Peel P50 Microcar - Can we learn any lessons today about the future development of the microcar industry? For example, from the 1960’s perhaps? 1963 to be precise when the Peel P50 microcar first came into production.

You might be mistaken thinking that the world’s smallest cars are models such as the BMW Isetta (Bubble Car) or the Fiat 500 but hands down the Peel P50 microcar makes even these models appear almost gigantic.

With a drive towards increased fuel effiency whilst emitting a low carbon footprint, it’s interesting to see that the microcar has in actual fact been around for so many years.

The Peel P50 microcar was first produced in 1963 and was in fact (and still is) perfectly road legal. That is, as long as it meets all UK rules and regulations, road tax etc, it can legally still be driven in the UK. This Peel P50 even makes the Smartcar look positively enormous, more akin in fact to a ‘Noddymobile’. In fact as the below video demonstrates, when Jeremy Clarkson of the BBC Top Gear program drove the Peel P50 microcar around London, he was able to drive this tiny microcar not only on the streets of this very busy suburban capital city, but in actual fact was able to drive the P50 Microcar right up to his office desk. (It’s a pretty hilarious and eye opening video clip)

The Peel P50 Microcar was first manufactured in 1962 and again in 1965 by the Manx Peel Engineering Company, it is in the Guinness Book of Records for the world’s smallest production car ever. The Manx Peel Engineering Company came from the Isle of Man, UK. Another model of their’s was the Peel Trident microcar, a similar and very tiny microcar. (More on this model in the following blog post)

Total chassis length of the Peel P50 microcar is just 53 inches long, or 4.5′ and just 39 inches wide. It was certainly not built for two people, unless of course they were both midgets!

The Peel P50 microcar was designed as a city car, capable of conveying one adult and a shopping bag. There was just one door on the Peel P50 which opened on the left hand side. On board equipment included a single windscreen wiper and a headlight. As regards colour choices, it was available in Daytona white, dragon red and dark blue.

A top speed of 38mph was achievable in the Peel P50 microcar which is fairly respectable even today. At it’s release to the British public, it was on sale at £199 ($284 at today’s rate).

Astonishingly enough, the Peel P50 microcar was capable of returning a very healthy 100mpg (UK) or 83 mpg (US), although the exhaust tranmissions did leave something to be desired by today’s standards of course, in car design and manufacture. Remember that this road legal microcar is 46 years old!

Here you can view on video for yourself the Peel P50 Microcar, driven by the 6′5″ tall Jeremy Clarkson who actually said it was one of the best cars ever, if only it had a reverse gear lol.

Enjoy the video!

If you have any comments or views on the Peel P50 Microcar, memories of seeing it on British roads or elsewhere in other countries, or if indeed you have ever been the owner of a Peel P50, or bought one when new, or driven this P50 microcar, I would love to read your comments below and do by all means include a link to your own web or blog site if the content is relevant to this subject.

I would love to read your thoughts about this.

Many thanks for reading!