High price to pay for a small Peel

Someone has just forked out $85,000 for the smallest car in the world. It's the car Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson famously drove thr...

Someone has just forked out $85,000 for the smallest car in the world.

It's the car Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson famously drove through the offices of the BBC in London.

We're taking about the tiny 1964 Peel 50.

It was discovered in a Queensland garage after more than 50 years and is believed to be the only factory-built example in Australia.

The Peel P50 holds the Guinness World Record for smallest production car, measuring 137cm long and weighing 59kg.

Only 49 Peel P50s were ever produced, with just 27 believed to still exist.

The car was found alongside a 1962 Messerschmitt KR200, with both vehicles attracting international collector interest.

Lot 3, the 1964 Peel P50, sold at Donington Auctions’ Collector & Competition Car Auction for an eye-watering $85,000, following a frenzy of bids from Australia and overseas before being secured by a local collector.

Manufactured between 1962 and 1965 by the Peel Engineering Company on the Isle of Man, the P50 is one of the most distinctive and collectible microcars in the world.

It had 49.2cc DKW single-cylinder engine, which gave it a top speed of approximately 61km/h and was equipped with a three-speed manual transmission

The car had no reverse gear, but a handle at the rear allows the very lightweight car to be maneuvered physically when required.

Fuel consumption was a claimed 2.8L/100km.

Designed as a city car, it was advertised in the 1960s as capable of seating "one adult and a shopping bag."

The vehicle's only door was on its left side and equipment included a single windscreen wiper and one headlight.

Standard colours were Daytona White, Dragon Red, and Dark Blue.

You'd think it would have been offered in Orange?

The 1963 model retailed for £199 when new (about £4433 in 2021).

Of note a Peel 50 sold for a record USD $176,000 at a Sotheby's auction in March, 2016.

However, $85,000 is an Australian auction record for the car.

In 2010, Peel Engineering started making replicas of the car to order at its premises in Sutton-in-Ashfield, England.

See Bill Buys' story about the Peel from August last year.

The 1964 Peel P50

Emma Peel

 

Peel (left) with 1962 Messerschmitt KR200

 

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