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00:00we're in a bit of a period time machine here in the age of the machine every decade is
00:12defined by its engineering masterpieces so join me on a journey through time as I
00:19experience the great machines that changed people's lives and shaped modern Britain
00:30the 1960s the decade that generates an instant wave of nostalgia when Britain emerged from the
00:44austere post-war days of the 50s with more energy money and a desire for change the movers and the
00:51shakers of the 1960s decided that life wasn't just going to be functional it was also going to be
00:57fun cheers now there was a growing demand for machines that were faster cleverer and preferably
01:05incredibly cool British engineers needed to embrace the spirit of the times with radical thinking and
01:13radical machines with revolution by design
01:27you'll start off a 10 think of a classic 1960s car I reckon there's a good chance you're probably
01:39thinking of one of these the British motor corporation's homegrown Austin 7 or Morris mini minor
01:45better known as simply the mini with everyone from pop stars to models and actors proud to be
01:53behind the wheel this great little car became the height of chic Mary Quant even named her new short
02:00skirt the mini in its honor this was the hip cool runaround car of the decade which is ironic as
02:12the mini never set out to be trendy it was built to get Britain out of an oil crisis in 1956 the UK
02:21clashed with Egypt over ownership of the Suez canal oil tankers were banned from using the canal and the UK
02:29was starting to run short of fuel so the head of the British Motor Corporation Leonard Lord set his
02:40engineers a challenge to build a car that was smaller lighter and therefore less fuel hungry than their
02:46current fifties range Leonard Lord wanted the new design to be even smaller than their top selling
02:53Morris minor just ten foot by four foot by four foot high to use most of the same standard factory parts
03:01and yet still feel spacious for four adults and their luggage fortunately working for BMC was Alec
03:11Isagonis the brains behind the Morris minor Alec Isagonis was an idiosyncratic and visionary engineer by this time he was already a famous car designer but the mini would be his finest hour
03:26Isagonis eventually managed to turn this lot into this a tiny car with an amazing 80% of its total floor space dedicated to the passengers and their luggage
03:40and 22% lighter than the Morris minor
03:47So how did he achieve it?
03:51With this 1952 Morris minor you have what was then a standard layout with the four-cylinder engine in line with the car
03:58with the gearbox behind it under there
04:01but in the mini the engine is packed into an area one-third of the size to maximize space inside the car
04:08Isagonis turned the engine around and mounted it across the car or transversely
04:14a perfect solution except for one major hitch there's no room for the gearbox
04:20where did he put that gearbox
04:27to find out I've got to get underneath
04:32here it is
04:33underneath the engine
04:35but an integral part of the engine giving joint oil circulation of engine and gearbox
04:42his next revolutionary step was to remove the drive shaft from the engine to the back wheels
04:47and create the first mass-produced front-wheel drive car in the world
04:51and with no drive shaft running to the rear wheels
04:54he could lower the height of the floor and create more headroom inside
04:58he also increased the interior space by using sliding windows to reduce the thickness of the door
05:04the space saved by not having a window dropping down into the door was turned into storage
05:10with these side pockets
05:12large enough or so rumour has it
05:14to fit a bottle of gin
05:16apparently Isagonis was rather partial to the odd dry martini
05:22the interior is beautifully minimalist
05:24and his personal touches are everywhere
05:27there's an ashtray as he was a chain smoker
05:29but he liked silence
05:31so there's no radio
05:33after two years of development
05:36the Mark 1 was ready
05:38weighing just 615 kilograms
05:40it achieved a remarkable 40 miles to the gallon
05:43and a top speed of 72 miles an hour
05:46all for just 496 quid
05:49Isagonis called it his charwoman's car
05:53it was an affordable masterpiece for the working classes
05:56come on Mini, you can do better than this
05:59you can do better than this
06:00ah
06:01god save us
06:04this old
06:05pudding stirrer of a gear stick
06:07but at first
06:08not everyone wanted to be seen in this cheap funny-looking car
06:12you always feel slightly comic driving a Mini
06:14I feel comic for some reason.
06:20It's like a go-kart. You just do that and everyone flies all over the place.
06:24It's good, actually. It's tight. Nice one.
06:27But attitudes soon started to change.
06:30This great little run-around let you get out and explore the wonders that 60s Britain had to offer.
06:35Oh, a horse.
06:40Oh, hello. Hello. Hello.
06:44Don't look at me like that. All right?
06:47It's got a slight problem when you're in a car that's smaller than a cow.
06:51Sorry. Sorry. We've done nothing wrong. We're cow lovers.
06:56Soon the Mini was available in a wide range of different shapes and sizes and became a successful family car.
07:04But how did it become one of the great iconic machines of the decade?
07:07Isagonis' Mini had caught the eye of another talented engineer, John Cooper.
07:15John and his father Charles were famous for pioneering rear-engined cars in Formula One.
07:20They looked at the Mini's lightweight frame, low centre of gravity and wide track and saw huge potential to transform it into a racing car.
07:32It may not look that different, but this Austin Mini Cooper has three times the power of the Mark I.
07:40On the rally circuit the engine was up to 1293cc and 110 horsepower.
07:45High compression pistons, twin carburettors, disc brakes, bucket seats and a racing exhaust all made the Mini something of a different animal.
07:52This little racer could hit a top speed of 97 miles an hour, which in a car this small and low to the ground must feel very, very fast.
08:04With British rally driver Clive King at the wheel, I'm about to find out how fast.
08:11Here we go.
08:12Here we go.
08:21Yeah, that was a shock.
08:23I thought half of Wales.
08:25No, it's bendy size, don't worry.
08:29I feel like I'm in a super-powered tin can, skating just four inches above this rocky gravel road.
08:35A bee!
08:53A bee!
08:55In 1962 the Mini Cooper entered one of the toughest races in the world, the Monte Carlo Rally.
09:01Taking on established big guns like Mercedes and Saab.
09:06How was that?
09:08That was good, I'm sorry.
09:12The Mini Cooper won the Monte Carlo an amazing three times.
09:17A giant killing success that turned Disagonis' Mini into an international superstar.
09:23And now, everybody wanted one.
09:25BMC's factories cranked up production to over 200,000 a year.
09:31And the ingenious revolutionary Mini became one of the greatest icons of all time.
09:3860s Britain saw old values thrown out, people standing up for their rights and a sexual revolution.
09:45Changes reflected in cool new fashions and futuristic space-age designs.
09:50In fact, the whole country was getting a facelift.
09:59In the 1960s, massive house-building programs were transforming cities.
10:04The government set a target of 300,000 new homes per year.
10:07And in true 60s style, they commissioned new futuristic designs.
10:13The new vogue in the world of architecture was stark, hard-edged blocks of concrete and glass.
10:20And not everyone approved.
10:22Ian Fleming, the author of the James Bond novels, was one who certainly hated it.
10:25So much so that he named one of James Bond's adversaries, Goldfinger, after the leading 1960s architect, Erno Goldfinger.
10:36This is one of the most famous Goldfinger designs.
10:39Trellick Tower in West London.
10:41A 31-storey block of flats with a separate lift tower.
10:44It's either iconic or an eyesore, depending on your point of view.
10:47Personally, I have to say, I'm with Fleming on this one.
10:53With new homes and more money to spend, the number of household gadgets rocketed.
10:59Instamatic cameras, Super 8 film, stereos.
11:03And the nation now had 15 million televisions and over 4 million telephones.
11:07But the boom in phones and televisions was causing a huge problem for the country's communications network.
11:16Britain was linked by old cables and manned telephone exchanges, which couldn't cope with the massive increase in demand.
11:24To keep the phones of the future ringing, we needed a technological revolution.
11:30Welcome to the hub of the revolutionary system, London's Post Office Tower.
11:35A tower for telecommunications.
11:39And a darker, more secret role in Britain's Cold War defence.
11:45This stylish 60s building is also a great big British machine.
11:50The lift is now travelling at 1,400 feet per minute.
11:55At 188 metres, it was the tallest building in London at the time.
12:00Designed to make use of a technology called microwave transmission.
12:03Microwaves are high frequency radio waves that could be used to transmit 10 times as much data as the old cables.
12:12This is the business end of the tower. These horns behind me are the original 1960s microwave dishes.
12:17They sent out microwave signals to other towers roughly 25 miles away, which could beam the signals on across a network of 130 relay stations around the country.
12:29This entire network was monitored from inside the post office tower, down on floor 14.
12:38It's like time has stood still in here. It's absolutely fantastic.
12:41Virtually nothing has changed since it was built by the Ministry of Building and Public Works back in 1965.
12:47I feel like I'm in a time warp, surrounded by perfectly preserved electronics from a different age.
12:56Now that is a control board and a half.
13:03Fantastic mesh on the old tester number 192B forward slash WKC forward slash one.
13:12The cord tester. I'm not wearing my cords today. I haven't a clue what these things mean, but listen.
13:17You know that switch is on. Nowadays you get these horrible electronic press, is it on or is it off kind of switch.
13:26Whereas these days you knew it was on. Again normal, we'll leave it there.
13:31Without these electronics, you actually had to book a slot with an operator to make a long distance call.
13:37You know there are many sounds that conjure up the past and that to me is certainly one of the sounds of the sixties.
13:55In addition to the Beatles and the Stones and the Dave Clark Five.
13:59With these machines and the new microwave network, the tower could handle over 150,000 telephone calls at once.
14:09I don't think you'd like to rewire this lot.
14:12Computers received, processed and transmitted the calls.
14:16Everything was done electronically.
14:19Only a few humans were needed for maintenance and working in the tower could be, well, a lonely job.
14:26This is the post office tower. Come in Portsmouth.
14:29Hello Harry.
14:31Do you like to be beside the seaside?
14:34How's Wendy? Give her my love. Goodbye.
14:39But it wasn't just telephone calls beaming out of the microwave transmitters.
14:44The tower transformed the nation's television.
14:47The old cables could only transmit two channels of fuzzy black and white pictures.
14:52The microwave network could send out 40 channels at once.
14:57Now live television, outside broadcasts and simultaneous transmission to the entire country were possible.
15:04Through these transmitters passed some classic TV moments from the decade.
15:09Like the 1966 World Cup final.
15:12They think it's all over. It is now.
15:13And, of course, Britain's first colour TV image, Wimbledon, 1967.
15:19Ooh, I say, what an absolute peach of a shot by the Australian.
15:24And on the 21st of July 1969, the post office tower brought the British public the mind-blowing images of man's first step on the moon.
15:34Let's see who's on the line.
15:37Just blow off the 50-year-old dust first.
15:42The Soviets are coming?
15:45When?
15:47The Cold War arms race was escalating.
15:50In 1962, US and Soviet tensions came to a head in the Cuban Missile Crisis.
15:54Making the fear of nuclear war more real than ever.
15:59A war that the post office tower was designed to survive.
16:03Interestingly, one of the main reasons for making the tower round is so that it had more chance of withstanding a nuclear blast.
16:11It was thought that the curved shape would deflect the shock waves better than the sides of a square building.
16:16The hope was that while conventional cables would be easily destroyed, the new microwave network could be kept operational.
16:24Keeping Prime Minister Harold Wilson in contact with the outside world.
16:29The hope was that if a bomb did hit Britain, the Prime Minister, safely smuggled deep inside his bunker in the Wiltshire Hills,
16:37could make a distress call via this tower to the rest of the world.
16:41Something along the lines of...
16:42Help!
16:43Now, where were we, Mary?
16:46Got any tobacco?
16:49The distress signal would be beamed down across the country to Goonhilly Satellite Station,
16:55then up to Telstar, the world's first communications satellite,
16:59and then down to...
17:01Well, whoever was left and might be listening.
17:05Because of its Cold War defence connections, it was part of the Official Secrets Act.
17:09So, the post office tower was never actually marked on a map.
17:16There. Blank.
17:18Now there's absolutely no chance of anyone ever finding a huge tower with massive satellite dishes attached to the side, is there?
17:26In fact, it wasn't just a rubbish official secret.
17:29It was actually a tourist attraction, with a revolving restaurant on floor 34.
17:34Even Soviet dignitaries were invited to come and enjoy a prawn cocktail and a glass of Blue Nun.
17:45This was the UK's first and only revolving restaurant.
17:49This is where the cool, the rich, the sophisticated would come and hang out and generally look groovy as they let the evening skyline slowly drift by.
17:57Over a vodka martini or two. Shaken, not stirred.
18:06Over four and a half million people flocked to the Butlins owned restaurant to get a taste of the high life, including the leading stars of the day.
18:15The background, the greatest city in the world. Here it would seem the sky is really the limit.
18:26It might have seemed impressively high tech at the time, but in fact, it was rather straightforward.
18:31Down through a trap door and underneath the chic restaurant, it looks more like a fairground ride.
18:39So here we have a fairly modest looking electric motor, which via this gearbox turns a fairly meaty looking cog, which drives the outer revolving section, all 30 tons of it, which sits on 48 what look to me like giant shopping trolley wheels.
18:59It looks like an original motor, doesn't it? So it looks 60s with all the ribbing and Radicon announced on the top of the gearbox there.
19:09Made in England. Bull.
19:12Yeah, good stuff. Solid.
19:15Solid.
19:17But in 1980, the restaurant closed to the public when its franchise ran out and London's only revolving dining room ground to a halt.
19:27But does it still work?
19:31Yes, it does.
19:32The little two horsepower engine still powers the big cog wheel and rotates the entire 30 ton floor 360 degrees in just 22 minutes.
19:55Now, where's my cocktail?
19:57The spinning restaurant was the icing on the cake of a truly revolutionary great British machine.
20:10But communications wasn't the only network getting a radical overhaul in a modernised Britain.
20:15In the 1960s, 4,000 miles of railway lines were closed down, while 1,000 miles of a new breed of road were being built.
20:28The motorway.
20:30These new fast roads created a fantastic opportunity for the road haulage industry to take lucrative freight business away from the rail companies.
20:38Unfortunately, the typical lorries of the day were slow, noisy bone shakers with cold cramped cabs. Not great for long distance trucking.
20:49They needed their own revolution.
20:55This is a 1967 Leyland Super Comet.
20:58A 60s workhorse that transformed the life of the modern lorry driver.
21:02It was the first lorry to be designed with the comfort of the driver in mind.
21:07For safety at high speeds on the motorway, it had radial ply tyres that were puncture resistant and powerful air brakes.
21:15But the most groundbreaking feature of the Super Comet was the cab.
21:19There we go. Tilt cab. Absolutely revolutionary. Instant access to the engine.
21:26Mechanics dream, really, compared to the older trucks, where you had to sort of reach down the side for changes,
21:32or for bigger jobs, drop the engine out of the bottom of the truck.
21:35But the really revolutionary part was the ergonomically designed interior.
21:41Right, ergonomic.
21:43Designed for maximum comfort, efficiency, safety and ease of use, especially in the workplace.
21:50In a lorry?
21:52It's extraordinary.
21:54But just how comfortable is it?
21:56To find out, I'm going to take it for a spin with classic lorry enthusiast John Gowler,
22:01who's owned this truck for 40 years.
22:03Hey, look at that. Great.
22:06All right, John.
22:08So, it's right across the line, is it? No, no, no.
22:10It's just there. Just there. Just there.
22:14All right.
22:16The non-Synchromesh gears on this old girl might take some getting used to.
22:20You're not being turned, then.
22:21Huh?
22:22You're not being turned. You're all right.
22:24You're good.
22:25Yeah, you're all right.
22:29This is a crash box, so gear changing is a bit of an art, which I'm just about getting hold of.
22:40What's that? Is that...?
22:45It's half thin. Are you working here?
22:48I've finally got me gears sorted, and can now appreciate the finer details of the ergonomic design.
22:55Yeah, the driving position on this Super Comet is absolutely superb.
23:00Plenty of visibility.
23:04I've got everything all around me easily accessible.
23:07The indicators over here. Power steering is just a joy to use compared to earlier trucks.
23:11Handbrake there. Even got a heater.
23:17And that separates trucks, of course, from the modern era, from the old era when you just had to wear a nice stout coat.
23:25And although you've got the engine right beside you, it's not really that intrusive.
23:30You know, at 55 miles an hour you can still have a decent conversation without having to bellow.
23:35The Super Comet set a new standard for British lorries.
23:39In these revolutionary cabs, drivers took on much longer haulage routes on the new motorways.
23:45And they were built to last.
23:47This one's completed an amazing 700,000 miles.
23:50Yeah, there we are with the big Leyland logo that so many people associate with unreliability.
23:58And that is an opinion, really, that's based on the cars.
24:02But really, when you look at this truck, Leyland 400 engine, seven times round the clock.
24:08300,000 miles in the first six years.
24:12And after that, just piston rings and shells.
24:15That was all that was changed.
24:18And it was ready for another 400,000 miles.
24:20Absolutely brilliant.
24:24By the end of the 60s, with lorries like this, the road haulage business increased by 60%.
24:31And the era of the modern long-distance truck driver was born.
24:37But the road haulage companies weren't having it all their own way.
24:40An even more revolutionary machine saw thousands of their customers go DIY.
24:55October the 6th, 1965.
24:58The launch day for a vehicle that might surprise many as one of my greatest ever British machines.
25:03The wonderful, ubiquitous, love it or hate it, Ford Transit.
25:10The world's most successful van.
25:13A success measured in over five million vans produced around the world.
25:18One of the reasons for the spectacular global success of the Transit was the sheer number of versions you could buy.
25:25Not only could you buy a standard panel van, but you could also buy a beautiful camper van like this supreme example here.
25:30A milk delivery van, an ice cream van, a special bodied parcels van like this one.
25:36You could have a drop side tipper, you could have a high top long wheelbase, you could have a minibus.
25:40In 68 you could have a 4x4, you could have an ambulance, you could have a flatbed.
25:45Or you could have a fire support vehicle, which is how this beautiful Transit started life.
25:49When the first Transit came off the production line, this spacious, adaptable, easy to drive, powerful new vehicle was an instant hit.
26:00Within one month Ford had £3.6 million worth of orders.
26:06What was the secret to this success?
26:09One simple idea, to produce a van that was as easy to hop in and drive as a car.
26:14The Transit simply blew the opposition away. Its greater width gave it superb handling.
26:21It was also the first van to be fitted with a floor gear change, both of which gave it a car-like driving experience.
26:29But the thing that really separated the Transit from the pack, was the Essex V4 engine.
26:40This beauty here pushed the Transit along at cruising speeds in excess of 70 miles an hour, when the opposition were running out of breath at 50.
26:47And where else would you find that torquey Essex V4? In Ford's classic British bad boy racer, the Capri.
26:58I don't know about you, but as far as vans go, I think it's a bit of a looker.
27:03This was a van that shouted, get out of my way, I'm the new king of the road.
27:11And with a car-type gearbox, brakes and steering wheel, it was a wonderful, affordable DIY alternative to hiring a trucking company.
27:19For all sorts of businessmen and a new wave of entrepreneurs, like Richard Branson, who started his first business transporting records in a transit.
27:28As an alternative to using a haulage company to move your stuff, the easy-to-drive transit was also perfect for the independent businessman.
27:40Whether you were a tradesman or wanting to make a quick getaway.
27:44Yeah, the fast-moving transit was the vehicle of choice for bank robbers.
28:02In the 1960s, more bank jobs were done in transits than in cars.
28:09Like everyone else, bank robbers like the way you can stash it full and scream away from the scene of the crime.
28:18Looks like the roses are on us, Bob.
28:22I'm gonna give it some beans.
28:28The police even had to update their cars to keep up with the transit.
28:32There we go. Look at that. Cornering like a car, driving like a car, and we're getting away nicely.
28:42Massively impressed. I've only been in this vehicle for a few seconds.
28:47Keep up. Catch the tranny if you can.
28:49Yeah, it's all gone quiet, Bob. My middle name is Sterling.
28:56Absolutely well impressed with this.
29:00It just feels so tight. It feels like a new vehicle.
29:03Feels like a brand new vehicle.
29:07Spacious, fast, and a joy to drive.
29:10The transit van. It's impossible to imagine life in Britain without it.
29:14Uh-oh. I got so into the wonders of this machine, the Rosses have gone and nicked me. Sorry, Bob.
29:23In an age of many everything, this is modern mini transport.
29:29The 60s were fast becoming a golden era for invention.
29:33Even the craziest ideas were getting their 15 minutes of fame.
29:36And one great British inventor, who had been struggling for years to be taken seriously, finally had his day.
29:46Tins of coffee. Kitchen scales. A hairdryer.
29:52Not the ideal starting point for the invention of a revolutionary machine, you're probably thinking.
29:56But, if we put two ounces on the scales, and then blow hot air straight onto the scales,
30:05we'll see that it lifts the two ounces.
30:10Now, if we try this with four ounces on the scales,
30:16it struggles.
30:20So what you do is take a reasonably large tin, and place another tin inside it,
30:28and then blow hot air between the two tins,
30:32creating an annular jet that produces a much more powerful downward force.
30:39Here we go.
30:40There we have hoverage.
30:49We're lifting four ounces.
30:54And that's the basic principle of the hovercraft.
30:59Inventor Christopher Cockrell first carried out this experiment in his garden shed in 1953,
31:04and became convinced he could make boats that could fly.
31:09To get his idea to fly, Cockrell needed to convince the people with money
31:14that his quirky invention would work and be useful.
31:18This model, made out of canvas and wood, was the very first hovercraft prototype built by Cockrell in 1955.
31:28His flying boat had many admirers, but when trying to raise the finance,
31:32he hit an unexpected problem.
31:35The Admiralty said it was an aircraft and not a boat, so they weren't interested.
31:40The Air Ministry said it was a boat and not an aircraft, so they weren't interested.
31:45And the Army just weren't interested.
31:48But Cockrell was determined to see his idea come alive.
31:52He knew his craft had a totally unique selling point.
31:56If I try and push the hovercraft across the ground like that,
32:00it's actually quite difficult to do.
32:03If we produce our cushion of air between the hovercraft and the ground,
32:08it lifts the hovercraft, and then there's no friction between the craft and the ground,
32:15and it moves around really easily.
32:17Like so.
32:19No friction at all.
32:20And after six years, his belief in this frictionless craft paid off.
32:26Inspired by the fanciful flying saucer stories, the current crop of inventors is out to make rumor reality, it seems.
32:33As with Britain's new hovercraft.
32:34The National Research Development Council provided the cash, and in 1959, Cockrell's first hovercraft finally took to the water.
32:43The idea may seem outlandish now, but the inventor predicts someday,
32:47hovercraft the size of the Queen Mary will cross the Atlantic at 100 miles an hour.
32:51Now, I've been told that your average hovercraft exerts about as much pressure on the ground as a seagull standing on one leg.
33:01So, to prove the gentle touch of the mighty hovercraft, we're going to put it to the egg test.
33:07Let the experiment begin.
33:14And my hovercraft of choice for this demonstration?
33:17Nothing less than the 1969 two-man hoverhawk that Ranulph Fiennes took on his exploration of the White Nile.
33:27So, yes, we're in a bit of a period time machine here.
33:31It's very 60s, it's very Thunderbirds.
33:33It's very sort of Danger Man, sort of early James Bond and The Saint.
33:37All these things are conjured up by sitting in this extraordinary machine.
33:41It's powered by three motorcycle engines ostensibly.
33:45One for lift, and two for propulsion.
33:49I'm going to try and fly over 30 eggs.
33:52Wish me luck.
33:53Frankly, it's not the easiest thing to steer.
34:23Well, on the face of it, our hoverhawk friend here has failed the egg test.
34:33It has to be said.
34:34Ah, but look at this. Look at this. I would say that the skirt actually caused the damage to those eggs.
34:48And the actual downward, inward pressure created by the hovercraft has actually not damaged these eggs at all.
34:56And look, look at them. They're all intact. They're all intact. So, in fact, our experiment has been an absolute success.
35:04The ability to hover makes these machines fast, efficient and incredibly versatile.
35:11They're the perfect amphibian, flying over water, sandbanks, snow and ice.
35:17Hovercraft can access 75% of the world's coastline compared to only 5% for boats.
35:23Cockerell's invention was an instant hit with the press and the public.
35:32And in 1961, aircraft producers Saunders-Roe were commissioned to start building commercial hovercraft.
35:39This is number 25 of the first production hovercraft built for commercial use.
35:45The 1965 10-ton Saunders-Roe nautical, or SRN-6.
35:49It could carry 38 passengers cruising at 50 knots, 57 miles an hour.
35:58And, of course, you need some pretty beefy engine power to create the lift and propulsion for a 10-ton machine.
36:07Up here we have a single Rolls-Royce Gnome gas turbine aircraft engine.
36:11This one engine powers two propellers that drive the hovercraft forward and it also powers this huge fan that blows air underneath the hovercraft to lift it.
36:24So, this one should be a doddle to drive.
36:27Time for a lesson with pilot Tony Byrne.
36:29So, Tony, here you are, a proper hovercraft pilot.
36:35Let me know a few do's and don'ts then about driving one of these.
36:39You press the left-hand pedal forward and the craft will turn to the left, which is port.
36:44If you look, we've got the turbine...
36:46Then there's the engine revs, fuel distribution controls, propeller speed, rudder direction, skirt height, dumper valves.
36:52Hmm, doesn't sound like the easiest machine to master.
36:57Well, would you like to have a go?
36:59I would, actually, yes.
37:00Right. Let's get you in the seat.
37:02OK. Right.
37:04Feet in the rudder stewards, yeah?
37:05Yep.
37:09The larger the rubber skirt, the higher the hovercraft flies.
37:14On full power, the SRN6 lifts to over seven feet above the ground.
37:22OK, so we're up to about 13 and a half.
37:37Bring us slightly back.
37:44All the engine power is being directed to the fan, pushing 70,000 litres of air under the craft per second.
37:51And very quickly, we're up.
37:5619,000 RPM now.
37:58Over there.
38:00You feel it dancing?
38:01Yes. We're hovering now, aren't we?
38:03We're right up on hover, dancing on the air.
38:06The frictionless hovercraft turns incredibly easily.
38:10You can spin a 360-degree turn on the spot.
38:14Or head for the nearest fence.
38:16Which is looking more likely in my case.
38:18Feel it moving?
38:19Yeah.
38:20Yeah.
38:21No eggs broken.
38:22But I think I'll leave it to the expert now.
38:23Hmm.
38:25Hovercraft have been built in all shapes and sizes, from little one-person explorers to the biggest in the world, the SRN4, which used to carry up to 55 cars and 424 passengers.
38:31across the English Channel at up to 70 miles an hour in just 22 minutes.
38:32The great popularity of Cockerell's invention has been built in the world.
38:33The great popularity of Cockerell's invention has been built in all shapes and sizes.
38:34No eggs broken, but I think I'll leave it to the expert now.
38:35Hmm.
38:36Hmm.
38:42Hovercraft have been built in all shapes and sizes, from little one-person explorers to the biggest in the world, the SRN4, which used to carry up to 55 cars and 424 passengers across the English Channel at up to 70 miles an hour in just 22 minutes.
38:59The great popularity of Cockerell's invention has spread all over the world.
39:04A little bit of British genius that can still reach the places that other machines simply can't.
39:14But there's one machine that, above all others, I think encapsulates the inventiveness, revolutionary design and pure joy of British engineering in the 60s.
39:23It's been called the most beautiful car ever built.
39:28No, it's not a Ferrari or an Aston Martin or a Mercedes.
39:33It is, of course, the Jaguar E-Type.
39:38It has everything you could ever want in a car.
39:41Looks, comfort, handling and power.
39:43There's a raw power from the 3.8-litre Jaguar engine that gives magnificent acceleration and superb high-speed cruising.
39:54The secret to this car's success lies in her stunning good looks.
39:58The E-Type's curves are the perfect marriage of form and function.
40:03The design came from a heritage of spectacular racing cars.
40:08At a time when aerodynamics were starting to dominate racing.
40:12And Jaguar were regular winners with their extraordinary streamlined C and D-Types designed by Malcolm Sayre.
40:19Malcolm Sayre was an aeronautical engineer who brought the aerodynamic design and monocoque construction techniques from the aircraft industry to the world of racing cars.
40:31Then Jaguar set him his greatest challenge.
40:35To take his brilliant work with racing cars and incorporate it into a road-legal production sports car.
40:41In the 1960s, engineer Peter Wilson worked with Jaguar's Malcolm Sayre and observed how he created the extraordinary profile of the E-Type.
40:55Including a little-known aerodynamic technique that Sayre secretly used behind closed doors.
41:00He stuck a little piece of the wall, maybe about 2-3 inches long, a piece of sellotape across all facing the rearward direction.
41:11The whole car would be covered in them.
41:14He would observe the way in which the Wooltoft reacted.
41:18Here in my wind tunnel we can see exactly how it works.
41:21Turn on the fan and the strips of wool reveal exactly how the air is flowing over the surface.
41:28As you can see, my strips of wool are flowing nicely alongside the car.
41:34But the genius of the wool test experiment is that you can remove the car from the wind tunnel and put it on the test track.
41:42And that's exactly what Sayre did.
41:44From the chase car, Sayre took hundreds of photographs.
41:49Whether it was going down a straight, going into a corner, going through a chicane, into a headwind, even in the rain.
41:56Sayre analysed all his photos and applied some extremely complex aerodynamic mathematical formulae that totally baffled his colleagues.
42:05He had this calculator that he'd pull the handle on and it would whir away and some figures would come out.
42:12Probably only he could understand.
42:14His drawings, they were on a drawing sheet, but all they were were a mass of figures.
42:18It was totally unique in the industry at the time, his method.
42:22These figures were converted into the magical shape of the E-Type.
42:27And the head of Jaguar, William Lyons, proudly presented his designer's masterwork to the world's press at the 1961 Geneva Motor Show.
42:35The car rolls up. Here it is, gentlemen. So they're standing there, their jaws are on the ground.
42:42Then a typical Sir William fashion.
42:46Well, what about the cost?
42:50And, well, this is the price.
42:53£2,200, all taxes paid in UK for the fixed head car.
42:56It was an affordable supercar.
42:59Yeah, absolute perfection.
43:01Absolutely.
43:03With standard Jaguar components, including engine, gearbox and rear axle, and cleverly designed production techniques,
43:09the E-Type was produced for an unbelievably low price.
43:13And thanks to those magnificent aerodynamics and the great Jaguar engine,
43:18that price brought you getting on for 150 miles an hour of heaven on earth.
43:23But in a decade famous for amazing sports cars,
43:28how does the affordable E-Type compete with the best from around the world?
43:33Let's find out.
43:35Another car maker famous for giving bang for your buck was the American Corvette.
43:41And this 1963 Stingray is one of their most sought-after models.
43:45I'm looking at a Wurlitzer.
43:48It's a 50s spaceship.
43:49No, I'm in an American diner, surely.
43:54Everything about this car is big, brash, and loud.
43:59For Christ's sakes, it's American!
44:02$4,037 in the day for a 360-horsepower American muscle car that was great in a straight line.
44:14What about that great German icon, the Porsche 911?
44:17A hugely successful sports car with a 25-year production run in classic form.
44:22But almost twice the price of the E-Type and Stingray.
44:25This is a fuss-free machine that gets you from A to B damn fast.
44:30And that's it. It's clinical. It's functional.
44:40I suppose for the non-German, driving one of these is the nearest you get to actually feeling what it's like to be a German.
44:48Great handling and performance, but not exactly a stunner.
44:56For sexy good looks, Ferrari has got to be a contender.
45:00This is a 1960 250 GT, a class beauty outside and in.
45:04The interior of this car for me is just typical Italian.
45:09You know, from little things like the Art Deco rocker switch, the sculptured door handles.
45:17The attractively shaped mirror, the suede dashboard top that doesn't reflect on the windscreen on bright days.
45:24You look fantastic driving one of these, until you break down.
45:28She had a pretty shaky reliability record.
45:30And for the same price, you could buy three E-Types.
45:35Driving the E-Type, I feel that here we have a car that takes elements from all the other contenders.
45:44But the E-Type has something else. Something... something indefinable.
45:50And if, just if, I was judging a 1960s Miss World competition for beautiful sports cars...
45:57So, after much careful, indeed agonising consideration...
46:03Miss World sports car 1960s is... Miss...
46:09...United Kingdom.
46:16Never in doubt really.
46:17Looks, comfort, handling and power. It's got it all.
46:25Being a huge Jaguar fan, maybe I'm a little biased.
46:29But, I don't think the great Enzo Ferrari was.
46:33He called the E-Type the most beautiful car ever made.
46:35In 14 years, Jaguar built over 72,000 E-Types.
46:41A fantastic British export, seducing people across the world.
46:46For me, this car embodies the great British machines of the 60s.
46:50Style, beauty and ingenious engineering.
46:54And for the first time, you didn't have to be part of the rich elite to afford one.
46:58The 60s embraced radical new designs, for an era which changed the rules and set new standards.
47:09With machines that even now, 50 years on, still look totally revolutionary.
47:14Divine
47:23De-Long
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