(gasping)
- [Man] Oh my God.
- Yeah, that happened.
I flipped my first car.
And everything after this was written
before I did that.
This is the smallest and probably
most terrifying car in the world.
Not only that, it's one of the most
expensive cars in the world per pound.
So why does it exist?
What is it for?
All of those questions and more
will be answered shortly.
So, grab that glasses thing that jewelers use
to see tiny things, 'cause it's time
to go single front headlight to single rear tire,
bumper to bumper on apparently a very flippable car,
I'm a little shook. (laughs)
It might be a weird energy on this one.
On the Peel P50.
(rock music)
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(upbeat electronic music)
- We've had a ton of unique cars on this show.
Cars that I would love to own and drive.
Cars that I fit in, cars that I don't flip.
But this is the smallest
and most flippable one we've ever had.
This P50 is, in fact, the smallest
production car in the world.
How do I know that?
Because the freaking Guinness Book of World Records says so.
(upbeat electronic music)
- It's only 54 inches long.
To put that into perspective,
the two door Mini Cooper,
one of the smallest cars you can buy in the U.S.,
is 151 inches long.
That's almost three times this car's length.
And what is truly cuckoo bananas
about the P50 is it's street legal in the U.S.
Would I wanna drive it on the streets?
No.
Betwixt all those huge trucks and SUVs, no!
So, you're probably sitting on the toilet,
like most of you guys who watch our videos
are doing, and wondering:
Who made this car?
Why did they make it?
And how the (beep) did this come to be?
Max can you just role the footage
of this car trying to kill me again?
(train horn)
(crashing sound) (gasping)
- [Man] Oh my god.
- The year was 1960.
A bloke named Cyril Cannell had an idea.
Cyril lived in a small town called Peel
on an island sandwiched between England
and Ireland, the island of Man.
AKA the Isle of Man.
Maybe you've heard of this island.
It's famous for it's three-legged flag,
being the birth place of the Bee Gees,
and for hosting one of the most notoriously
terrifying motorcycle races of all time.
(engine roaring)
- [Man] Mother! - [Woman] Oh my gosh!
- Now, the Isle of Man TT
or Tourist Trophy has been going on since 1907.
Racers navigate 30 miles of treacherous roads
at speeds of up to 130 miles an hour.
There have been over 250 deaths
since the TT started on the Isle of Man.
In 1970 alone, a record six racers lost their lives.
You have to be seriously twisted
to race in that motorcycle race.
- [Announcer] And, oh my!
Whoa! - [Man] Whoa!
- The roads on the Isle of Man
are narrow and curvy, less than ideal
for anything wider than a bicycle.
It was for this reason that Cyril Cannell
wanted to design a microcar
that would make sense for commuting
on these windy island roads.
He worked at Peel Engineering.
A small company that made fiberglass boat hulls
and motorcycle bodies.
So, it made sense
to make the body of the car out of fiberglass, as well.
With the help of a co-worker,
Cyril began designing his dream island car.
(upbeat tech music)
The whole thing weighs only 230 pounds.
Here is a list of dogs that weigh more
than this deathtrap of a car.
(dog barking)
Newfoundland, St. Bernard,
English Mastiff, Neapolitan Mastiff,
Clifford.
(upbeat music)
The front is bare bones.
There's tiny bumpers that, honestly,
wouldn't protect you from anything.
Also, this tiny windscreen has one tiny wiper on it
for optimum cuteness.
Right under the tiny headlight
is the tiny gas cap, where you put a teacup worth
of gas in, which brings me to my next point.
This base level P50 has a 49cc single overhead cam
scooter engine in it, which is still too much.
Output is 3.5 horsepower and two whole pound feet of torque.
If you're not impressed yet, buckle up.
The P50 has a top speed of 28 miles per hour,
but it only takes two to flip you
and make you scared.
Max, play it again.
(electronic whoosh)
(explosion) (gasping)
Peel debuted the P50 at the 1962 Earls Court
Motorcycle Show in England.
They originally sold for 199 British pounds,
which translates to about 5,000 U.S. dollars today.
But, it didn't sell that well.
I wonder why?
No more than 50 of the cars were made
and only 27 are known to exist today.
Peel designed a few other microcars,
like the two passenger Trident
and one called the Viking that was based off of a Mini.
But, ultimately, none of them could save the business
and Peel Engineering had to shut her doors in 1974.
Now, it's time for me to get back in the car.
(thunder)
(heavy breathing)
(creaking)
This single seat is literally patio furniture
and doesn't give you any sense of safety
when you roll it over.
P50 was advertised to be big enough
for one person and one bag.
I'm not sure how big people are on the Isle of Man,
but I bet about 30% of Americans
wouldn't be able to fit in this.
There's not really much to talk about in this interior.
I'm honestly feeling kind of claustrophobic.
It's like a tiny tractor.
It's sort of triggering my PTSD.
There's a little tiny speedometer right here
that goes up to 160 kilometers per hour.
Even though this car only goes 45 kilometers per hour.
There's a window right here that's like
race car-y for ventilation, I guess.
Despite everything, this is still my favorite part
of the episode.
Let's start this little (beep) up.
My foot!
(laughing)
(mechanical whirring)
(engine revving)
It still sounds pretty sick.
It's still a car and I still like it.
Even though it feels like I'm driving a bus
that is too small for one man.
(upbeat tech music)
This car that tried to kill me
isn't even actually a real P50, it's a replica.
Peel Engineering was resurrected in 2010
with new body types, models, and updated engines.
This base model P50 is available for around $10,000.
With it, you get the 49cc engine
and a bunch of different color options
and custom liveries.
Other trim levels of the P50 include
an all-electric version,
and if this isn't enough of a deathtrap,
you can get the 125GT, the hot rod of the Peel world.
The GT Spider is Peel's flagship model
and it cost over $22,000 by weight.
That means, you are paying $95 a pound
for a convertible version of this car.
Put that into perspective.
A brand new 600 horsepower Lamborghini Urus
cost $41 a pound, and it won't flip and hurt your arm.
(upbeat tech music)
P50 definitely isn't a value play.
It definitely isn't safe, either.
But it's cute and it's unique
and it can fit a surprisingly tall human in it.
You can even buy one without an engine,
so you can do the motor swap of your dreams.
Just in case having a three-wheeled
super dangerous, but really slow,
and goofy-looking babe magnet isn't enough for you.
This thing's enough for me.
Literally, scariest car I've ever driven.
Max, play it again.
(screaming) (explosion)
- [Man] Go, go, go, go, go.
(upbeat tech music)
(beep)
- I just want to give a big shout out
to Galpin for always being a great partner for Donut.
They've hooked us up a million times in the past,
and they were nice enough to let us drive
their P50 for this episode and they weren't even
that mad when I flipped it.
- [Man] Yeah.
(gasping)
- [Man] Oh my god.