The 1950s brought us the start of the Vietnam War, the Suez Crisis, Elvis Presley, Jacques Anquetil, the first credit card and… the Duoped.

Invariably an invention comes about to make an existing task easier. While Formula One and the Tour de France may catch our imagination, the car and bicycle help us get from A to B just that little bit quicker. If it’s fun at the same time, so be it.

But this quirky number is, well, just pointless… difficult to master, impossible to turn and, crucially, just slow. It doesn’t look a great deal of fun either. 

The Internet is a wealth of information but the Duoped seems consigned to a historical black hole other than this bizarre promotional film.

I just can’t see why it didn’t catch on? Maybe we can get one into the office for the RCUK team to test…