The Peel P50 Has At Last Proven That Small Is Beautiful

If you are looking for a cool car, which relieves you of the headache caused by the menace of the lack of parking space, then the solution comes in the form of Peel P50.

Peel P50

It was somewhere between 1962 and 1965, the Peel Engineering Company brought out the Peel P50, a three-wheeled micro car. The P50 inventor Cyril Cannell regards it as one of his favorite creations. These cars are 54 inches long and 41 inches wide and can easily fit one person in – with a shopping bag! They have just one door for you and do not come with reverse gears, automatic transmission, and blinkers. However, the P50 has a very impressive 83 MPG fuel efficiency. These cars, when released in the 1960s, took the world by storm and found mention in Ripley’s Believe it or Not.

Around 70 P50s were produced between the years 1962 to 1965; out of which only two dozen or so are still found in the world today. One of these was famously bought by the Peel’s Manx Transport Heritage Museum in 2005, in a public auction.

The creator Cyril Cannell was born in Essex, England and joined the RAF in 1939 when he was just 18 years old. He worked on the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, which assembled Hurricanes. It was here that he started his keen interest on technologically innovative machines. He later on moved to the Isle of Man, where he started the Peel Engineering Company, in the early 1950s.

The company began producing motorcycle fairings and fiberglass boats, including many awesome bikes that competed in the TT Races. Cannel then started experimenting with various vehicle designs, which led him to develop a prototype microcar. He named the Peel Manxcar. Although this car never entered production, it was the direct inspiration for his very innovative Peel P50 that is worth mentioning; this car that was initially sold for 199 Pounds is worth 50,000 Ponds today.

The Peel P50 came in standard colors of Dragon Red, Daytona White, and Dark Blue. It weighs just 59 kgs, the P50 held the unique record of being the smallest car ever. It uses a 49 cc DKW engine, and the top speed was around 38 mph. The Peel P50 has full legal sanction and came under the ‘three-wheeler’ category. Though it looks a bit of funny kind, the technologies and the innovative design of the car are worth applauding.

All you car lovers, check out 21 Awesome Smart Car, World’s Tiniest ‘Postman Pat’ Car, and World’s First Invisible Skoda Car.

Via: Geeksaresexy