Calling Car Manufacturers: Give Us A Peel Trident P50 Inspired Car
I don’t care if it was named as one of the worst cars of all times. I may even admit that I have a gullible brain, so easily shaped by marketing ploys and brilliantly crafted propaganda. Still, after seeing the Top Gear review of the 1964 Peel Trident P50, I can’t help but say that I want one like it today. Watching the video review by Jeremy Clarkson just made me smile like a little boy, like when he gets a brand new toy. I can imagine how useful a car like this can be in my everyday life. Imagine packing this little toy with the latest of today’s technology and one will get a really cool automotive.
The Peel Trident P50 remains as the world’s smallest production car, built by the Peel Engineering Company on the Isle of Man. First retailing for about 150 GBP, the car measures only 4 feet 5 inches long, 3 feet 3 inches wide and 3 feet 5 inches high. Weighing at about, 131 lbs plus the weight of the passenger, the car can go at speeds of close to 40 mph. It can only carry one passenger, lacks the devices we usually find in today’s cars like a speedometer and has no reverse gear.
Because of its size, one can actually bring the car anywhere by pulling it from behind via the attached handle. Coming in White, Blue and Red, the Peel P50 is powered by a small single cylinder 49cc 2 stroke Zweirad Union DKW Moped engine that can give a maximum power output of 4.2bhp @ 6,600rpm. Amazingly this small car can make 100 miles per gallon of gasoline.
I personally feel that with today’s technology, much of the drawbacks to owning a Peel Trident can be solved. With the advanced auto parts and vehicle devices we now have, it is not a farfetched idea to have a car at about the same size as this. Imagine one complete with today’s telematics, advanced engine systems, reinforced bodies, and earth friendly features. Surely, this is something that will make the makers of the Mini have a run for their money.
So, for all the top manufacturers out there, I call for you to look at the Peel P50 and see the future from this relic of the past.
