P50 (United Kingdom, 1962)

The Peel P50 is a three-wheeled microcar produced from 1962 to 1965 by the Peel Engineering Company on the Isle of Man. The P50 is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the smallest road legal production car to ever be manufactured.

The microcar was fitted with a one-cylinder 49cc engine with a power output of 4hp and a maximum speed of 61 km/h. The straight engine was mated with a three-speed manual transmission with no reverse gear. Running in petrol, the microcar is claimed to have had a combined fuel consumption of 2.8l/100km.

Thanks to the participation in BBC’s Dragons Den, a TV show where entrepreneurs pitch for investment, Faizal Khan and Gary Hilman, the two owners of Peel Engineering will be making a re-launch of the iconic P50 and Trident models. James Caan, one of the entrepreneurs of the show accepted to invest £80,000 for a 30% stake of Peel Engineering.

According to The Sun the idea to bring back to life the iconic car of the 60’s came from Gary Hillman who saw one of the only 20 remaining Peel cars at auction. The idea is to recreate the three-wheeled mini-vehicle as a green car operated using battery power.

Besides making the re-launch of the P50 and the Trident electric editions, Khan and Hillman also intend to produce spin-off merchandise.

Over the last years marketing executive Faizal Khan and property magnate Gary Hillman have been building life-sized replicas of the P50 and managed to put to of them into Ripley's Believe Or Not museums in London and New York and 12 more are being built.

This car was part of the The Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum that included almost 200 cars. The collection grew for 15 years and was featured in its own museum in Madison, Georgia. The owner of the collection, Bruce Weiner, decided to sell it in auction in the beginning of 2013.