The Peel P50 is a quirky vehicle from the 1960s that appeared in an iconic episode of ‘Top Gear’ in 2007, and now a model is for sale at Fonsie Mealy’s upcoming Chatsworth Fine Art Sale
One of these – more accurately part of one of these – is coming up for auction at Fonsie Mealy’s Chatsworth Fine Art Sale, which takes place in Castlecomer on 3 and 4 December. It’s estimated to sell for between €8,000 to €10,000.
The Peel P50 in the current auction is believed to have an original 1962 body, sourced from the Peel Engineering Company in 2019, combined with a new chassis and electric drivetrain. In short, it’s been retrofitted into an EV. If the car was in its original condition, it might be worth between €80,000 and €100,000. In March 2016, a red P50 made in 1964 by Peel Engineering, went under the hammer at RM Sotheby’s in Florida, US. It sold for $176,000 (around €150,500).
The Peel P50 was a minimum viable car. It was designed by Cyril Cannell, founder of Peel Engineering, a Manx company that specialised in fibreglass boats.
As experts in moulding fibreglass, they decided to produce a very light, very compact car: 137cm long, 99cm wide and weighing 59kg. The original had a 49cc two-stroke Zweirad Union/DKW engine driving the rear wheel, via a three-speed manual gearbox. It had one door, one windscreen wiper, one headlight, and no reverse gear. Instead, there was a handle above the rear wheel, so the driver could get out and pull it around like a shopping trolley.
The interior of the Peel P50 at Fonsie Mealy Auctioneers
When the car was produced in the 1960s it was available in four colours: Dragon Red, Daytona White, Capri Blue, and Sunshine Yellow. It was advertised as being able to carry “one adult and a shopping bag” while being “almost cheaper than walking”. The fuel consumption was around 100mpg. A Peel P50 originally cost £199. At the time, a Ford Cortina would have set you back around £573.
A slightly larger and even more futuristic car, the Peel Trident, was also produced in the Isle of Man. Another three-wheeler, it accommodated two (smallish) people under a clear plastic dome. A snarky article in Time Magazine (2007) listed it as one of the Worst Cars of All Time, claiming that solar gain on the bubbletop would cook you alive. Collectors beg to differ.
The P50 is a road-legal vehicle, but you’d still be taking your life in your hands
A 1965 Trident fetched $121,000 (around €107,000) at RM Sotheby’s in 2017.
The P50 at Fonsie Mealy is road-registered in Europe and has recently been taxed and insured. “It zips around,” says George Fonsie Mealy. It comes from a private collection of mini-cars in Dublin. “The owner put the electric engine into it but he doesn’t see himself using the car.” The P50 is a road-legal vehicle, but you’d still be taking your life in your hands. It was the e-scooter of its day and not designed for Dublin traffic nor indeed for any modern road conditions.
This example is not the first P50 in Ireland. In 2011, BBC Northern Ireland documented a red P50 owned by the Monaghan family in Co Fermanagh. Purchased by Jim Monaghan in 1972, it was refurbished 30 years after his death by his brother Pat.
The rear of the Peel P50 for sale at Fonsie Mealy Auctioneers
In 2007, the Peel P50 featured on BBC 2 in Top Gear (Series 10, Episode 3). “I’ve seen the future and it comes from 1963,” Jeremy Clarkson proclaimed. The video shows him driving the car to work in London, commenting on the dubious safety of driving a vehicle where “your knees are the crumple zone”.
Although the car reputedly reaches a top speed of 61 km/h, he remarks that this would depend on the size of the driver and how much they had for breakfast. He then picks it up by the handle and drags it into the building, inserts it into a lift, and drives it around the corridors of the BBC.
There’s a hilarious shot of him trundling behind the news desk. He finds and attends his meeting, still sitting in the driver’s seat. True to form, Clarkson can’t resist obnoxious sexist comments, but the episode helped boost the P50’s status as a cult vehicle.
In 2010, Gary Hillman and Faizal Khan, co-owners of Peel, applied to Dragons’ Den for £80,000 to put modernised version of the tiny cars into production. These are built in the UK and are built to resemble the originals as closely as possible. There are many modern variants with prices from €17,966 for a P50 and €21,424 for a Trident.
See fonsiemealy.ie and p50cars.com.