The Peel P50 microcar is “narrower than a phone box and shorter than a Vespa,” and it can be yours from a starting price of £9,295 (R191,300) if you want to build it yourself, or from £12,795 (R263,400) if you want someone else to do the hard work for you.
Offered as both a factory-built or self-build kit car, the P50 Mk1 is available from UK-based P50cars.com and it will be shipped to any enthusiast who wants one.
The company spent a decade developing the homage car to be as faithful to the original as possible, blending vintage style with modern reliability while also reproducing by hand hundreds of the components used in the first P50.
A total of seven variations can be had of the small three-wheeler comprising hard-top and cabriolet body shapes, with both petrol and electric engines on the options list.
Additionally, the colour palette includes 11 hues along with two-tone paints, and the interior trim comes in one of seven colours – black, blue, green, grey, red, tan, or white.
The homage copies the exact dimensions of the 1960’s P50, too, coming in at 1,370mm long, 1,040mm wide, and 1,200mm tall – 1,181mm for the convertible – with a fibreglass shell supplying a light kerb weight of 105kg.
As far as power supply goes, the P50 is available with a 49cc two-stroke petrol unit, just like the original from 60 years ago, generating 3.1kW and 5Nm which is good for a top speed of 59km/h at an average fuel usage of 2.8l/100km.
For customers that would prefer a more modern microcar, it’s also available with 48v and 72v electric engines.
The smaller of the two supplies 2kW and 68Nm with a top speed of 50km/h and maximum range of 400km on the books, whereas the larger one does 5.76kW and 77Nm for a top speed of 80km/h while offering an identical driving range.
A short history of the Peel P50
The P50 first saw the light of day in 1962, being produced Peel Engineering Company in the Isle of Man.
It was marketed as a city car capable of fitting one adult and a shopping bag, with one door, one headlight, and one windscreen wiper being among its most notable features.
No one knows exactly home many P50s were ever sold, but estimates are that fewer than 50 customers saw its potential and purchased one at the low price of £299 at the time. Today, the few remaining models have garnered a cult status among collectors and on the rare occasion that one does pop up at auction, it easily fetches well over £100,000 (R2,000,000).
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