The world’s smallest car, a Peel P50, sold for $235,000 ($176,000 U.S.) at a Florida auction over the weekend.
When the rare 1964 microcar went under the hammer at RM Sotheby’s Amelia Island auction, the auction house expected it to fetch upwards of $100,000 U.S. but it ended up selling for more than a 1965 Jaguar E-Type.
Only 47 original P50s were made by the Peel Engineering Company on the Isle of Man and only 26 are known to exist today. The P50 was originally created as a “project to evaluate the minimum possible dimensions needed for a functional car,” reads the RM Sotheby’s website. A concept was displayed at a motorcycle show in 1962. It received so much publicity that Peel built an actual car.
At 137 cm long, 104 cm wide and 120 cm tall it is less than a third the length of a Volkswagen Golf or about the size of a small refrigerator. It has held the Guinness Book of World Records’ title as the world’s smallest production car for more than 50 years.
When it was built, Cyril Cannell, owner of the Peel Engineering Company, wanted to make an ultra compact car perfect for one person to commute to work with a briefcase. Because of its simplicity, it has been described as “almost cheaper than walking.”
However, not much faster than walking. The 4.5-horsepower engine produces a top speed of 61 km/h. It only takes 2.3 litres of gas to go 100 kilometres, making it extremely fuel efficient.
The P50 comes with one headlight, three forward gears and three small wheels but without a speedometer, turn indicators and a reverse gear. The driver must use hand signals to indicate a turn and to compensate for no reverse gear, the driver must pick the car up with a handle mounted at the rear to turn the car around.
Prices for new ones start around $25,000.
Listen to a Peel owner talk about his car and why he loves it:
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