The Peel P50 is a three-wheeled microcar originally made from 1962 to 1965 by the Peel Engineering Company on the Isle of Man. It was listed in the 2010 Guinness World Records as the smallest production car ever made. It had no reverse gear, but a handle at the rear allows the very lightweight car to be manoeuvred physically when required. Designed as a city car, it was advertised in the 1960s as capable of seating "one adult and a shopping bag". The vehicle's only door was on its left side and equipment included a single windscreen wiper and one headlight. Standard colours were Daytona White, Dragon Red, and Dark Blue. The 1963 model retailed for £199 when new. The company produced 50 P50s and only 27 are known to still exist, one of which was sold for a record US$176,000 at a Sotheby's auction in March 2016. In 2010 Peel Engineering Ltd. in England started remaking the P50 and Trident models from its premises in Sutton-in-Ashfield, England. Externally this car is very similar to the original, bearing the same dimensions and curb weight as the original, but with mechanical differences in the suspension, steering, and drive-train, as well as a fully functioning reverse gear, ensuring they are road legal on today's roads. Petrol models with a 49 cc, four-stroke engine are being produced, as well as electric models with an electric moped motor and gelled-electrolyte batteries. The top speed of both cars is about.
Statistics
At long and wide and with an unladen weight of, the P50 holds the record as the smallest car ever to go into production. The Peel P50's diminutive size and width means that it can quite easily fit through doorways and enter buildings, as demonstrated by Jeremy Clarkson during a sequence on a 2008 episode of Top Gear, where a blue P50 was driven through the BBC's Television Centre.
1962–1966
The P50 used a DKW engine, which gave it a top speed of approximately, and was equipped with a three-speed manual transmission that had no reverse gear. Consequently, turning in a confined area could be achieved only by pushing, or lifting the car using the handle on the rear and physically pulling it round. The makers and users claim fuel consumption of. In 1963, as a publicity stunt, a Peel P50 was taken to the top of Blackpool Tower in the lift and driven around the observation balcony. At least one prototype, the Peel P55 Saloon Scooter, has also survived. Unlike the production Peel P50, this prototype used the less stable layout of a single wheel at the front and two at the back. Approximately 47 Peel P50s were sold at £199 each. On 15 February 2013 at the Bruce Weiner RM Auction a genuine 1964 Peel P50 achieved in excess of .
2011 to present
In 2011 businessmen, Gary Hillman and Faizal Khan, went to the Dragons' Den asking for £80,000. They got the investment and started a new company to put their revised models into production. Three replica models were available initially: Gas, Eco and Fun. The line was later reduced to two: the Petrol and Electric models. These are hand-built to order in Sutton-in-Ashfield by Micro Car Specialists for the domestic and export markets. In 2018 it was reported that Peel Engineering sells around fifteen P50s annually, plus ten or so continuations of its bigger sister, the two-seat bubblecar Peel Trident. The conventional piston engined P50 is more requested in the UK, priced at £14,879 – whereas greater demand for the Peel comes from the US, where the electric model helps owners to comply with emissions regulations.
Legal status
The Peel P50 was and is still road-legal in the UK and, being in the "three-wheeler" category and less than, it is now also street-legal in the US. Cars were exported to other countries, sometimes being classified as a moped. Equally, in the Netherlands, the Peel is not a car — the vehicle's 50cc engine and its 45 km/h top speed place it in the EU's quadricycle legal bracket.
