02x04 - Hell on Wheels

[bunniefuu]

- [Henry] Did you know that
there was a time

when the most dangerous
car on the road

became the most
dangerous car in the air?

- As long as you don't
get rear-ended in the sky,

what could be more convenient?

- Do you remember when
you could play with fire

while doing 80?

- 1800 degrees, that
is hotter than lava,

and that is right there
in your dashboard.

- Or when having three wheels
was a true triple threat?

- The whole thing fell on me
and broke two ribs right here.

But they look so cool, man.

- These are the
things we used to do

for fun,

for money,

or maybe out of boredom

that we'll never see again.

Were they dangerous?

Certainly.

Deadly?

Occasionally.

But boy, wasn't it exciting.

[intense music]

[curious music]

- [Henry] Remember when the
best seat of the car

was the one facing backwards

in the way, way back of
the family station wagon?

You were blissfully
unsupervised, unbuckled,

and as it turns out,
completely unsafe.

- Right after World w*r II,

America goes
through a baby boom.

It is the biggest
population surge ever.

- The cars at the time were
just not built for families.

They were built for couples
at best, maybe with one kid.

- [Natalia] There are toddlers
in the front seat,

their baby's on mom's lap.

There are a few kids in the back

crawling all over each other.

- There's no rules

about how many kids you
shove into your car.

Really what you do
is you just start

to pack them in like sardines,

and automakers realize they
need to have a larger car

to serve large families.

- [Jason] So what they come
up with takes its name

from the old wood wagons

that used to take people to
and from the train stations,

and they end up calling this,

the station wagon.

- [Natalia] It even has fake
wood paneling on the sides

to evoke those
old wooden wagons.

- At first, the station
wagon was just roomier.

But in 1957, the automakers
have a eureka moment.

- [Natalia] Sure, it can
hold five or six people now,

but they realize that with
a little more ingenuity,

you can cram even more
people into the car.

- [Jason] Auto manufacturers
realized

that the sloping curve
of the car's rear

actually has enough
leg room and head room

for another row of seats,

but only if they turn
those seats backwards.

- [Henry] Parents
like the third row

because they can stash
more kids back there

where they can't
be seen or heard.

- [Jason] Your parents would
fold the seat down and you'd

jump in,

unless you were a little too
enthusiastic and you'd jump in

and the seat would get
folded down on you.

That was just a normal
day in the life.

- A lot of times we
didn't use the back door,

you would just
climb over the seat,

so it felt like a little
bit of an adventure

just to get back there.

- [Jason] The back area of
the station wagon

was a bit like the wild west.

You were away from any
kind of parental oversight.

- [Hakeem] To a kid, it's not
the rear-facing third row,

it's the way, way back,

and it's the coolest
place to be in the car.

- [Rutledge] Now, yes, you were
moving backwards,

so some kids, they
would get car sick.

They weren't cut
out for that life,

and I feel terrible for them.

- [Hakeem] Eventually, station
wagons are so popular

that they are one
out of every 10 cars

sold in the United States.

- [Natalia] In the movies of
the '70s and '80s,

the station wagon is the
iconic family vehicle.

"National Lampoon's Vacation"
is the ultimate example

of the family trip
in the station wagon.

- [Henry] In the way back,

kids have a great view
out the back windshield,

and a front row seat to the
dangers that lurk from behind.

- [Jason] Starting in the 1960s,

regulators start cracking
down on automotive safety,

but most of the focus is on
the welfare of the driver.

- If you look at the innovations

that were happening in
the automotive industry,

seat belts, airbags, all of
this different technology,

nothing was being
thought of for the back.

- [Lance] The way that cars are
built,

especially if you're
gonna get hit from behind,

is that the back is
going to crumple,

and that's to absorb
the energy of the impact

so it doesn't affect
the front of the car.

- [Jason] The federal
government doesn't run a single

crash test for third row safety,

nor do they require automakers
to run any of those tests.

- [Hakeem] No testing.

This is where the car makers

are telling people
to put their kids,

and it's not like getting
rear-ended is rare.

It happens all the time.

And it's the type of crash

that is hardest for
the driver to avoid.

- Cars were basically
rolling playgrounds.

We didn't wear seat belts.
Nobody did at the time.

- [Natalia] Not only are kids in
the potential crumple zone,

they're not strapped in, in
any way that'll protect them

in the case of an accident.

- [Rutledge] If you got hit from
behind,

a lot of times it was
just launching the kids

that were back there at
like 15 or 20 miles an hour.

It's like getting thrown out
of a second-storey window.

- So it's possible for the kids
in the backseat of that car

to get completely pancaked
if they get in an accident

and the back end
actually does crumble.

- [Henry] But it's
not safety concerns

that does the station wagon in.

- [Lance] By the late 1970s,
fuel standards make it more

expensive for automakers to
make station wagons,

and so for purely
economic reasons,

they shift focus
from station wagons

to a cheaper and less
regulated minivans and trucks.

- [Jason] Instead of trying to
improve the station wagon,

they just really
turned all their focus

toward the minivan and
the SUVs that followed

to make those cars as
safe as they can be

and to make them the
modern safe equivalent

of the classic station wagon.

- [Natalia] Now, they don't
really exist

and my kids do not wanna
be in the third row.

But to them, it's
just the third row

because it's forward-facing,
less leg space.

Nothing cool about it.

- It was a happier car
trip back then, truly.

- Squeezing too many
people into cars

used to be totally normal.

And back in the 1920s,

automakers came up
with another innovation

that turned the back of the
car into the most thrilling

and bone rattling
seat in the joint.

- By the roaring '20s,

cars have gone from curiosity
to mainstream transportation.

And for a lot of young
people with money,

that car is a coupe.

- The coupe is sleek,
it's fast, it's zippy,

it's everything that you want.

But the problem
with one of those

is there's only
two or three seats

on the bench in the front.

What if you wanna
take your pals?

What if you want to
go on a double date?

You're gonna need more room.

- [Don] But in the 1920s,

coupes come with a
little bit of a secret.

When you walk around the
back, you pull a handle,

and suddenly, two
extra seats appear.

- [Austin] It's genius when it's
just you and your sweetheart,

the car looks sleek and low.

But when you got your
buddies with you,

you open it up and boom!

Extra seating.

- Sitting in the seat could
be a whole lot of fun.

You feel every bump,
the wind in your hair.

- [Henry] The foldout seat
starts as a luxury item.

But by 1929,

the best-selling Ford
Model A, comes with one.

But that convenience
comes with a compromise.

- These aren't exactly the
most comfortable seats though.

The seat is right on
top of the rear axle,

and it's the 1920s,

there's not exactly a
lot of shock absorption.

- [Henry] All that jostling
earns the a nickname,

the rumble seat.

But when your seat is
basically outside the car,

a pain in the butt is the
least of your problems.

- [Adam] Well, the rumble seat

isn't actually in the
c*ck of the car at all.

It's sort of by the trunk.

It's outside, more or less.

- There are few, if any, speed
limits or drunk driving laws.

It's anarchy out there.

Now, imagine that you're
hurdling down a highway

at 57 miles an hour,

if the car crashes and
you're in the rumble seat,

you're gonna get ejected.
[tires screeching]

And if the car flips,

do the math.
[car clatters]

That car is going to
fall on top of you.

- [Adam] The rumble seat
acquires a pretty funny

and slightly sardonic nickname,
the mother-in-law seat.

"Oh, you want your
mom to come with us?

Please allow her to
sit in this open air,

death trap, 2 feet
above the road

where she can be exposed
to all the elements.

It's safe."

- [Henry] Grizzly
newspaper headlines,

about rumble seat
accidents, are very common,

but the automotive
industry and the public

take them in stride.

- [Don] Despite all the
well-known risks,

the rumble seat sticks
around into the 1950s.

The classic 1957
Ford Thunderbird

actually has a flip up backseat

that's called the "Bird's Nest."

- [Austin] By the late '60s
regulation

and just pure common
sense catches up with us

and the rumble seat goes
the way of the dodo.

- Some cars still feature
fold-out seats today,

but they're inside the car.

- [Henry] Cars these days must
pass inspections every year

to ensure that they're not
spewing toxic emissions.

But that was not
always the case.

In fact, there was a time

when the most polluted
air in America

could be found right
inside your automobile.

- In the mid 1950s,

Americans are united
around smoking.

Nearly half of
American adults smoke.

- [Brian] Everybody smokes.

It's a smoky land full
of smoking people.

Everybody, at work,
teachers, doctors.

I mean, everybody smokes.

- [Hakeem] As people spend more
time in their cars,

eating burgers,
going to drive-ins,

taking long road trips,

of course, they're
smoking in their cars too,

and nobody wants to
have to pull over

just to light up a cigarette.

- [Natalia] Ideally, what do you
do?

You wanna reach for
that convenient,

built-in cigarette lighter.

- [Hakeem] The first car
lighters are luxury items,

and they're designed for
cigars, not cigarettes.

That's why the size of it is
much bigger than a cigarette.

- The way that this works

is you've got a socket
with a knob sitting in it.

To engage the cigarette lighter,

you push in on the knob

that allows electricity
to flow into it,

it allows the element
inside to begin heating up.

- [Hakeem] After a few seconds
of heating, the insert pops up,

and you touch the
glowing orange end

to your cigar or cigarette,
and that lights it up,

and you take a drag.

And it's so convenient that
you can do it all with one hand

while keeping your other
hand on the steering wheel.

- [Henry] By the 1950s,

cigarette lighters are a
standard feature in all cars,

as common as windshield
wipers, and radios.

- Light?

This lighter is always ready.

- [Lance] Cars are made for
smoking.

There's gonna be an
ashtray either in your dash

or it's gonna be in your door.

And the car was really built

so that you could
smoke and drive.

They understood the
connection between the two.

- [Brian] As a kid, I would just
sit there and press it

and let it pop out.

And then I'd get fascinated
and I'd look at it

'cause the little coils
inside would get red hot

and I'd watch it
cool from red to...

It was like a little science
experiment in my car.

- [Henry] Although
it's convenient,

the cigarette lighter
does have a downside.

- [Hakeem] What's crazy,
is how the lighter

is actually much hotter
than it needs to be.

You only need 600 degrees
to light a cigarette.

But the car makers
want to make sure

that it likes your
cigarette fast

and consistently every time.

- [Lance] That's gonna heat up
to a ridiculous temperature,



That is hotter than lava,

and that is right there
in your dashboard.

- [Natalia] Some parents,

before the days of seat
belts and car seats,

wanted their kid
right next to them

to keep an eye on them.

- [Martin] I was not just
allowed to play with the

cigarette lighter, but I was
encouraged to play with it

because it was the babysitter.

The way that parents
might use an iPad today

to sort of occupy the child
during a long, boring car trip,

I was told, "Hey, play with
the cigarette lighter."

- [Brian] I do remember the
time I was like,

"Well, how hot can it be?"

And I touched it with my hand
and oh, the sizzle, the burn!

I remember the white
dot on my fingerprint

and just crying and
crying and crying.

You know, these are lessons
that you have to learn.

- [Henry] Pediatricians
of the era,

learn to recognize the
telltale coil-shaped burns

of the car cigarette lighter.

- [Lance] It's bizarre.

The little handheld
butane lighter,

that by law, has to
have child protection.

But this 1800-degree lighter
in the car, no rules.

No rules.

- [Henry] Car makers
eventually stomp out

the dashboard cigarette lighter,

but it's not because
they are forced to.

- [Natalia] By the late '90s,
much fewer people are smoking.

So that little socket still
exists in a lot of cars,

but it's really used
for small appliances,

not for cigarette lighters.

- I still drive a car that
has a cigarette lighter in it,

and I'm not a smoker.

Because there's something
to it on a survival basis

where I'm just like, "One
day I might need fire."

It's almost like a Swiss
Army Boy Scout thing

where I'm just like, "I
have fire here in my car."

- When you buy a car,

you expect it to come with
certain basic features,

headlights, rear-view
mirrors, a windshield.

But believe it or not, in the
early days of automobiles,

none of those were standard,

not even windshields.

- [Adam] Originally,

cars were a little more than
sort of like a fuselage,

an engine tires,

maybe some fenders
and some seats.

People used to have to wear
driving caps, driving gloves,

and driving goggles.

- The early cars
of the late 1800s

were exposed to every element.

You were exposed to
wind, insects, rain,

everything that
you can think of.

- [Don] By 1905, auto racing has
led to a boom in engine power.

Now there are cars
going 70 miles per hour

where they were topping
out at 15 miles per hour,

just a decade before.

- [Nicole] Anything that hits
you at 70 miles an hour

is going to really,
really injure you.

- [Don] To solve this problem,

automakers basically
take the idea of goggles

and put it on the car itself.

The windshield is born.

- [Henry] A simple pane of glass

fitted into the body of the car,

completely transforms driving.

- [Austin] People used to only
drive in good weather.

Now, you've got an enclosed
car with a windshield.

Older people can now
drive year-round,

and poorer people can drive

without the aid of a
professional driver

out there in the elements
with the goggles on.

- [Henry] Windshields
are so useful

that some automakers make
them standard by 1915.

But while they help make
driving more civilized,

they can also make
it more dangerous.

- [Austin] These early
windshields

are made of plate
glass, window glass.

- [Don] If you've ever had a
rock hit your windshield today,

it doesn't come through,
it doesn't penetrate.

It just leaves this
spiderweb looking hole.

Back then,

that rock could not only
go through the windshield,

hit you in the head,

it could shatter
the whole thing.

It's like a rock going
through a window at home,

but you're driving
at 70 miles per hour.

- [Adam] Things get really ugly.

There are no seat belts.

So in a head on collision,

people are flying headfirst
with so much regularity,

that the glass windshield

ultimately gets the
macabre nickname,

the glass necklace.

- [Henry] By 1925, there are


And more cars,
mean more injuries,

most of which are caused
by shattered glass.

- [Austin] Automakers invent
the windshield to help

protect drivers.

But instead, as they
shatter and burst,

they're driving up
injuries and deaths.

- [Don] In 1927, automakers come
up with a new type of

windshield, it sandwiches
two panes of glass

around a thin
layer of celluloid,

same plastic they
use in movie film.

Automakers are so confident
of this new product

that they call it, safety glass,

and they market it
as shatterproof.

- [Austin] The problem with it
being shatterproof,

is it's only shatterproof
in one direction,

the impact side.

- [Don] It can stop a flying
rock

from exploding the
windshield from the outside.

But if you're a human head,

it's not strong enough to
stop you from busting through

and giving you the
glass necklace.

Also, the celluloid gets
blurry and foggy with age,

preventing the windshield
from doing its primary job,

which is allowing you
to see the road clearly

so you don't crash.

- Finally, in 1937,

after a six year multi-million
dollar collaboration

between the five largest
chemical companies at that time,

they think they found a
solution to windshield safety,

laminated glass.

- Laminated glass is created
by sandwiching a clear resin

between two pieces of glass.

It now sticks together,

rendering the windshield
pretty much shatterproof.

- [Adam] In fact, it proves
such a good solution

that today, almost


even though we use different
materials to do it,

we're still making windshields
out of laminated glass.

- So the next time something
hits your windshield,

be thankful it's keeping
the bad stuff out

and the good stuff, like
you and your family,

inside safely.

- [Henry] Car buyers can
be tough to please,

and what they want
is always changing.

But one thing that
hasn't changed,

is a desire for your
new car not to explode.

And for one car in the 1970s,

that was just a little
too much to ask.

- [Jason] By the late '60s,
American car manufacturers,

they're really
starting to worry.

Gas prices are going up.

They're losing a
generation of consumers

to these smaller foreign cars.

But Ford, all they're
offering right now

are these heavy muscle cars,

and so they come
up with a solution.

- [Don] In 1970, after
two years of R&D,

when it normally takes
twice as much time

to develop a new car,

Ford rolls out a new model

unlike anything they've
ever made before.

- [Announcer] Pinto, the new
little carefree car from Ford.

- [Jason] The Pinto is here to
save Ford from the invasive

VW bug.

It's marketed as a low-cost,
low-fuel American made car.

Everything about the Pinto

is designed to be
easy on the wallet.

- Ford does a crazy amount
of promoting for the Pinto.

They've got it in TV ads.

Henry Ford II

is driving it around
everywhere through Detroit,

really, really building a brand.

- [Jason] This thing also,

is only half the weight
of their normal cars,

which means it's gonna
get better gas mileage.

It's also very affordable.

It's $2,000 brand new,

which is about $16,000
in today's money.

- [Henry] The affordable,
fuel efficient Pinto

is the perfect car
for the early '70s,

and 800,000 are sold
in the first two years.

- [Don] In 1973, due to
the oil crisis,

gas prices in America
quadruple overnight,

and as a result, sales
of Pintos skyrocket.

- [Henry] But the plucky Pinto,

also has a hot, little secret.

- [Nicole] Lily Gray is driving
her Pinto in May of 1972,

and it kinda stalls out,

so she's trying to get out
of the way and is rear-ended,

[cars thud]

and her car burst into flames.

- It should have just
been a fender bender,

but on contact...
[imitates expl*si*n booms]

- [Jason] This is actually the
first of many incidents

involving Pintos
getting hit from behind

in low-speed impacts,

and bursting into flame
like blow torches.

So people are thinking,
"What's going on?

Something's not right here."

- [Negin] It turns out,
because they wanted

to make the car small and light,

during the design phase,

the rear of the Pinto shrunk
to far more than what's normal.

Shrinking any part of a car
should be really done with care.

[intense music]
[cars clattering]

- [Brian] The problem is the gas
tank

was right next to
the back bumper with

almost no protection.

- [Jason] So even in a fender
bender,

sharp metal points
ripped the gas tank open

like a can opener.

Fuels spills everywhere.

One spark, and it's
like the 4th of July.

- [Henry] By the late 1970s,

over 100 lawsuits are filed

by victims of fiery
Pinto crashes.

- [Negin] News story after news
story

about these explosions come out,

and it becomes a
national punchline.

It's in late night.

It's in cartoons.

- [Brian] It was kind of one of
the first examples that I

remember of a nationwide joke.

But for something to gain

that level of
notoriety and failure,

it had to really suck.

It became the standard
bearer for what a flop was.

- [Jason] In 1978, 1.5 million
Pintos are actually recalled.

Crazy thing is, like 1979, 1980,

they still sell
almost 200,000 Pintos,

which goes to show you,

people are willing to
maybe compromise on safety

if they can save a buck.

- The Pinto was a fireball
waiting to happen,

but that wasn't the
end of the story.

The Pinto saga went
beyond road safety.

In fact, it went
beyond roads entirely.

- [Martin] Henry Smolinski is an
aeronautical engineer

living in California,

and in 1970, he has the
idea of putting a flying car

in everyone's life.

- He doesn't wanna start
building from the ground up.

So instead of creating
a whole new flying car,

he kinda wants to put wings

on an existing
mass-marketed vehicle.

- The vehicle that
Smolinski chooses

for this vision of the future,

is the Ford Pinto.

- [Austin] He needs a car
to take to the skies,

and the Ford Pinto
is affordable,

and most of all, it's light.

It's less than 2,000 pounds.

- Smolinski's prototype

combines the wings and
propeller of a Cessna Skymaster

with the body of a Ford Pinto.

He names his
creation, the Mizar,

after a star in the Big
Dipper constellation.

- [Austin] Who wouldn't want
this?

As long as you don't get
rear-ended in the sky,

what could be more convenient?

- [Henry] Before the Mizar
has even been tested,

Smolinski has 35 pre sales.

Not bad for a Pinto with wings.

But the big question
is, will the Mizar fly?

- [Martin] In August 1973, the
test flight is conducted.

Smolinski's Mizar is being
operated by a test pilot.

The vehicle gets to the
appropriate takeoff speed.

The pilot pulls back
on the control column,

and the Mizar rises to the air

and reaches an
altitude of 120 feet.

- [Hakeem] Then that's where
things go wrong.

That's when one of the struts
holding the wing gives way.

And so the pilot has to
make an emergency landing,

and he does so safely
in a bean field.

- [Austin] Smolinski isn't
giving up, he makes some tweaks.

He improves his experiment.

But this time, for
the next test flight,

his pilot's not available.

So Smolinski figures,
"I'll take the reins."

- [Henry] On a clear
September morning in 1973,

Smolinski and his business
partner take off for test two.

- [Martin] Smolinski gets
the car in the air,

and everything seems
to be going just fine.

He climbs to 400 feet.

And while he's at an
altitude of 400 feet

under controlled flight,

the same wing strut fails.

- [Austin] Smolinski attempts to
regain control, but it's

too late.

The Mizar plunges
into the ground,

and he and his co-pilot
are k*lled instantly.

- [Hakeem] An investigation
later reveals

that even though they
used a lightweight Pinto,

it was still way too heavy.

And the strut that
broke on the first test,

was never properly repaired.

So with Smolinski's death,

the dream of the
flying Pinto is gone.

- [Austin] You're wondering

if the notoriously
exploding Pinto gas tank

had anything to
do with the crash?

We'll never know, but it
definitely couldn't have helped.

- The good news is the Jetsons
takes place in the year 2062.

So we still have a few decades

to figure out how to
build a better flying car.

- [Henry] For many drivers,

it's not enough just to get
from point A to point B.

You wanna look good
while doing it.

Well, in the early '60s,

an innovation came out that was
so strange, so eye-catching,

it caused mayhem in the streets.

- [Jason] Cars in the '60s,

they're breaking all sorts
of performance records.

Everything about them is
better, stronger, faster,

and yet there is
one part of the car

that seems to remain unchanged,

the humbled tire.
[tires screeching]

- In 1961, Goodyear
has this brilliant idea

that we would make
a tire differently

than we ever made it before

with a a moldable plastic
that's called, neothane.

And you can just inject it and
create the shape of the tire.

- [Henry] And neothane

turns out to have a
surprising upside.

- [Rutledge] What's so cool
about neothane

is that you can actually dye
it to be a different color,

which means you could have
red tires or green tires.

And because it's a plastic,

you can actually illuminate it

by running a light on
the inside of the tire

to make this thing glow.

I mean, that's so cool.

- Tires are literally

the most boring purchase
I could possibly imagine.

So why not bedeck them
with bright lights?

Seems like a great idea.

- [Negin] The '60s were a
glamorous time in America.

Everything was colorful
and design-focused,

so Americans were
really going for it,

which is where
this tire comes in.

- [Natalia] It kind of reminds
me

of when those iMacs
came out in the '90s,

and they were in every
color of the rainbow,

it really had that kind
of feel of technology

that's highly functional,

but being marketed as fashion.

- [Henry] While neothane
tires sound great in theory,

things don't go so well

when the imitation
rubber meets the road.

- [Jason] So, you know how the
movies,

when the beautiful lead
actress walks into a room

and the entire room stops
and everybody turns to stare?

That's kinda what
these tires are like.

- Pedestrians could stop in
the middle of a crosswalk

just to ogle these bright tires.

Other motorists could
drift into an intersection

'cause they're distracted.

Or a driver could be blinded

as these four sets of
like brightened lights

whiz toward them
on a dark night.

These are definitely
eye-catching tires,

but they're also a menace.

- [Henry] Neothane
tires grab attention,

but that's about the only
thing they have a firm grip on.

- [Lance] Neothane is
essentially just plastic.

- [Rutledge] It doesn't do great
in rain.

That's a bit of an issue

for almost anyone
that owns a vehicle.

- [Jason] If you start or stop
quickly, that creates heat,

and it literally causes
the tires to start melting.

Pretty soon, you're driving
in for undercooked donuts.

- [Henry] Soon, the
company realizes,

illuminated tires aren't
the future after all,

and the product is shelved.

- I mean, look, today, if
you wanna match your tires,

just wear black.

Biker dudes, they're
always matching tires.

[engine revving]

- Dazzling tires turned
out to be a bad look.

But the true jewel
of a mid-century car

was the dashboard.

In the 1950s,

they were a blend of
high tech and high style.

But sometimes the
result wasn't so pretty.

- [Kavitha] Today, most
dashboards are kinda boring.

They're mostly black foam
and purely functional.

But in the 1950s, they
are command central.

- [Natalia] There's knobs for
raising the antennas.

There's knobs for fuel.

You know, there's
knobs for your radio.

There's shifters on
the dash back then.

So, there's literally
a knob for everything.

- A car is physical, a car
is buttons, a car chrome,

dashboard was your
instrument pal.

This was your domain
and it was gorgeous.

Ah, it was the best.

It's a lost American art.

- [Austin] Some automakers
utilize the dashboard

for some pretty, over
the top concepts.

One car maker makes
the Highway Hi-Fi,

take a record
player on the road.

- In the 1950s, one company
even sells a coffee maker

for a Volkswagen Beetle,

pouring yourself a
nice cup of coffee

with a hot plate by your side

while speeding down the highway.

This is not gonna end well.

- [Austin] Another automaker
takes advantage

of very lax drinking and
driving laws and just says,

"Hey, let's just put
a bar in the car."

That's right, fold
out your dashboard

and you've got your
whiskey and your glasses.

- Some dashboards
had a bar in them,

like sure you wish that the
driver wasn't taking use of it,

but man, this is when
Americans knew how to party.

- Steering wheels are
a lot fancier too.

Back in the days
before power steering,

they would come with
this chrome knob

that made turning the
wheel a lot easier.

- Steering wheels now are like,

"Oh, I can control
the air conditioning.

Oh, I could put the
volume up and down."

How about when a steering
wheel was a steering wheel,

big with a beautiful
emblem in the middle of it

and like it was some
American pride in that.

"This is an American car.
I could drive with this."

- [Don] They thought of
everything

with these awesome
design elements

except for one little thing.

- [Kavitha] Cars are getting
faster,

and now you have all of
these decorative, pointy,

sharp elements in your car.

So you could imagine
if there's a collision,

it's a recipe for disaster.

- [Brian] Now these people
would be driving around

with the steering knob on.

They get to an accident,
[tires screeching]

they would hit their
head, they would die.

They call these things
the suicide knobs.

- [Nicole] All of these little
flashy knobs and buttons

are now actually little knives

via an accident coming at you.

- [Brian] You can get a switch
in your cheek or a knob in your

eye, and it could
hurt like heck.

- [Kavitha] In the 1950s and
'60s,

doctors actually have a
new category of trauma

that they see
patients come in with

that they call
dashboard injuries.

And that's face lacerations
and crushed noses,

things like that,
from these accidents.

- [Don] In 1965 comes the
big turning point.

Lawyer safety
advocate, Ralph Nader,

publishes a book it's called,
"Unsafe at Any Speed,"

which exposes automakers

for ignoring all these
known safety problems.

By the early 1970s, the car
interior of doom era ends

as car makers start prioritizing
survival over aesthetics.

- Dashboards will never
quite be like they were,

but at least now,

they're a lot less
likely to k*ll you.

- Today, it's not unusual to
see electric cars on the road,

but it sure was
back in the 1980s.

That's when a rich computer
genius tried to save the world

by creating an all-electric
personal transit device.

Unfortunately, good intentions

don't always make
great vehicles.

- [Don] Clive Sinclair is
an Englishman

who's a lifelong tinkerer.

He develops and sells
this pocket calculator

that becomes a must-have
for brainiacs everywhere,

and then, a personal computer.

- The ZX Spectrum eventually
sells 5 million units.

It makes him a very rich man.

In 1983, he's knighted
by Queen Elizabeth II.

In every way, he's the British
equivalent of Steve Jobs.

- [Lance] Sinclair has
revolutionized the computer

market and he decides he's
gonna also revolutionize

the automobile market,

and he's gonna produce
an electric car.

- [Jason] On January 10th, 1985,

when he's getting ready
to unveil this thing

at this glitzy event in London,

anticipation is sky high.

- [Reporter] So Clive
Sinclair's latest brainchild

is something of a surprise.

The C5 is, after
all, a futuristic,

and rather sleek vehicle
with unusual design features.

- [Martin] The Sinclair C5, upon
rollout, doesn't

look like a car.

It doesn't look
like a motorcycle.

This electrically
assisted pedal tricycle

is unlike anything that
anyone had seen before.

- [Jason] It's sort of like
the scooters in "Tron."

It's very futuristic
and very foreign.

- [Don] Ads boast that the
C5 can go 5 miles

on a penny's worth of charge,
and it costs 400 pounds.

It's like $4,000 today.

- [Lance] Important people like
Elton John get a Sinclair C5.

So it actually initially gets
a whole lot of excitement

until people start to drive it.

- [Henry] Sparked
by the initial buzz,

Sinclair sets an ambitious goal

of 100,000 sales in year one.

But when the C5 hits the road,

things get rocky.

- [Don] The crazy thing is
that there's no laws

against taking this little
scooter into rush hour traffic.

- [Lance] It looks a lot like a
jet ski.

You're sitting way down,

the handlebars are
actually under your legs.

You are so low to the ground

that it's very difficult
for drivers to see you.

- [Jason] Be prepared to get
a face full of exhaust

because you're right there
eye level with the exhaust.

- [Lance] It goes a maximum
of 15 miles per hour.

You're going really slow

and you're gonna be pumping
that down the highway

with all the trucks around you.

- [Jason] It doesn't even have
a rear-view mirror.

You can actually add a
rear-view mirror and a horn,

but those cost extra.

- [Lance] Initially, there's
a lot of sales,

but quickly, it starts
to get poor reviews.

The BBC journalist [chuckles]

makes an astounding observation.

He says, "There's nothing
this can do for you

that you can't do with
just a regular bicycle."

- [Henry] Sinclair
pulls the plug on the C5

after only 10 months
in production.

Of the 14,000 units built,

they can't even sell half.

- The public
realizes very quickly

that this is not
the thing for them,

and it even causes Sinclair
to have to shut down

his research company.

It was that bad.

- Years before the Sinclair C5,

there was a tiny vehicle

that tried to turn
a space age fantasy

into an everyday ride

until it came crashing
down to Earth.

- [Austin] In the 1950s and
'60s,

America is obsessed with space.

We're in the space race
against the Russians,

and UFOs are all
across our mass media.

- [Kavitha] There's a company
called Peel Engineering

that makes fiberglass paneling
for motorcycles and boats.

But in 1964, they decide to do
something a little different.

- [Hakeem] Peel debuts their
first vehicle,

what they call a
terrestrial flying saucer,

AKA, The Peel Trident.

- [Negin] If you're thinking
about the Jetsons,

it is essentially
the Jetsons' car.

- [Kavitha] It's got three
wheels,

which is why it's
called The Trident.

- [Martin] This looks like it's
something for kids,

which would be fine

if that's all it was supposed
to do was haul kids around.

But instead,

this is supposed to be a

practical means of
transportation for adults

who are going to adult jobs,

in adult traffic.

- [Rutledge] It's a little
gas-powered engine, about 50 cc.

This thing gets


so they advertise it as
cheaper than walking.

I mean, the brilliance
is, it's tiny.

It can fit anywhere in the city.

They're super light.

You can lift it over a curb,
park it wherever you want.

- [Austin] The Peel is cheap,
it's functional, and it's fun,

and it's advertised all
over the United Kingdom.

Anticipation is high for
this tiny commuter car.

- [Henry] But when the
flying saucer lands,

the bubble bursts.

- [Kavitha] The biggest problem
with the car, is the dome.

There are no windows
in this thing.

And a glass dome on a sunny
day, is basically a greenhouse.

- [Negin] On like a beautiful


it feels like 130 degrees
inside the Peel Trident.

Why didn't anybody,
like, look into that?

- [Hakeem] You're not safe in a
Trident on a cold day either.

Fumes from the engine
seep into the car

every time you press on the gas.

- I've driven a Peel Trident,
and it is a real experience.

It's more like
climbing in your dryer

and bringing your
lawnmower engine with you,

and then you start it and
immediately, you feel hot,

and it's a little hard
to breathe in there.

- [Austin] The Trident
eventually ends up

on Time magazine's 50
Worst Cars of All Time.

It sells only 80 models total,

dogged by poor performance,

and the fact that its space
age technology and styling

was slowly trying to m*rder you.

- It just goes to show

they don't make them
like they used to,

and maybe that's a good thing.

- As much as you may
rely on your car,

there is one place

you probably shouldn't
drive it, off road.

For that, you need something
a little more rugged.

And in 1970, one small vehicle

promised fun for
the whole family,

if only you could figure
out how to control it.

[engine revving]

- [Natalia] In the early '70s,

Honda is really struggling

with motorcycle
sales in the winter.

And so they're looking for
something to replace that.

They try snowmobiles,

but they don't really
catch on in a big way.

- The company sees a
hole in the market.

They think about what
could be fun in the winter,

but could also be
enjoyed all year round.

- [Hakeem] There are these
six-wheeled vehicles

that are being sold as
all-terrain vehicles,

but they're really expensive.

The company decides to
make its own version,

but instead of six
wheels, it'll have three.

And they call it
the three-wheel ATV.

- [Jason] So in this era,
recreational ATVs are still

very novel.

They're definitely
not widespread.

So the idea of taking on nature
in this cool new vehicle,

it's mind blowing
to most people.

- [Austin] There's one
commercial for the Honda 250R.

They ride through snow,
and ice, and streams.

It's quick cuts,
it's low angles,

it's energetic, it's fun.

These are thrilling rides.

[engines revving]

- It's basically a love
child between a military ATV

and a motorcycle.

I mean, you can go on all
of this different terrain,

you know, beach, snow, rocks,

you name it, it can do it.

- The most groundbreaking
thing about the three-wheel ATV

is that it has no suspension.

- [Austin] Suspensions keep
wheels down or they absorb

shocks, shock absorbers.

But suspensions can get heavy.

They can weigh a vehicle down.

- [Hakeem] It sounds crazy, but
it makes the vehicle

way more fun.

By being more lightweight,
that means it's more nimble.

- [Austin] Without a suspension,

the tires are recommended
to be underinflated

to smooth out rough terrain,

so it just feels
like you're floating.

[engine revving]

- Is anybody riding
a three-wheeled ATV

for the comfort?

[engine revving]
[upbeat music]

We wanna whip around
corners so fast,

we wanna do high jumps.

This ATV is not built
for the type of person

that needs a suspension.

It's built for
the type of people

that don't need suspension.

- [Natalia] The ATV is marketed

for anyone who's kind of
young and thrill-seeking.

And guess what? A lot of
kids see themselves that way.

- [Jason] And they even market
it

to like kids as young as
like 7 years old, right?

They even make a
little brother model,

which is like the mini version
of the three-wheeled ATV.

- [Brian] If a kid in your
neighborhood had one,

you had to make that
kid your friend.

Because the type of parents

that were buying you
a three-wheeled ATV,

were also not supervising

what you did on the
three-wheel ATV.

- [Henry] By 1987,

multiple companies
are cashing in

on the three-wheel ATV craze.

Sales hit 2.5 million.

But three wheelers aren't as
easy to ride as they look,

or nearly as stable.

- When there's no suspension,

it feels kind of
bouncy and playful.

But those springs that
are usually there,

they play a big role

in kind of keeping it
upright and on the ground.

- [Austin] You have to be aware
of the machine, of the balance.

You have to constantly
shift your weight around

to ensure that this
thing doesn't flip over.

- [Jason] Just imagine like
a three-legged stool

as opposed a four-legged stool,

you lean the wrong way, that
thing's just gonna roll.

- [Brian] I hit a rock with
my back right wheel,

the whole thing lifted up

and then just continued
to go over and fell on me

and broke two ribs right here.

But they looked so cool, man.

- [Henry] Between 1983 and 1988,
[engine revving]

three-wheeled ATVs are linked
to more than 300,000 injuries,

and most of them kids.

- [Jason] One study shows
that every ATV sold,

has a one in three chance of
causing severe injury or death.

- [Natalia] In 1987, "60
Minutes" airs the episode,

"The Most Dangerous Vehicle,"

and it's all about
three-wheeled ATVs.

So the word is definitely out

that this is not
just harmless fun.

- [Austin] The government is
eventually forced to act

and compels the industry

to spend $100 million
on safety programs,

providing free training,

and clearly labeling age
limits on the vehicles.

- [Jason] The industry responds
by really retiring

the three-wheeled ATV.

They replaced it with
a four-wheeled ATV,

but also one that
has real suspension.

- [Brian] Today, if there was a
three-wheel ATV right here,

you couldn't keep me off it now.

Those things were dangerous,
but those things were fun.

- [Henry] Thinking back on
our history with cars,

whether they were flying,
shattering, or exploding,

souping things up could
get a little out of hand,

but that's why our hazardous
history was fuel for the soul.