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00:00In the age of the machine, every decade is defined by its engineering masterpieces.
00:14So join me on a journey through time as I experience the great machines that changed
00:21people's lives and shaped modern Britain.
00:30The 1980s was a turning point for Britain.
00:44It was out with the old and in with the new.
00:51After a decade of strikes, oil crises and a steady decline in our manufacturing industries,
00:56the country was close to bankruptcy.
01:00Britain's first female Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher or the Iron Lady, called for new thinking,
01:06new ways of doing business.
01:09Out of the ashes of the old ways, a new spirit of invention and ambition was emerging.
01:15This was the dawn of the computer age, advanced materials and electronics.
01:21For me, the 1980s was the decade when modern Britain finally arrived.
01:26Ah, hello Maggie.
01:30What's that you say?
01:32The future has landed?
01:34In the 1980s, the car was the star.
01:51In 1985, one British car found fame as a time machine in the blockbuster movie Back to the Future.
02:00The director, Robert Zemeckis, was after a car that would look like a UFO.
02:06The shiny, futuristic DeLorean was just the job.
02:11It made its first leap through time in typical 80s fashion, by remote control.
02:17As Doc said to Marty, if my calculations are correct, when this baby hits 88 miles an hour,
02:23you're going to see some serious, uh, stuff.
02:27The movie was a huge hit.
02:29But ironically, this sci-fi icon had already been taken out of production.
02:35What on earth was going on?
02:41It all began with John DeLorean, automotive wunderkind and vice president of America's
02:46General Motors.
02:48In 1973, he quit his high-paid job to pursue his dream.
02:53To design and produce a car of his own, a car that would be far ahead of its time.
03:00DeLorean set out to defy the conventions of automobile manufacture, by making a unique-looking
03:06machine with the performance of a sports car for the price of a family saloon and, this
03:10is the radical bit, to make a car that would last a lifetime.
03:16DeLorean called in Colin Chapman from the Lotus Formula One team to engineer the car.
03:21And in 1981, backed to the tune of £88 million by the British government, the DMC 12 went into
03:28production.
03:29It's pretty well known that things didn't go according to plan.
03:33DeLorean went bankrupt very publicly and his car was widely slated.
03:38But what's been lost in the mists of time is whether the DMC was actually any good.
03:46I've come to a very special workshop hidden away in Kent to check out the engineering behind
03:52the icon.
03:53The vast majority of cars like this classic XJS use regular steel body panels.
03:59It's strong, it's cheap, pretty much ideal for mass-producing cars.
04:03But if you don't keep it in absolutely perfect condition, it rusts.
04:09So you either had to restore the car or go out and buy a new one.
04:13DeLorean wanted his cars to last a lifetime, so he used stainless steel instead.
04:29Yes, the DeLorean's striking coat is bare, rust-resistant metal.
04:35But you don't see many cars made of this stuff.
04:39Stainless steel isn't cheap.
04:42Neither were the impressive, now famous, gullwing doors.
04:48The doors were intended to give the look of a bird in flight.
04:51All part of DeLorean's grand plans for a design that would make people stop and stare.
04:59But their steel torsion bars and hydraulic rams proved very expensive.
05:04And the cool doors also created a serious safety issue.
05:08DeLorean planned a one-piece moulded plastic body shell for his car.
05:13It seemed like a clever, cheap solution.
05:15But Colin Chapman from Lotus took one look at the designs and knew there was a problem.
05:24A plastic body with massive gaps for the doors just wouldn't be safe with a heavy rear
05:29mounted V6 engine.
05:32So Chapman redesigned the DMC with a steel chassis.
05:35Simple solution, but not cheap.
05:40Despite spiralling costs, DeLorean's dream car went into production and was launched in
05:45January 1981.
05:49The commercial said, drive the DeLorean, live the dream today.
05:54You even received a letter from him outlining his hopes for your car.
05:59Handle well, be enormous fun to drive, last a lifetime.
06:04Well, let's see if it measures up, shall we?
06:06The critics called the DeLorean, sluggish, with poor handling, which you wouldn't expect
06:29from a 2.8-litre V6.
06:31Yeah, I'll say this for it, it does go a bit.
06:39The problem was, DeLorean's target market was America, where road laws demanded catalytic
06:45converters which sapped 25% of the engine's power, and raised suspension, making it wallow
06:53around corners.
06:55Not great for a sports car.
06:58Thankfully I'm enjoying an unmodified UK version.
07:03I'm left with a conclusion that maybe DeLorean almost achieved what he was trying to do in
07:09terms of the cost of a family saloon, the performance of a sports car, and a car that would last a
07:17lifetime.
07:19To stay afloat, DeLorean needed to sell 10,000 cars a year, but didn't come close.
07:25A mixture of over-ambition, market misjudgment, and Lotus re-engineering doubled the price
07:33to £12,000 or $25,000 for the American market, and it simply wasn't a $25,000 sports car.
07:45After less than two years in production, with only 9,000 cars in existence, and DeLorean embroiled
07:51in scandal, the company went bankrupt.
07:56DeLorean did, however, achieve his dream of a car that would last a lifetime.
08:02Three decades into the future, this one's still shining.
08:06A great sci-fi icon, but a commercial failure.
08:12At least the DMC-12 had shown there was huge potential to shake up industry with new ideas
08:17and new technology.
08:19And the British government had shown that it was willing to try new ways of doing business.
08:25new ideas and new thinking swept across Britain.
08:37New looks, new music, new romantics, and there was a new brand of incisive political satire
08:47on the scene too.
08:54Whole new industries were starting up, fuelled by revolutions in electronics and computers.
09:00And Britain was very much in the frame thanks to one of Prime Minister Maggie Thatcher's favourite
09:05eccentric entrepreneurs.
09:21Sir Clive Sinclair was the hero of all those British school children who could persuade their
09:25parents to buy them a computer.
09:27To help them with their homework, of course.
09:30the brilliant ZX Spectrum, Sinclair introduced the world's smallest and cheapest home computer.
09:37Just £125.
09:39No, paper there, paper there, no paper there, slow down, slow down, how do I have to go, slow
09:47down?
09:48No, I wasn't going to hit that, I'm sorry.
09:54How were people entertained by this back then, I'll never know.
09:58But I'm finding it strangely addictive.
10:01Let's go again.
10:04Thanks, Clive.
10:08Thanks to Clive.
10:12Sinclair wasn't just a computer boffin, and in 1985 he revealed his next trailblazing creation
10:18to the world.
10:21Welcome to the future, the Sinclair C5.
10:33Was it a car?
10:34Was it a bike?
10:36This was step one of Sinclair's vision for the future of electric vehicles.
10:43It was actually an electric tricycle.
10:47By keeping the speed below 15 miles an hour and the weight below 60 kilos, Sinclair was
10:52able to build an electric vehicle that needed no road tax, no insurance and no driving licence.
11:00You didn't even need a crash helmet.
11:05It sounds clever, and although I've never heard anything good said about the C5, I suppose
11:11I should at least give it a chance.
11:13Right, I'm approaching a gentle hill now.
11:18And this, I feel, may well be some sort of challenge for it.
11:24I do have the finger firmly on the button, and it's getting embarrassing.
11:27Yes, I'm going to have to give it a little bit of pedal assistance.
11:32Reversing was, I would have said, not one of its strongest, in fact it doesn't reverse.
11:37I'm doing the reversing now.
11:43So embarrassing, and I've forgotten the expression that Sinclair gave it, but it's a sort of 80
11:52point turn using your legs.
12:00It's a useless machine, really.
12:06Now it's bleeping at me.
12:09Sorry Sir Clive, I just can't find your trademark genius in this machine.
12:17Before I write it off, I'm going to meet a real life C5 engineer from the 80s.
12:24Can Adam Harper turn me into a believer?
12:26Now let's start with the battery, which I gather is a third of the weight of the entire
12:32vehicle.
12:33But it is a special battery.
12:34It's designed to be recharged many, many times.
12:37Right, let's move on to this item here, which to me looks like a small washing machine motor.
12:42The car was assembled by Hoover, and many years ago it was written that it was a washing
12:48machine motor.
12:49And the fact is, it never was.
12:53It was a specially designed motor by Philips, and it was a technical breakthrough.
12:57Last item is this rather odd shape.
12:59It looks like one end of a clothes rail to me, Adam.
13:02Tell me all about it.
13:03It's a box section chassis.
13:05Clive went along to Lotus sports cars.
13:08And so they designed this chassis, which is a fantastic piece of engineering, because
13:13it's immensely strong, and weighs nothing.
13:16It's nothing.
13:17It's...
13:18I suppose with the battery weighing half a tonne, something's got to be light.
13:25So maybe there is more to this machine than meets the eye.
13:34And its iconic body shell is high tech too.
13:37Sinclair's team spent months improving the aerodynamics in a wind tunnel, making it 75%
13:43more efficient than a regular cycle.
13:50The better the aerodynamic efficiency, the further you could go on one charge.
14:0120 miles, according to the brochure.
14:08Sinclair's runabout went on the market in January 1985 for just under £400, £1,000 in
14:16today's money.
14:17But before it even hit the streets, most journalists were writing it off.
14:22Right from the start, the C5 scared people.
14:25They thought its low profile would be too dangerous once you get out amongst the trucks and cars.
14:30Was that fair?
14:31Let's find out.
14:32I've got a full charge and a tune-up, and it's time to give the C5 a second chance.
14:41Off to the supermarket, 1980s style.
14:44And you get amazing looks from people thinking, that person there is completely mad, and they'd
14:54be right.
14:55On a flattish road, it rolls along at a decent lick, with no effort on my part.
15:00There we go.
15:01There we go.
15:02We're successfully around there.
15:03In the traffic, one does feel incredibly vulnerable.
15:10This isn't even a busy road.
15:11You've got to give credit to Sir Clive.
15:22And he put his reputation and £7 million behind his creation.
15:27OK, so the boot's a bit small.
15:32In fact, the machine is far from perfect.
15:35But it's actually quite a bit better than I expected.
15:43Bad press may have killed off the C5, but the idea of electric runabouts just hasn't gone
15:52away.
15:53With better batteries and electric motors, Sinclair's vision is finally becoming reality with
15:59quiet, clean electric machines that even have decent sized boots.
16:06Maybe Sinclair was just a bit too far ahead of his time.
16:17Although both the DeLorean and the C5 were commercial failures, they were iconic trailblazers that
16:23embodied the pioneering spirit of 1980s Britain.
16:30The nation Thatcher had inherited was in turmoil.
16:33The 70s had seen oil crises, civil unrest and strikes across British industry.
16:40Then in 1982, a war came along that united the nation.
16:46One of the country's most important and successful industries was about to face a make or break
16:51test.
16:52Since World War II, our engineers had been very successful in developing ingenious military
16:57machines.
16:59But with one type of machine, we'd been lagging behind international rivals.
17:04A versatile, complex machine vital to all modern warfare.
17:10I've come to 815 Squadron at Royal Naval Air Station Yeovleton to see the great British helicopter
17:17that raised the bar for all that followed.
17:20The fantastic Westland Lynx.
17:27The fastest, most manoeuvrable helicopter in the world.
17:33This is a Royal Navy HAS Mark III Lynx, a direct descendant of the original Lynx.
17:47It took over a decade and tens of millions of pounds to develop.
17:51And by 1982, Westland was struggling to survive.
17:58The Lynx was designed to replace two ageing Royal Navy helicopters, the Wasp and the Wessex.
18:06And on the international arms market, to rival America's great Vietnam icon, the Bell Huey.
18:15Westland's designers knew their future depended on the success of the Lynx, so they pulled out all the stops with new performance enhancing technologies.
18:23Up here we have two Rolls-Royce Gem engines, each producing 800 horsepower.
18:32They were specially designed for the Lynx, insofar as they're much more compact than other gas turbine engines of similar output.
18:42But the real work of genius on the Lynx was its rotor hub.
18:45The mechanical rotor control system, which in most other helicopters has lots of hinges, vital for stable flight.
18:56So, Fluff, why is the rotor head so key to the performance of this helicopter?
19:01It is one of the key components of any helicopter.
19:04With the Lynx aircraft, the rotor hub itself is very, very different.
19:08What we have on the Lynx is what's called a semi-rigid rotor head.
19:10The reason that is, is we only have one hinge.
19:12The flexible rotor hub becomes the hinge.
19:16If I was to press down on the head itself, you can actually see the flexing.
19:22And it's actually the titanium itself, which absorbs that flight load.
19:26The titanium is the key thing that allows us to have this rotor head on this aircraft, which makes the aircraft so maneuverable and agile.
19:33With new materials and innovative design, Westland kept the Lynx's weight to a minimum,
19:39maximizing its weapons-carrying capability from depth charges to torpedoes and missiles.
19:46Well, that's a lethal blue missile attached. What is it and what does it do?
19:51Well, this is the Sea Skewer missile. It's a sea-skimming missile, semi-active, and is controlled by the radar that's on board of the Lynx.
19:58Why is the Lynx so good?
20:00The Lynx is fast, it's agile, it can hover outside of the enemy's missile zone, and it's perfectly designed to give a stable platform for firing skewer away and getting the maximum chance of prosecuting the enemy.
20:12And prosecute it would.
20:22The Lynx's rotor system was designed to be deliberately unstable, giving it spectacular evasive maneuverability when under attack.
20:29But it was also given a state-of-the-art automatic flight control system. Not an autopilot, but a computer that assists the pilot to keep the aircraft steady to fire weapons.
20:43And enabling the Lynx to boast the ability to land on the tiny rear deck of a frigate in anything up to a Force 8 gale.
20:50The Royal Navy Lynx went into service in 1976.
21:18Bristling with untested potential.
21:22Six years later, that potential was put to the most extreme test imaginable.
21:31In April 1982, Argentina invaded the remote British-owned Falkland Islands.
21:37Within 48 hours, Margaret Thatcher sent more than 70 vessels and 25,000 troops to war, 8,000 miles away in the middle of the South Atlantic winter.
21:48They would be vastly outnumbered against an enemy fighting close to home.
21:5227 Royal Navy Lynx helicopters sailed with the task force.
22:08To protect our ships against enemy submarines and surface vessels.
22:17During the conflict, the Lynx performed its role perfectly, crippling one submarine with a torpedo and three Argentine surface vessels with the new radar-guided sea skewer missiles.
22:28Not a single Lynx was lost to enemy fire.
22:37Not a single Lynx was lost to enemy fire.
22:39Back in the UK, Westland now had an opportunity to turn the combat success of the Lynx into international sales that would save the company.
22:54First, they made it even better.
22:55With experimental, swept-back blade tips designed to allow the Lynx's rotors to turn faster than ever before.
23:07In August 1986, with the new so-called burp blades and up-rated engines, a Westland Lynx made an attempt on the world helicopter speed record.
23:32We're now travelling at 170 miles an hour and we can't possibly keep up with the specially adapted Lynx.
23:48The Lynx clocked 249.09 miles an hour, a record that still stands today and cemented the reputation of this great British helicopter.
24:00A fantastic machine that by staying at the forefront of modern technology has now sold to 18 different countries around the world.
24:08In May 1982, as the Falklands conflict entered its final stages, troops on the ground played the central role.
24:22Not least the men of 2 Para, backed up by kit from all over the world.
24:29I've got my gun from Belgium, my pack from China, my troop carrier from Scandinavia, but one crucial piece of equipment that's very much British.
24:40The F107 Scimitar reconnaissance vehicle. Light, agile and incredibly fast whatever the terrain.
24:54One of the greatest military vehicles of all time.
25:01This amazing machine came into being when car manufacturer Alvis was asked to build a range of fast military vehicles.
25:20So light, they could be dropped onto a battlefield from the air.
25:26The problem was that a steel machine would have weighed in at 13 tonnes. Far too heavy for air transport.
25:33Getting the new vehicle down to weight took some radical thinking and a new type of aluminium alloy.
25:40DGFV1318B to be precise. And this is it. A lot stronger than pure aluminium, but still a lot lighter than steel.
25:50Overall weight saving, 5 tonnes.
26:00To keep costs down, Alvis used the same chassis for their whole range.
26:05From the Scorpion tank to the Spartan, Samson, Scimitar and Samaritan.
26:10With rolls from missile launcher to ambulance.
26:12All were 8-ton vehicles. Seven times lighter than a main battle tank. Perfect for air transport.
26:21The Scimitar has a ground pressure of under £5 per square inch.
26:27In other words, this 8-ton machine next to me puts the same amount of pressure on each inch of ground as me with my full kit.
26:38Seriously lightweight.
26:39But the aluminium armour was only strong enough to withstand grenades and small arms fire.
26:46So the new machines would rely on speed and manoeuvrability to keep them out of harm's way.
26:52The Scimitar was powered by the 4.2 litre Jaguar engine.
26:56Much the same lump as you'd find in an E-type sports car.
26:58It was the only engine around that was light and powerful enough to meet the size, weight and high performance requirements for the new range of tanks.
27:07Alvis combined the engine with an ingenious transmission system to produce the racing car of tanks.
27:31That could speed across the combat zone at up to 70 miles an hour.
27:36As I'm finding out, thanks to my driver, tank collector, Andrew Baker.
27:54If you get a bit seasick, this is not for you.
28:01It was basically designed to charge around the battlefield, reconnoiter the enemy and then run away.
28:08But it also has a high precision rapid fire Raden cannon just in case.
28:20Andrew, could I have a go?
28:23Yes, certainly.
28:24No.
28:25No.
28:26No.
28:27No.
28:28No.
28:30Most tanks corner by putting the brakes on one track and skidding.
28:34But the Scimitar's clever transmission system sends more power to the track on the outside of the bend.
28:40So you don't lose speed.
28:41And you can also spin on a sixpence.
28:56Well nearly, I am a beginner.
28:58Perhaps the most amazing bit of all, it can do it all exactly the same in reverse.
29:11And in theory at least, 70 miles an hour backwards.
29:18I'm having so much fun!
29:20I'm having fun!
29:27In 1982, this amazing machine was put to the test for the first time in real combat conditions.
29:34The British Army took four Scimitars and four Scorpions to the Falklands, where the boggy conditions were no place for heavy machines like tanks.
29:44At least, normal tanks.
29:47The British drivers soon worked out how to handle the conditions.
29:50This is where the combination of speed and light weight came into its own.
29:56If a driver spotted some green moss, he knew he was coming up to softer ground.
30:01Full throttle, seventh gear, go like the clappers.
30:08By early June, British troops supported by the tanks had cornered the Argentine forces on the outskirts of Port Stanley.
30:15The final battles were for high ground overlooking the town, including Wireless Ridge.
30:29At 8.30pm on the 13th of June, 1982, A and B company of Two Para led the assault on Wireless Ridge.
30:38They were accompanied by two Scimitars and two Scorpion tanks of the Blues and Royals.
30:42The Scimitars and Scorpions embarked on what is known as a noisy attack, revving their engines and firing their cannons, hoping to cause fear and confusion in the enemy.
31:06It worked. By dawn the Argentine army was holed up in Port Stanley.
31:17Later that day, Argentina surrendered the army.
31:22It worked.
31:28By dawn, the Argentine army was holed up in Port Stanley.
31:33Later that day, Argentina surrendered the islands.
31:37A victory for British national pride, the heroism of the troops, and some great British machines.
31:46Well done, chaps.
31:47Like the Lynx, the Scimitar has become a global success, selling to over 19 countries.
31:58Thanks to new technology and ingenious design, our weapons industry has thrived.
32:04And strong exports have helped us maintain a powerful military force.
32:12By the mid-80s, new technologies were filtering into everyday life.
32:17OK, there was still a bit of work to be done, but in the 1980s, this was state-of-the-art.
32:28The Prime Minister, please.
32:36Ah, good news, ma'am.
32:39In the North Sea, Britain had struck black gold.
32:43And with oil pouring in, the economy boomed.
32:47Now we had the cash, as well as the ideas, to create Maggie's capitalist utopia.
32:52What better way to get to your city job than in a car built to celebrate an oil-guzzling pastime.
33:07A 1980 Lotus Esprit Turbo, in eye-melting Essex petroleum colours.
33:13This car was born of a cottage industry, which in the 1980s suddenly became big business, with Britain holding the reins.
33:25Motorsport had come of age.
33:27At the forefront was Formula One.
33:33Many of the fastest and most technically advanced cars on the track were British-built.
33:39And for me, the greatest pioneers of all were Lotus.
33:42The brains behind the team was, of course, Colin Chapman, the man who fixed the DeLorean.
33:53I've come to classic Team Lotus to learn about the Chapman innovations that ushered in the modern F1 era.
34:02Chapman's mantra was performance through lightweight.
34:05If you could make it lighter, it would be faster with better handling, while being less demanding on brakes and tyres.
34:12All good news for racing.
34:18Chapman was known for pushing boundaries, taking on bigger teams with bigger budgets by out-thinking them.
34:24In turn, driving the evolution of the modern F1 car.
34:29With cars like this 1970 Lotus 72, Chapman produced a blueprint that all F1 cars follow today.
34:36The pointed nose, the monocoque, the side pods encasing the radiators, and the front and rear wings.
34:43In the early 80s, the team pushed aerodynamics to the limit, creating huge downforce to glue their cars to the track through corners.
34:54But metal bodywork could no longer handle the massive forces, as Colin Chapman's son Clive explains.
35:01The downforce that the cars were creating meant that they could go around the corners incredibly quickly.
35:08The suspension got stiffer and stiffer, and the poor old aluminium tub wasn't really able to cope, and rivets started popping out and what have you.
35:16So that was a problem.
35:17So with the metal monocoque under so much strain from the various forces, what was the answer?
35:22Well, at about that time, aerospace and defence were starting to investigate the potential of carbon fibre.
35:29My father was always quick to encourage innovation, and they said, well, let's try carbon, and came up with the first composite tub in F1.
35:45Composites are not only stiffer and lighter, but they're also easier to shape than metal.
35:50First, layers of fabric are built up on a mould.
35:56The completed section is placed in a press where resin is added, and it's baked for half an hour.
36:07The result is a stiff, strong, and very light component, capable of protecting a driver in a major impact.
36:16Quiet!
36:20You wouldn't want to get your finger in there, would you?
36:25Glass fibre composites absorb the energy, and half the crash structure remains intact.
36:32Glass fibre had been around for a while, but in 1982 it was the new, although far more expensive, carbon fibre that interested Chapman.
36:41With carbon fibre, the material is three times stiffer than aluminium, and half the weight, which is why in the early 80s, this made a great new material to build a racing car.
36:54Pioneering as ever, Chapman and Lotus quickly set to work building a carbon fibre Formula One car.
37:01In 1982, with the carbon fibre monocoque Lotus 91, Chapman's vision for the future of the Formula One car had arrived.
37:14With the new lightweight and strong material in place, Formula One cars could lap faster than ever before.
37:24And if you had enough cash, you could go out and buy yourself a taste of the action.
37:30In 1980, to celebrate their glorious F1 career, Lotus launched their first ever true supercar.
37:41With a top speed of 152 miles an hour, the iconic Lotus Esprit Turbo.
37:47And here it comes.
37:48Chapman's latest creation allowed drivers to experience some of the thrills of Formula One technology.
38:02And today it's my turn, with Lotus's Director of Vehicle Engineering, Roger Becker, to guide me.
38:09Oh, right.
38:12I'm in good hands.
38:14Roger was the stunt driver for the Bond movie, The Spy Who Loved Me.
38:18The basic principle of fast driving is not being aggressive, it's being smooth.
38:26So getting the car lined up for the corner, do your braking in a straight line.
38:31Don't drive the little piece of road a few metres in front of you.
38:34Look way, way beyond it, so that you've got the car always prepared for the next event.
38:40The new Esprit, like most Formula One cars of the day, was turbocharged,
38:45boosting engine power by a massive 30%.
38:49Topping 150 miles an hour, it was a true supercar.
38:55Although I have to say, it's pretty hard to concentrate on Roger's instructions with all this red leather everywhere.
39:00Let's see whether a Lotus can turn you into a professional.
39:04No pressure then.
39:09Now then, focus Barry.
39:15Feel the road, look where you're going, get over to the left, just keep it smooth.
39:19Always give yourself the maximum width of the track by coming out in the right position for the next corner.
39:26It should seem effortless, if you're doing it right.
39:30Drop up, drop up, drop up.
39:32Producing faster lap times with less wear and tear on both car and driver.
39:38Easy, isn't it?
39:39See, it's no sweat, not even a drop of moisture on your brow.
39:46Blimey, we're in no gear at all now.
39:56Yeah, much better.
40:00Ah, the wonderful Esprit.
40:02A true British icon with starring roles in not one, but two Bond movies.
40:08What on earth are you doing 007?
40:11Just keeping the British end up, sir.
40:15Sadly, Lotus founder Colin Chapman died in 1982, aged just 54.
40:22Never to see the full impact of his company on British motorsport.
40:27For me, Chapman's greatest achievement was his role in developing a whole new industry.
40:31With Lotus leading the way, British motorsport became a magnet for brilliant engineers.
40:38From Formula One right down to go-karts, the sport of racing became an industry worth £7 billion a year,
40:45and one of Britain's most important revenue earners.
40:49But the man on the street was getting turbo envy.
40:53In the early 80s, Formula One and supercars were beyond the budget of most wannabe racing drivers.
41:04The best he could afford was a dadmobile like this classic boxy Cortina.
41:12But the Cortina would never cut it as a race machine. It was all down to aerodynamics.
41:18So this very Cortina was the last to roll off the production line in 1982.
41:26It was the end of an era for a car which sadly had the aerodynamics of a brick.
41:30Behind closed doors, Ford of Britain was working on a redesign that would change the appearance of its cars forever.
41:41After the oil crises of the 70s, Ford designers started working on a car that would be more economical than the Cortina.
41:50And their key to improved fuel efficiency was the aerodynamics.
41:55In 1982, the Cortina's replacement was unveiled – the Ford Sierra.
42:02The new streamlined design was an impressive 20% more aerodynamically efficient than the Cortina.
42:10It was an important step forward for road cars.
42:13But it was what happened next that turned the Sierra into an unlikely British icon.
42:25This man, Rod Mansfield, who headed up Ford's Special Vehicle Engineering team, was told to turn it into a race car.
42:34So Rod, why did you take a basic family saloon car and turn it into a racing car?
42:38This car was aimed at racing and winning the World Touring Car Challenge.
42:46But before they could go racing, if they wanted any chance of winning,
42:50Rod and his team had to massively improve the performance of the basic, rather pedestrian Sierra.
42:56So we had to build onto this car here all the things that motorsport wanted.
43:01Did you think, retrospectively, that this car that you and your department had produced would become so synonymous with the 1980s?
43:09No. It's become an icon, and I must admit it surprised me.
43:14Ford called in Formula One engine experts Cosworth to sort out the standard Sierra's rather weedy 75-horsepower Pinto Block.
43:24They added a new cylinder head and another favourite bit of F1 kit.
43:31This car, just like the Lotus Esprit, was fitted with a Garrett turbocharger, really packing air into the cylinders.
43:40The uprated engine kicked out a whopping 200 horsepower.
43:44But with all that added power, the streamlined rear-wheel drive Sierra would struggle for grip on corners.
43:54So, taking technology from the likes of Formula One, the RS was given a rather large, highly distinctive rear wing, known as the whale tail.
44:02The iconic Ford Sierra RS Cosworth was complete, and to satisfy touring car rules, as well as the actual race cars, 5,000 road legal cozies were built.
44:19It was, in essence, a racing car that you could go out and buy, then safely pootle about with your grandma.
44:26Although, to be honest, that wasn't really what most cosy owners had in mind.
44:37Ah, lovely jubbly.
44:39Where better to give it a good thrashing than back at Ford's technical centre, on the very same track where Rod Mansfield's team put the RS through its paces in the early 80s.
45:01It has to be said that it is a car that, if you give it some beans, it likes it.
45:09It sort of says, yes, give me more.
45:15Ooh, yes.
45:18Top speed had rocketed from around 100 to a staggering 150 miles an hour.
45:24Ooh.
45:27Supercar performance from a family car.
45:30It's a great design, really.
45:45On the racetrack, four dominated British touring cars, with a souped-up version, the RS 500, winning an unbeaten 40 races back-to-back.
45:54But it was the iconic road version that played such an important role in shaping the modern car.
46:03From the jelly-mold, aerodynamically efficient shape, to excess power and racetrack handling, high-performance saloons have become the norm.
46:12So next time someone's tailgating you at 90 up the M6, I'm afraid you've got the cosy to blame.
46:20For me, the Sierra RS Cosworth epitomises Britain in the 1980s.
46:24Bold, brash, in-your-face.
46:27And it was something new.
46:28It wasn't the most elegant of decades, but it was a fresh start.
46:35The teenage years of a more sophisticated, high-tech Britain.
46:41Our large-scale, home-grown industries may have been dying off.
46:46But thanks to new thinking, new ideas and new technology, British engineering and design was alive and well.
46:53The future had landed here in Britain.
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