A rally to celebrate the world’s smallest production car is underway on the Isle of Man.
The Manx Transport Heritage Museum has arranged for a display of rare P50s, along with Trident and Viking vehicles, which will be showcased around the island until Sunday.
Today, the cars were in Jurby, visiting the Isle of Man Motor Museum and the Isle of Man Prison.
Tomorrow (Saturday) will see the rally make its way to the capital, stopping off at the TT Grandstand Pit Lane and the Sefton Hotel on Douglas Promenade.
It will then return ‘home’ on Sunday, with a series of events intertwined with the Peel Carnival held on the promenade.
There will also be a special inclusion, one of the Peel Engineering Company cars that has gained a lot of traction online lately.
It’s a car belonging to the former world’s strongest man Eddie Hall, and is painted in red, white and blue.
Peel Engineering Company was based in Mill Road, Peel – alongside the upper harbour. It primarily made fibreglass boats through its subsidiary company West Marine Ltd and fairings for motorcycles (including race machines - known as the ‘Mountain Mile’).
The company built an experimental hovercraft design in 1961, powered by a 500cc Triumph bike engine, and then developed the Peel Manxcar concept vehicle – the Peel P-1000 four-wheeler – and the Peel P50 and Peel Trident three-wheeled microcars, in addition to the Peel Viking Sport and prototype GRP Minis for BMC.
At the peak of production Peel Engineering employed 40 people, and the P50 was available to buy in Daytona White, Dragon Red, Capri Blue and Sunshine Yellow.
Designed and constructed by Cyril Cannell and Henry Kissack, the Peel P50 features three wheels, a single headlight, three gears, and lacks a reverse gear, originally retailing for £199.
The microcar was recognised by the 2010 Guinness World Records as the smallest production car ever made, equipped with a 49cc engine that achieves a top speed of 38 mph (61 km/h).