Can you really drive while facing backwards?

Thanks so much to all the team from Sparkmate. This was a much bigger project than they initially thought, so I'm really grateful that they put it all together!

I wonder if the disorienting effect would be smaller if you were completely enclosed like the show's vehicle.

"You'll be facing backwards because it's safer during the crashes" "How often will there be crashes?" "Very often, it's tricky to drive backwards"

Fun fact, this is part of the reason why instrument flight (flying through clouds, etc., where you have no visual reference) requires a separate rating. The feeling of what's going on outside you can very easily throw off what you think is happening and lead you to put in very wrong inputs, which in a plane, can be a fatal mistake. Instrument rated pilots need to learn how to ignore those extra inputs your body is used to seeing and fly solely by instrument. The University of Illinois did a study testing flight into clouds with otherwise-qualified but not instrument rated pilots and asked them to do a 180 degree turn after entering the cloud (to get back out). On average, they lost control in 178 seconds.

“We started to write explanations in the scripts, but then of course, I realised that not everybody would see that episode. If we put it in, say five times, it would become boring, and if we only put it in once, a lot of people wouldn’t know, and it was something I totally regretted doing.” - Gerry Anderson on the SPV’s rear-facing seat.

It's just like playing a racing game except you can crash and burn at any moment

We are absolutely thrilled to have made this crazy buggy with you mate! Let's do it again! What should we build next? 🚀

I LOVE the cameraman on a skateboard that's amazing.

The fact that Tom used a transition like the ones in the show at 9:12 was such a great detail.

Tom veering off the road and managing to pass between two metal posts is amazing. Also shoutout to the cameraman skateboarding alongside

I love the fact that they made up a "fun" reason for using a controller instead of a steering wheel, when they probably just didn't have the space to put it in safely

For an extremely lo-fi version of this sort of effect, try walking whilst holding a full length mirror in front of you at arm's length. It's my favourite bit of moving house.

This whole video was JUST an excuse to use that transition.

Might have been easier if you were in a visually sealed container -- the clues from your peripheral vision wouldn't have contradicted with what you saw on the screen. I love how you always come up with great ideas for videos! Another winner!

Absolutely loved how they're talking about driving it and top speeds with a guy on crutches next to Tom. Inspiring

Huge props to Sparkmate. They seriously engineered the heck out of that thing, and they seem so passionate about it!

The human brain is quite adaptable, so with enough training someone could probably be really effective driving like this, and do whatever crazy maneuvers the action scenes require. The hard part might be their commute home from work in their ordinary forward driving car.

I think part of the problem is that it was quite open, so you're more aware of the real world going the wrong way. If it was like an SPV you would have been more enclosed and your brain would be less distracted.

In the , uh, "source material", they are completely enclosed with the only visual signals being from the monitor. Do you think that would have improved your skill or the time to learn? Also, did you have to re-adjust getting back into the car later??

I think this is the only Tom Scott video where I've actually been worried for him. Even the tightroping, cave climbing, and other adventures didn't scare me as much as this one did!