as well.
0:32:29 > 0:32:31But if we go to the back...
0:32:31 > 0:32:33things are a bit more interesting.
0:32:34 > 0:32:38You can disengage the gearbox and engage a separate gearbox,
0:32:38 > 0:32:39which then drives...
0:32:39 > 0:32:41Wait for it.
0:32:41 > 0:32:43Can you guess what it's going to be?
0:32:43 > 0:32:46Two propellers down here.
0:32:46 > 0:32:50And then it becomes a boat and it steers with the front wheels,
0:32:50 > 0:32:52because a rudder would make it a bit too boat-like
0:32:52 > 0:32:54for people who aren't familiar with boats.
0:32:54 > 0:32:56By making it steer with the front wheels,
0:32:56 > 0:32:59it still retains some car-like qualities on the water.
0:32:59 > 0:33:01You have two bilge pumps and, of course,
0:33:01 > 0:33:04the exhaust pipe has to be up there, otherwise it would be underwater.
0:33:04 > 0:33:06And, finally, when you're on the water...
0:33:07 > 0:33:11..you do, of course, have to display your colours.
0:33:11 > 0:33:15Which are here and that inserts in...
0:33:16 > 0:33:18..there.
0:33:18 > 0:33:19We're ready to sail.
0:33:19 > 0:33:21'To demonstrate the Amphicar's
0:33:21 > 0:33:23'ahead-of-its-time practical capabilities,
0:33:23 > 0:33:25'I've asked someone to meet me
0:33:25 > 0:33:28'at Birmingham's most important tourist destination -
0:33:28 > 0:33:30'the pub.
0:33:30 > 0:33:32'While I navigate the canal system,
0:33:32 > 0:33:34'my friend and personal stylist, Rory,
0:33:34 > 0:33:37'will tackle the rush hour traffic.
0:33:37 > 0:33:39'Rory's never been to Birmingham before.
0:33:39 > 0:33:41'He has no map or sat-nav.
0:33:41 > 0:33:43'He has only his favourite mix tape for company.'
0:33:43 > 0:33:45MUSIC: Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!! by Vengaboys
0:33:45 > 0:33:48- CRUNCHING - Ooh! There's third gear.
0:33:48 > 0:33:50MUSIC PLAYS
0:33:50 > 0:33:53'The Amphicar takes its engine from the Triumph Herald,
0:33:53 > 0:33:55'which is what we've given Rory to drive,
0:33:55 > 0:33:58'to give him a fair chance at pipping me to the pint'.
0:33:58 > 0:34:00MUSIC: Nice Weather for Ducks by Lemon Jelly
0:34:00 > 0:34:02# Look, all the ducks are swimming in the water... #
0:34:02 > 0:34:05'And, as the scorching British summer rolls in,
0:34:05 > 0:34:07'a dip sounds like just the thing.'
0:34:07 > 0:34:11Just about every town or city in the world has a river,
0:34:11 > 0:34:13because that's why towns and cities are where they are.
0:34:13 > 0:34:16That goes back, you know, to the Dark Ages.
0:34:16 > 0:34:19And, since there's no requirement to move coal
0:34:19 > 0:34:22and wood and jute up and down the canals any more,
0:34:22 > 0:34:25we might as well use them for commuting.
0:34:25 > 0:34:28'And, anyway, it's no wetter than anywhere else in Birmingham.'
0:34:28 > 0:34:29HORNS BEEP LOUDLY
0:34:29 > 0:34:32I thought there was a big junction in Birmingham
0:34:32 > 0:34:34that avoided all the traffic.
0:34:34 > 0:34:37"Oh, yeah, you go to Birmingham, there's a big Spaghetti Junction,
0:34:37 > 0:34:38"there's no traffic."
0:34:38 > 0:34:41It's all I've been doing, just sitting still the whole time.
0:34:41 > 0:34:44'Not a problem for the Amphicar.'
0:34:44 > 0:34:46- COMMENTATOR:- Just the job for a Sunday cruise
0:34:46 > 0:34:48down the river and the thing is, once you're waterborne,
0:34:48 > 0:34:51you really begin to believe that 9mph is quite a speed,
0:34:51 > 0:34:55because, look, that Amphicar is travelling at 9mph precisely.
0:34:56 > 0:34:59They do say that the average speed of traffic during rush hour
0:34:59 > 0:35:03in a big British city is, typically, about 8mph.
0:35:03 > 0:35:07And I'm doing four knots, which is sort of 4.5mph,
0:35:07 > 0:35:09but I'm going a fairly direct route.
0:35:09 > 0:35:11Come on. Go! Go!
0:35:11 > 0:35:13Let's go, guys!
0:35:13 > 0:35:16- COMMENTATOR:- And you feel you're really moving.
0:35:16 > 0:35:18'And it's not just congestion solving
0:35:18 > 0:35:21'where the Amphicar has its advantages.'
0:35:21 > 0:35:23All right. Here we go. Hamstead, straight on.
0:35:23 > 0:35:24Handsworth Road,
0:35:24 > 0:35:26Birchfield, Lozells.
0:35:26 > 0:35:30All I have is a paper map of the canals, but it's quite simple.
0:35:30 > 0:35:32To be honest, having turned right under that bridge,
0:35:32 > 0:35:35now I just keep going until I get to a canal T-junction.
0:35:35 > 0:35:36Then I go left.
0:35:38 > 0:35:40'Sir Isaac Newton said that every action
0:35:40 > 0:35:43'has an equal and opposite reaction.'
0:35:43 > 0:35:45Come on. Let's go, let's go!
0:35:45 > 0:35:49'The Amphicar car provides the equal and opposite reaction to road rage.'
0:35:50 > 0:35:52Here's a bird.
0:35:52 > 0:35:53Hello, mate.
0:35:53 > 0:35:54Look at that.
0:35:55 > 0:35:58You wouldn't normally get that close, would you?
0:35:58 > 0:36:00Did you see him?
0:36:00 > 0:36:01HORNS BEEP
0:36:02 > 0:36:04That is absolutely superb.
0:36:04 > 0:36:07Morning, afternoon, whatever it is.
0:36:07 > 0:36:10Time is of no consequence.
0:36:10 > 0:36:12Right, and there is my endpoint, which is the pub,
0:36:12 > 0:36:14so now just mooring up.
0:36:14 > 0:36:17Can you give me a small hand to moor my car, sir?
0:36:19 > 0:36:20I'm docked.
0:36:20 > 0:36:23- Allow me to buy you a pint.- Thank you.
0:36:23 > 0:36:26'So there you have it - the Amphicar.
0:36:26 > 0:36:29'A great idea that offered an answer to congestion
0:36:29 > 0:36:31'and made the people happy.
0:36:31 > 0:36:33'As for Rory,
0:36:33 > 0:36:35'he did finally reach the pub,
0:36:35 > 0:36:38'although he appeared to be legless by the time he got there.'
0:36:38 > 0:36:39THUMP!
0:36:39 > 0:36:40RORY LAUGHS
0:36:40 > 0:36:42- Are you all right? - Yeah, I'm good, thanks.
0:36:42 > 0:36:44'Despite its quirky brilliance,
0:36:44 > 0:36:46'the Amphicar was not a worldwide success.
0:36:49 > 0:36:53'Maybe that was because, in America's wide open spaces,
0:36:53 > 0:36:55'congestion was not an issue.
0:36:55 > 0:37:00'Over there, the people still wanted speed, style and muscle.'
0:37:00 > 0:37:03MUSIC: China Grove by the Doobie Brothers
0:37:06 > 0:37:10This car is the Series 2 Dodge Charger RT.
0:37:10 > 0:37:12And it kicks butt...
0:37:12 > 0:37:13big time.
0:37:13 > 0:37:17# When the sun comes up on a sleepy little town... #
0:37:17 > 0:37:22'This 7.2 litre, 440 horsepower monster
0:37:22 > 0:37:25'was a shameless celebration of the petrol age,
0:37:25 > 0:37:28'the US auto industry and America itself.'
0:37:28 > 0:37:33It was a bit of a golden era for massive cars with massive engines.
0:37:33 > 0:37:34And it was all...
0:37:35 > 0:37:36Well, it was rather fantastic.
0:37:36 > 0:37:40MUSIC: Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd
0:37:40 > 0:37:44'The Dodge Charger was a perfect car for late '60s America -
0:37:44 > 0:37:47'a time when cheap oil flowed like running water.'
0:37:47 > 0:37:51In 1968, gas - that's petrol -
0:37:51 > 0:37:55in the US was typically 34 cents a gallon.
0:37:55 > 0:37:58Now, that sounds cheap, of course, because it was a long time ago.
0:37:58 > 0:38:01Actually, it was quite cheap even at the time.
0:38:01 > 0:38:03And there was probably a good reason for that.
0:38:03 > 0:38:07Detroit depended on the oil companies to support them.
0:38:07 > 0:38:10The oil companies depended on Detroit to make a car like this
0:38:10 > 0:38:12that would use a lot of their stuff up.
0:38:12 > 0:38:14So everybody was happy.
0:38:17 > 0:38:20Official fuel consumption figures for the Charger RT -
0:38:20 > 0:38:23ten miles to the gallon, which means, roughly,
0:38:23 > 0:38:26as I go past these nodding donkeys,
0:38:26 > 0:38:29each one is, effectively, refuelling this car.
0:38:29 > 0:38:32If more than three of them pack up, we're doomed.
0:38:32 > 0:38:35I'm going to give it the berries. Hold on.
0:38:35 > 0:38:36ENGINE REVS
0:38:38 > 0:38:41Thank you. And I'll have some more, please.
0:38:46 > 0:38:50'Well over half a century since the dawn of the petrol age,
0:38:50 > 0:38:53'oil was still king and the piston engines was still providing
0:38:53 > 0:38:56'the soundtrack for the world.'
0:38:57 > 0:39:01This car comes from a high point in the Detroit motor industry's story.
0:39:01 > 0:39:05A time when all that mattered was the pursuit of power and majesty
0:39:05 > 0:39:08and it didn't matter what was consumed in achieving it -
0:39:08 > 0:39:11how much fuel it burned, how much raw material was used,
0:39:11 > 0:39:14how much it weighed, how much space it took up, how much noise it made,
0:39:14 > 0:39:16how many instruments you've got on the dashboard.
0:39:16 > 0:39:19And here is a measure of just how profligate
0:39:19 > 0:39:21the American motor car had become.
0:39:21 > 0:39:25The average size of the four-leaf clover highway interchange
0:39:25 > 0:39:28being built on American roads at the same time as this car
0:39:28 > 0:39:32occupied the same area as the mediaeval port of Dubrovnik.
0:39:32 > 0:39:36And you can take one down the pub and have it on me.
0:39:38 > 0:39:40'The muscle car, like Detroit itself,
0:39:40 > 0:39:43'had become an American icon.
0:39:43 > 0:39:45'And, like all true American heroes,
0:39:45 > 0:39:48'it was eulogised in song and on-screen.'
0:39:48 > 0:39:50MUSIC: General Lee by Johnny Cash
0:39:50 > 0:39:51# I'm a charger
0:39:51 > 0:39:54# That charges through the night
0:39:54 > 0:39:56# I'm thunder on the highway
0:39:56 > 0:39:58# Looking bad, bad, bad. #
0:39:58 > 0:40:00If you were a regular watcher of The Dukes of Hazzard,
0:40:00 > 0:40:03you will know that the Charger RT -
0:40:03 > 0:40:05RT is for road/track, by the way -
0:40:05 > 0:40:07it could fly.
0:40:07 > 0:40:10Well, it could take off, at any rate - it wasn't so good at landing,
0:40:10 > 0:40:12which is why you never really saw that bit in the programme.
0:40:12 > 0:40:15Now, the production budget for The Dukes of Hazzard was,
0:40:15 > 0:40:17presumably, quite small, because they couldn't even stretch
0:40:17 > 0:40:20to full-length trousers for Daisy,
0:40:20 > 0:40:22but they did manage to find enough money
0:40:22 > 0:40:24to get through quite a few Dodge Chargers.
0:40:24 > 0:40:26In fact, estimate for the number of Dodge Chargers
0:40:26 > 0:40:28consumed by The Dukes of Hazzard
0:40:28 > 0:40:31ranges from two to seven...
0:40:32 > 0:40:33..hundred.
0:40:34 > 0:40:37'Of course, America's gleeful waste
0:40:37 > 0:40:40'and conspicuous consumption couldn't last.
0:40:40 > 0:40:42'The carefree days of "howdy, pardner"
0:40:42 > 0:40:45'would soon be ended by their Saudi partner.'
0:40:45 > 0:40:48MUSIC: Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones
0:40:48 > 0:40:52'In 1973, after yet another squabble in the Middle East,
0:40:52 > 0:40:55'the Saudis and others banned oil sales to America.
0:40:56 > 0:40:58'Even when the embargo was lifted,
0:40:58 > 0:41:00'petrol prices stayed high
0:41:00 > 0:41:03'and cars like the Charger were left gasping.
0:41:05 > 0:41:09'And, so, people began exploring cheaper and cleaner alternatives
0:41:09 > 0:41:10'to their beloved gasoline.
0:41:10 > 0:41:14'And that reopened the door to some old thinking.
0:41:14 > 0:41:17'Remember the Baker Electric we saw earlier?
0:41:17 > 0:41:19'Let's see how that idea was coming along.'
0:41:19 > 0:41:21It's bad news, I'm afraid.
0:41:21 > 0:41:25By the 1980s, battery technology had not really moved on
0:41:25 > 0:41:28from the state it was in back when the Baker was built.
0:41:28 > 0:41:30The big revolution that was brought about by mobile phones
0:41:30 > 0:41:34and laptops and that sort of thing, that hadn't happened yet.
0:41:34 > 0:41:37And, anyway, electric power was still for milk floats
0:41:37 > 0:41:41and meals on wheels delivery vans and nutty professors.
0:41:41 > 0:41:44So an electric car of the people would have to be very light
0:41:44 > 0:41:47to make the most of the feeble battery technology of the time.
0:41:47 > 0:41:50It would also have to be simple, it would have to be very cheap
0:41:50 > 0:41:53and it would have to be cool, because being cool
0:41:53 > 0:41:55was very important in making a new idea catch on.
0:41:57 > 0:42:00- COMMENTATOR:- Imagine a vehicle that needs no petrol. Just a battery.
0:42:00 > 0:42:05'Yes, in 1985, that height of cool was hoped to be achieved by this.'
0:42:05 > 0:42:07ELECTRONIC FANFARE PLAYS
0:42:09 > 0:42:11- COMMENTATOR:- The Sinclair C5.
0:42:11 > 0:42:14It's a new power in personal transport.
0:42:17 > 0:42:19Well, here it is.
0:42:19 > 0:42:23Six foot of plastic with foot pedals and an electric motor,
0:42:23 > 0:42:26not unlike the one that drives your washing machine.
0:42:29 > 0:42:30This is brilliant.
0:42:31 > 0:42:33I like it.
0:42:33 > 0:42:37'The Sinclair C5 wasn't actually fitted with a washing machine motor,
0:42:37 > 0:42:39'although it was made in a factory that built them.
0:42:39 > 0:42:42'The 12-volt motor it did have could completely burn out
0:42:42 > 0:42:44'on even a mild hill, though,
0:42:44 > 0:42:48'so it was fitted with these user-unfriendly pedals, too.
0:42:48 > 0:42:52'It might make you look like a kamikaze reject from a Tron movie,
0:42:52 > 0:42:55'but it was actually the product of some incredibly forward thinking
0:42:55 > 0:42:58'by its genius inventor - Sir Clive Sinclair.'
0:42:58 > 0:43:02It's ideal for shopping, for, you know, going to the office,
0:43:02 > 0:43:04going to the station, going to school.
0:43:04 > 0:43:06Any relatively short range trip.
0:43:06 > 0:43:10'He was so proud of his baby that he even named after himself.
0:43:10 > 0:43:12'That C stands for Clive.
0:43:12 > 0:43:14'Yes, it's the Clive 5.
0:43:14 > 0:43:16'I told you it was cool.'
0:43:16 > 0:43:19Sir Clive Sinclair gave many of us our first pocket calculator.
0:43:19 > 0:43:23He also introduced my generation to the marvels of computing,
0:43:23 > 0:43:27with the ZX81 and the ZX Spectrum, and they were brilliant.
0:43:27 > 0:43:29He was a clever man.
0:43:29 > 0:43:31Sorry, I mean he IS a clever man.
0:43:31 > 0:43:33Cos, despite this, he's still alive.
0:43:36 > 0:43:38'In fact, he wasn't just smart,
0:43:38 > 0:43:41'the man was damn near clairvoyant.'
0:43:41 > 0:43:44I believe firmly that all cars
0:43:44 > 0:43:46ought to be electric by the next century.
0:43:48 > 0:43:50Back in 1985, when this was launched,
0:43:50 > 0:43:54the environment hadn't yet become a mainstream force in politics
0:43:54 > 0:43:57and fashion, so this was very modern thinking.
0:43:57 > 0:43:59'There were plenty of advantages.
0:43:59 > 0:44:02'It was under 400 quid and five miles on this thing
0:44:02 > 0:44:06'would only relieve you of one penny in running costs.
0:44:06 > 0:44:08'You didn't have to tax or insure it
0:44:08 > 0:44:10'and you didn't need an MOT or number plates.
0:44:10 > 0:44:13'Plus, if you were a feckless youth, it got even better.'
0:44:13 > 0:44:16Strictly speaking, the C5 is not a car.
0:44:16 > 0:44:19In the eyes of a law, it's an electric tricycle,
0:44:19 > 0:44:23which means anybody aged 14 or over can drive it.
0:44:23 > 0:44:25Ride it. No, drive it. Whatever you do.
0:44:26 > 0:44:28'For some reason, though,
0:44:28 > 0:44:31'not everyone was thrilled about the idea of unlicensed kids
0:44:31 > 0:44:34'hammering around the highways on a plastic tricycle.
0:44:34 > 0:44:35Argh!
0:44:35 > 0:44:36I'm very unhappy
0:44:36 > 0:44:37that it's being sold
0:44:37 > 0:44:39without essential safety equipment.
0:44:39 > 0:44:41I wouldn't like to let my children out in it.
0:44:41 > 0:44:43- REPORTER:- Are you happy at the thought of 14-year-olds
0:44:43 > 0:44:45- taking this onto the road?- No.
0:44:45 > 0:44:47There are one or two other issues.
0:44:47 > 0:44:50Because you are so low, a lot of people don't see you.
0:44:50 > 0:44:52They only feel you as they run over you.
0:44:52 > 0:44:57Your head is at about the same height as a lorry's exhaust
0:44:57 > 0:44:58and, er...
0:44:58 > 0:45:01there's no reverse gear. Did I mention that?
0:45:01 > 0:45:04It is catastrophically slow as well.
0:45:04 > 0:45:05But it's quite good fun.
0:45:05 > 0:45:10Because it's so small, the sense of terror at 50mph
0:45:10 > 0:45:13is like nothing I've ever experienced before.
0:45:13 > 0:45:15DRAMATIC MUSIC
0:45:15 > 0:45:17Oh, for God's sake!
0:45:18 > 0:45:20Engaging pedals as well.
0:45:21 > 0:45:24I can see why it's got the little drain holes in the seat.
0:45:24 > 0:45:26I thought that was to let the rain out.
0:45:27 > 0:45:28Th...
0:45:28 > 0:45:29Agh!
0:45:29 > 0:45:31DRAMATIC MUSIC CONTINUES
0:45:31 > 0:45:34LORRY HORN BEEPS Yes, all right!
0:45:34 > 0:45:36LORRY HORN BEEPS REPEATEDLY
0:45:36 > 0:45:38Oh, come on!
0:45:38 > 0:45:41Agh, I can go in this lane, cos I'm technically a bicycle!
0:45:43 > 0:45:44Stick that in your tipper!
0:45:45 > 0:45:47HE LAUGHS MENACINGLY
0:45:48 > 0:45:52'So forward thinking alone, alas, just wasn't enough.'
0:45:52 > 0:45:53- REPORTER:- The critics say it's not safe.
0:45:53 > 0:45:55- REPORTER:- The C5 has been a flop.
0:45:55 > 0:45:57Whoever brought out that...
0:45:57 > 0:46:00well, wants putting up a wall and shooting.
0:46:00 > 0:46:03'And the reveal of the roofless C5's wet weather solution
0:46:03 > 0:46:05'was the final nail in the coffin.'
0:46:05 > 0:46:09- REPORTER:- Accessories to make the C5 an all-weather vehicle
0:46:09 > 0:46:10have been designed.
0:46:10 > 0:46:13Waterproof side screens fit on front and rear wheel arches.
0:46:13 > 0:46:15The protective cape with a hood...
0:46:15 > 0:46:18'Even the actor can't keep a straight face.'
0:46:18 > 0:46:21- REPORTER:- Eight months later, retailers have slashed prices
0:46:21 > 0:46:25of the C5 trike to try and shift their stocks.
0:46:25 > 0:46:26HORN BEEPS
0:46:26 > 0:46:28THEY SHOUT Keep going.
0:46:28 > 0:46:31'To try and keep his much-abused electric dream alive,
0:46:31 > 0:46:33'Sir Clive even sold his computer business
0:46:33 > 0:46:36'to that bloke off The Apprentice.'
0:46:36 > 0:46:39- REPORTER:- It was confirmed today that the assembly line
0:46:39 > 0:46:41has reverted to producing washing machines.
0:46:41 > 0:46:44'The Clive 5 was not alive.'
0:46:44 > 0:46:47So, in the end, everybody suffered,
0:46:47 > 0:46:49because Sir Clive lost a load of his money,
0:46:49 > 0:46:53we didn't get the low-cost, electric urban transport solution we wanted,
0:46:53 > 0:46:57and we also ended up with Alan Sugar barking at us from television.
0:46:57 > 0:46:59What a bum deal!
0:47:00 > 0:47:04One of the criticisms regularly levelled at Sir Clive Sinclair
0:47:04 > 0:47:08and his Clive 5 is that he never did any market research.
0:47:08 > 0:47:11Well, good for him, I say, because market research
0:47:11 > 0:47:13wouldn't have given us the home computer,
0:47:13 > 0:47:15or television, for that matter.
0:47:15 > 0:47:18Progress, as George Bernard Shaw once said,
0:47:18 > 0:47:21"depends on the unreasonable man".
0:47:21 > 0:47:24If he'd done any market research, he'd never have built this
0:47:24 > 0:47:27and then we wouldn't know what a daft idea it is.
0:47:27 > 0:47:29THAT is progress.
0:47:30 > 0:47:32The C5 was just a stepping stone.
0:47:32 > 0:47:34It's a learning exercise.
0:47:34 > 0:47:36But what it leads to is very much more important.
0:47:38 > 0:47:41'And, fast forward 30 years, and we appear to have solved
0:47:41 > 0:47:45'the feeble battery issue that bedevilled Clive's invention.
0:47:45 > 0:47:48'Today, there are electric vehicles out there
0:47:48 > 0:47:51'that have side-stepped the battery issue altogether.'
0:47:51 > 0:47:53Now, this is something I approve of immensely.
0:47:53 > 0:47:56It's a hydrogen fuel cell car.
0:47:58 > 0:48:00It's the Hyundai ix35.
0:48:00 > 0:48:02It's actually the first truly commercially available
0:48:02 > 0:48:04fuel cell car in the world.
0:48:06 > 0:48:09It will cost you £53,000, but new stuff is expensive.
0:48:09 > 0:48:12Remember the first video players, the first digital cameras.
0:48:13 > 0:48:15A few rich people have to buy them,
0:48:15 > 0:48:17then the idea will catch on and we can all have them.
0:48:17 > 0:48:19Then it becomes a car of the people.
0:48:25 > 0:48:28Anyway, look, the interesting thing about a fuel cell car
0:48:28 > 0:48:30is that it's really an electric car.
0:48:30 > 0:48:32The wheels are driven by an electric motor.
0:48:32 > 0:48:35But, instead of having a battery that has to be recharged,
0:48:35 > 0:48:38it has a hydrogen fuel cell, which is...
0:48:38 > 0:48:41well, you can think of it as a sort of on-board, miniature
0:48:41 > 0:48:43electricity generating station.
0:48:43 > 0:48:47And a very good one, because the one in this car makes 100 kilowatts,
0:48:47 > 0:48:50which means you could run your house off it.
0:48:56 > 0:48:58And the great thing about the fuel cell car
0:48:58 > 0:49:01is that you simply fill it up with liquid hydrogen,
0:49:01 > 0:49:05which takes about the same amount of time as it does to fill a petrol
0:49:05 > 0:49:07or a diesel car up with conventional fuel.
0:49:07 > 0:49:09And the range of this car on one fill-up,
0:49:09 > 0:49:12if you drive carefully, is 350 miles or so.
0:49:12 > 0:49:16And then you can fill it up again, which will take you three minutes
0:49:16 > 0:49:19and then you can do another 350 miles.
0:49:19 > 0:49:20What's not to like?
0:49:23 > 0:49:25'How does it work?
0:49:25 > 0:49:27'Brace yourselves.'
0:49:27 > 0:49:30Look, this does all get a bit "double chemistry with Mr Stink",
0:49:30 > 0:49:33so I'll try and keep it reasonably simple.
0:49:33 > 0:49:36Hydrogen in the tank at the back of the car
0:49:36 > 0:49:39combines with oxygen in the air to make electricity.
0:49:39 > 0:49:41So, in that sense, it's a bit like a fossil fuel,
0:49:41 > 0:49:45it relies on the atmosphere to work. Good.
0:49:45 > 0:49:48The other interesting thing is that the hydrogen in the tank
0:49:48 > 0:49:52combines with the oxygen in the air to give us, as an exhaust,
0:49:52 > 0:49:56er...water, which is H2O, remember.
0:49:56 > 0:49:57Hydrogen and oxygen.
0:49:59 > 0:50:01You can drink it.
0:50:01 > 0:50:05This all sounds very Friends Of The Earth,
0:50:05 > 0:50:07but there is a catch.
0:50:07 > 0:50:10Currently, there are only four hydrogen filling stations
0:50:10 > 0:50:13open to the public in Britain. And one of them's in Hendon.
0:50:13 > 0:50:16And that's awful, because the know-how has been around
0:50:16 > 0:50:18for longer than you think.
0:50:18 > 0:50:22There are two bits of technology on this car that predate
0:50:22 > 0:50:25the flatulent internal combustion engine in Benz's Motorwagen.
0:50:25 > 0:50:28To be honest, they predate the original Rover safety bicycle,
0:50:28 > 0:50:32which was the inspiration for every bike you see over there.
0:50:32 > 0:50:34Now, one of them is the electric motor.
0:50:34 > 0:50:35That's not such a surprise, maybe.
0:50:35 > 0:50:38But the other one is the fuel cell itself.
0:50:38 > 0:50:41The basic principles of which were worked out
0:50:41 > 0:50:43back in the middle of the 19th century.
0:50:43 > 0:50:46The technology is perfectly understood,
0:50:46 > 0:50:49it's perfectly reliable, it's perfectly usable.
0:50:49 > 0:50:51The only thing we are waiting for to make this
0:50:51 > 0:50:54fabulous dream of hydrogen happen...
0:50:54 > 0:50:57is a hydrogen infrastructure. That's all we need.
0:50:57 > 0:51:00Everything else, like this Hyundai...
0:51:01 > 0:51:03..is ready.
0:51:05 > 0:51:07It's extraordinary, really,
0:51:07 > 0:51:12to think that we may be on the brink of a people's car revolution.
0:51:12 > 0:51:14But, despite this exciting progress,
0:51:14 > 0:51:17there's still one deeply unreliable component in this.
0:51:17 > 0:51:19And all cars.
0:51:19 > 0:51:20That component, of course,
0:51:20 > 0:51:23is me. Or you.
0:51:23 > 0:51:25Whoever. The driver.
0:51:25 > 0:51:26CRASHING
0:51:26 > 0:51:28Most leading carmakers are already experimenting
0:51:28 > 0:51:31with elements of driverless technology.
0:51:31 > 0:51:33And tech giants Google have gone the whole hog
0:51:33 > 0:51:36and are trying to eliminate the steering wheel altogether.
0:51:36 > 0:51:40All you have to do is sit in it and look stupid.
0:51:40 > 0:51:41ENGINE REVS
0:51:43 > 0:51:47Now, Audi think rather differently about all this.
0:51:51 > 0:51:54They say the car will be autonomous.
0:51:54 > 0:51:56It will be a robot car for all the boring bits.
0:51:56 > 0:51:59So driving along the motorway, heavy stop-start traffic,
0:51:59 > 0:52:02all that sort of thing. But then...
0:52:02 > 0:52:05when it comes to fun time, you can take over.
0:52:09 > 0:52:13I'm in my Audi RS7 with 552 horsepower
0:52:13 > 0:52:16and I'm on a track day in Spain,
0:52:16 > 0:52:17in Catalunya, in fact.
0:52:25 > 0:52:27ENGINE DIES
0:52:27 > 0:52:28DOORS BEEP
0:52:28 > 0:52:30Ooh!
0:52:30 > 0:52:31How did I do?
0:52:31 > 0:52:35- 2 minutes, 20.- 2:20?- Yep.
0:52:35 > 0:52:37Yeah, I think it'll go faster than that.
0:52:38 > 0:52:41ENGINE REVS
0:52:44 > 0:52:46'This, if you haven't guessed,
0:52:46 > 0:52:49'is the experimental autonomous version of the RS7.'
0:52:51 > 0:52:55So, Thomas Muller, very briefly, please. How does it work?
0:52:55 > 0:52:57James, the car works like a professional race driver.
0:52:57 > 0:52:59You know, it knows the track already.
0:52:59 > 0:53:03Through differential GPS and through cameras, it's a complex technology.
0:53:03 > 0:53:05Depending on the stability of the car,
0:53:05 > 0:53:07depending on the driving dynamics,
0:53:07 > 0:53:10it's going to choose the best path to go through all this course.
0:53:10 > 0:53:12But, in the end, it's like a professional race driver.
0:53:12 > 0:53:15What, so it makes excuses all the time?
0:53:16 > 0:53:19'So, can a car capable of analysing track conditions
0:53:19 > 0:53:21'to follow the best racing line
0:53:21 > 0:53:24'beat a car journo with years of experience?
0:53:24 > 0:53:27'To find out if it can better my time of 2:20,
0:53:27 > 0:53:31'it's going to take me captive for a high-speed lap.'
0:53:31 > 0:53:35All I actually need to do is keep my thumb on that button
0:53:35 > 0:53:39and the car will drive me round. That's it.
0:53:39 > 0:53:42And I was about to say I'll just get the seat in the right position
0:53:42 > 0:53:44for the pedals and everything, but I don't need to.
0:53:44 > 0:53:47Technically, I could sit in the back and do this.
0:53:47 > 0:53:48But they won't let me.
0:53:48 > 0:53:49So...
0:53:49 > 0:53:51goodbye, cruel world.
0:53:56 > 0:53:59Right. If I hold this button,
0:53:59 > 0:54:00the car will go.
0:54:03 > 0:54:04And I mustn't touch anything.
0:54:05 > 0:54:07ENGINE REVS
0:54:07 > 0:54:09MUSIC: Lonely Boy by The Black Keys
0:54:09 > 0:54:10That feels weird.
0:54:12 > 0:54:15Don't brake. Don't brake. Don't brake.
0:54:15 > 0:54:18It's braking for me. Excellent. That's a result.
0:54:20 > 0:54:23Actually, this is the hardest thing I've ever done.
0:54:23 > 0:54:27Don't touch the steering wheel. I'm not touching the pedals.
0:54:27 > 0:54:29Into the right-hander.
0:54:29 > 0:54:32It's drifting across. It's done that properly.
0:54:33 > 0:54:36Brakes! Brakes! Argh, that's the hairpin.
0:54:36 > 0:54:38That's slowed right down now.
0:54:38 > 0:54:40It's going to give it the beans as it comes out of there.
0:54:40 > 0:54:42ENGINE ROARS
0:54:42 > 0:54:4370, 80.
0:54:43 > 0:54:45Agh, I don't like this one!
0:54:45 > 0:54:46Don't touch the brakes!
0:54:50 > 0:54:52Oh, God. This is the long straight.
0:54:52 > 0:54:54Here we go. 88, 88, 90, 91.
0:54:54 > 0:54:55Now it's 100.
0:54:57 > 0:54:58That's about 120.
0:55:00 > 0:55:01Brake, you bastard!
0:55:01 > 0:55:04Come on, otherwise I'm going to let go of the button!
0:55:04 > 0:55:06Yes. Thank you.
0:55:06 > 0:55:08ENGINE ROARS
0:55:09 > 0:55:12Ooh.
0:55:12 > 0:55:14Ooh, might have to edit some of that out.
0:55:14 > 0:55:17Come on, I've just done the vorsprung.
0:55:17 > 0:55:20And now on the home finish straight. It's going straight.
0:55:20 > 0:55:21I'm going to take my finger off the button.
0:55:21 > 0:55:23And there it is. It's a car.
0:55:29 > 0:55:32I wasn't scared in the slightest.
0:55:32 > 0:55:33'Maybe not,
0:55:33 > 0:55:37'but the car's own lap was eight seconds faster than mine.
0:55:37 > 0:55:39'In racing terms, that's the difference between
0:55:39 > 0:55:43'a night out with James Hunt and a night in with James May.
0:55:43 > 0:55:45'And that's a slightly depressing thought.'
0:55:45 > 0:55:49A lot of people say, the autonomous car will be the end of driving.
0:55:49 > 0:55:53I think, actually, it could be the end of the car, as we know it,
0:55:53 > 0:55:56as a means of just getting around, because, if we can develop a system
0:55:56 > 0:55:59that clever, that keeps us all apart,
0:55:59 > 0:56:02why not use it to get around up there?
0:56:02 > 0:56:04Because that's where all the space is.
0:56:04 > 0:56:07And then the car can become a hobby.
0:56:08 > 0:56:09Excellent.
0:56:11 > 0:56:15'All right. So maybe I'm getting carried away with the flying thing.
0:56:15 > 0:56:18'But autonomous technology is already with us.
0:56:18 > 0:56:21'My i3 can park itself, remember.
0:56:21 > 0:56:25'However, just as in 1900, we still don't know for sure
0:56:25 > 0:56:28'what the people's car of the future will be.
0:56:28 > 0:56:31'Even the old ideas refuse to go away.
0:56:31 > 0:56:32'Remember steam cars?'
0:56:32 > 0:56:34Chuffa-chuffa-chuffa-chuffa...
0:56:34 > 0:56:37'People are still experimenting with those.
0:56:37 > 0:56:39'This one does 160mph.
0:56:39 > 0:56:41'Chuffing hell!'
0:56:41 > 0:56:42I am a boat.
0:56:42 > 0:56:44'Amphicars now look like this.
0:56:44 > 0:56:47'And could be operated by even the clinically delusional.'
0:56:47 > 0:56:49I'm Mr Darcy.
0:56:49 > 0:56:50Come on!
0:56:50 > 0:56:52WHOOSHING
0:56:52 > 0:56:53'And turbines?
0:56:53 > 0:56:57'The fastest car on earth is powered by a jet engine.
0:56:57 > 0:56:59'With some help from a rocket.'
0:56:59 > 0:57:00ENGINE REVS
0:57:00 > 0:57:03'Good old TVR has risen from the ashes...'
0:57:03 > 0:57:05Blackpool uber alles!
0:57:05 > 0:57:08'..and has plans for an all-new car, again.
0:57:09 > 0:57:12'And Clive Sinclair - he still dreams
0:57:12 > 0:57:15'of an elegant, electric transport solution.
0:57:15 > 0:57:17'Until that happens, he's funding this -
0:57:17 > 0:57:19'the electric A-bike.
0:57:19 > 0:57:22'So, where does this leave the man in the street?'
0:57:22 > 0:57:25I actually think we're in a golden age of the car,
0:57:25 > 0:57:28because, for about 120 years or so,
0:57:28 > 0:57:30it developed very slowly.
0:57:30 > 0:57:32It just crept along incrementally.
0:57:32 > 0:57:34But, all of a sudden, we're looking at things
0:57:34 > 0:57:37like new methods of propulsion, new materials,
0:57:37 > 0:57:40possible autonomy, connectivity.
0:57:40 > 0:57:44It's all really fantastic stuff, but it is very much work in progress,
0:57:44 > 0:57:48because - here is a slightly depressing statistic -
0:57:48 > 0:57:51the real-world range of my electric BMW i3
0:57:51 > 0:57:54is about 75 miles.
0:57:54 > 0:57:56The real-world range of the electric Baker
0:57:56 > 0:57:59we saw right at the beginning of the programme...
0:57:59 > 0:58:01it's about 75 miles.
0:58:02 > 0:58:04Hm.
0:58:04 > 0:58:05Right, to the Batmobile.
0:58:05 > 0:58:08MUSIC: Batman Theme
0:58:13 > 0:58:17HE LAUGHS MENACINGLY
0:58:19 > 0:58:20POLICE SIREN WAILS