Tag Archives: microcar

The Smallest Car in the World

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The British motor industry was weird. At one end of it in the 1960s was the fastest car in the world (the Jaguar E-Type), whilst at the other was the smallest. Because, um… honestly we have no idea why Peel decided to make the smallest production car in the world, but make it they did for a few years in the mid-’60s.

Powered by a 50cc scooter engine the P50 could fit only one moderately-sized human, but – as proven in an iconic episode of Top Gear – it could also fit in a lift with a newsreader. Because, um… we have no idea.

This ingenious brick-built example of the world’s smallest car comes from Michael Jasper of Flickr, who has managed to construct it in mini-figure scale. We’re not sure one will fit in it mind…

There’s more (although not a lot more) to see at Michael’s photostream, and you can head to Britain in the mid-’60s for some very small motoring indeed via the link above.

Noisy Cricket

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Cricket. A gentlemanly game, played largely by standing around a village green for five days, after which sometimes it’s a draw. Still, it unites everyone in hatred of the Australians and it’s infinitely better than baseball.

Anyway, here’s a ‘gasser’ hot rod named after the pointless British game. Or a grasshopper. We’re not sure. Whichever it is, the ‘Noisy Cricket’ is an absurd concoction of Vespa 400 microcar and side-piped V8, created by the unhinged mind of Tim Inman, and it definitely wouldn’t take five days to finish anything.

The spindly suspension, front-mounted gas tank, and parachute pack out back are gasser drag strip deriguour, and you can step up to the crease at Tim’s photostream via the link above.

Man-ic Monday

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From the world’s biggest land vehicle to one of the littlest, and the official World Record holder for the smallest road-legal production car ever made.

The Peel P50 was built for just a few years in the early 1960s, capitalising on the demand for small cheap cars that could be driven on a motorcycle license. A few companies made a great success from this need, albeit not for ever, Peel… didn’t.

Ingenious though the P50 was, a car with 28mph top speed designed for city use, but coming from the Isle of Man (a small mostly rural island off the coast of England with no cities) had (very) limited appeal, and just fifty units were produced.

Around half survive today, and they’re worth a ridiculous amount of money, with one recently fetching $176,000 at auction.

Cue John Carpenter of Eurobricks, who has built one that’s far more attainable, and it’s not even that much smaller than the real thing!

There’s working steering, suspension front and rear, an authentic single-cylinder engine driven by the rear wheel, an opening and locking door, and even a working handbrake.

There’s lots more to see of John’s Peel P50 at the Eurobricks forum, including build details and a video of the working functions in action. Head to the Isle of Man c1964 via the link above! (Just be prepared for the villagers to point and laugh.)

Tiny Dancer

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Lego Peel P50 RCThis is the Peel P50, built on the Isle of Man between 1962 and ’65, and pretty much an unknown ’60s oddity until Top Gear decided to feature the car in 2007 (although this TLCB writer was sad enough to know about it).

Said film instantly turned the P50 into one of the most famous vehicles on the planet, and values have since skyrocketed – if you have one of the 47 P50s made squirrelled away somewhere then send Jeremy Clarkson a Thank You card!

This dinky Lego recreation of the world’s smallest production car is the work of previous bloggee vmln8r, and it’s a miracle of packaging. Concealed (mostly) inside are a drive motor, steering motor, battery box and infrared receiver, giving vmln8r’s P50 full remote control drive and – being so small – grin-inducing manoeuvrability.

It’s so small in fact, that when the Elf responsible for discovering this model ploughed it into a group of its unsuspecting colleagues in the office today they all just got up and ran after it, rather than having to be scraped up by TLCB Team and taken to the ‘Elf Hospital’, aka the toilet flush.*

There’s lots more of vmln8r’s Peel P50 to see at his Flickr photostream or via the Eurobricks forum, where there’s also a video available of the model in action. But that’s not the only Peel P50 video you want to see…

Lego Peel P50 Remote Control

*Not really. We wouldn’t do that. Unless things were really bad.