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Perpetual Motion

Season 2 1994

  • 1994-10-20T23:00:00Z on BBC Two
  • 30m
  • 3h (6 episodes)
  • United Kingdom
  • English
  • Documentary
A series about vehicles which defied extinction, and the people who designed them, bought them, and love them today.

6 episodes

Season Premiere

1994-10-20T23:00:00Z

2x01 The Ford Transit

Season Premiere

2x01 The Ford Transit

  • 1994-10-20T23:00:00Z30m

The Transit transformed the image of the van when it hit the road in October 1965. Driven by everyone from pop stars and the police to bank robbers and shop keepers, the new streamlined vehicle attracted a wide and devoted following.

1994-10-28T00:00:00Z

2x02 The Airstream Caravan

2x02 The Airstream Caravan

  • 1994-10-28T00:00:00Z30m

Known as the "Silver Bullet" and made entirely of aluminium, the Airstream Caravan is still in production after 60 years.

1994-11-04T00:00:00Z

2x03 Concorde

2x03 Concorde

  • 1994-11-04T00:00:00Z30m

The iconic plane's roots go back to the 1940s when the idea of supersonic travel was every aerodynamicist's dream. Now the craft faces an uncertain future as it heads into the next century. Stewardesses, pilots and passengers look back over Concorde's chequered history.

1994-11-11T00:00:00Z

2x04 The Milk Float

2x04 The Milk Float

  • 1994-11-11T00:00:00Z30m

The electric milk float is one of the most familiar vehicles on the road, but it has become the victim of its own success. Built like a tank to carry heavy batteries they simply don't wear out, new ones are rarely built and only one original manufacturer survives.

2x05 The Ferguson TE 20 Tractor

  • 1994-11-18T00:00:00Z30m

Named after its inventor, Harry Ferguson, this machine revolutionised farming after the Second World War. Nearly 40 years after production ceased, farmers and others explain why the tractor is still being used today.

1994-11-25T00:00:00Z

2x06 The DC-3 Dakota

2x06 The DC-3 Dakota

  • 1994-11-25T00:00:00Z30m

From its origins in passenger travel in the 1930s, through war and a return to civilian use, the Dakota has flown more miles and carried more passengers and cargo than any other aeroplane in the world.

The reassuring drone of its two Pratt and Whitney engines has offered comfort to millions of passengers on the Douglas DC3 - "the most glamorous, successful and popular plane in airline history."

The aircraft was developed in 1935 and more than 10,000 were built for wartime service alone. Nearly 60 years on, there are still 1,500 of these workhorses operating around the globe. "Like the Concorde," says one flyer, "the DC3 was 20 years ahead of its time."

Freddie Laker started his airline business operating a DC3 on flights from Blackpool to the Isle of Man, and his aircraft company based at Southend built a plane, the Accountant, as a DC3 replacement. It flopped. That doesn't surprise the airlines of Colombia in South America, where one pilot says simply: "The only replacement is another DC3."

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