A big price for a very small car

Cars are getting bigger and heavier, but for collectors, small can still be beautiful. Take the Peel P50: at 1.3 metres long, one metre wide and 1.3 metres tall, it is the smallest production car ever made. Peel Engineering built 46 of them on the Isle of Man between 1962 and 1965, with 26 thought to remain in existence today. One early example went up for auction last month with online auctioneers Car and Classic. The car is possibly a preproduction model that may be the first P50 made, and is thought to be the same one used in a promotional stunt in May 1963, when it was hoisted up Blackpool Tower and driven around the observation gallery.

The red fibreglass threewheeler was launched at the 1962 Earls Court Motorcycle Show, in London, because its 49cc DKW single-cylinder engine technically drops the car into the motorcycle category. It was designed as a city run-around, propelling the driver and one bag of shopping to a heady top speed of 38mph. The P50 has just three forward gears. If you want to reverse, you have to get out and pick up its 59kg by the handle on the back. There is a lever on one side of the black vinyl seat to start the engine, and a handbrake on the other side. Add the steering wheel and pedals, plus a red carpet in the footwell for a touch of comfort, and that’s it – the P50 was never fitted with any instruments or dials.

Driving a P50 on the road is “somewhat of an experience… but a totally enjoyable one… [turning] heads wherever it goes”, says the listing. It is “capable” of doing 100 miles to the gallon, if “maxing out” at its full 38mph. This one sold for £111,000 after 99 bids – a “big price for a small car,” but not a record, says This is Money. Another P50 sold for $176,000 (then £122,000) in Florida in 2016.