This Week’s Classic Car History Highlight - The Peel 50

We had never heard of the Peel 50 before Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson did a piece about this car on a recent episode. Evidently the P50 is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the smallest road legal car ever produced. Its overall dimensions are 4’4” long, 3’3” wide and 3’10” high.

The P50 was designed and built by Cyril Cannell and Henry Kissack on a small Island in the Irish Sea, the Isle of Man. The men debuted their little car at the 1962 Earls Court Motorcycle show in London. Technically it’s classed as a motorcycle because it has three wheels, an engine under 1000 cc and weighs less than 900 pounds.

The P50 had a three speed forward gearbox and was powered by a Zweiral Union single cylinder 49 cc engine (about the size of a moped) that could reach the maximum speed of 40 MPH, and was capable of 100 MPG. To reverse, you would have to get out and turn the car yourself. The P50 came equipped with a chrome handle on the rear to make this maneuvering easlier.

There were only one hundred P50s produced - mostly by hand – and shipped to all parts of the world, including America. It was reported that on its American test run, the Bureau of Transportation Inspector rolled the car down an embankment, but as he escaped without a scratch, he passed the car as suitable for use immediately.

You’ll see in this video of the Top Gear episode featuring the Peel 50, just how effective the car must have been in its time because it fits in beautifully with the type of car we need today.

Photo © BBC