TRANSPORT
MICRO MACHINES
How the world’s smallest cars, trains, tanks and planes make a big impression
WORDSMIKE JENNINGS
The P50 is a collector’s item today – in
2016, one sold for $176,000 at auction
In 1963, the Peel P50 was driven around the top of Blackpool Tower as a publicity stunt
MICRO CAR MARVEL
Peel’s P50 was originally manufactured between 1962 and 1965 on the Isle of Man. It was described as a city car for ‘one adult and one shopping bag’, and it continued that theme by only including one door, wiper and headlight. The original’s 4.2 brake horsepower engine hit a tiny top speed of 37 miles per hour, had three six-inch wheels and no reverse gear. Want to turn around? Use the handle on the back instead. At 99 centimetres wide and 59 kilograms on the scales, it was about as wide as a doorway and the same weight as a large dog.