Peel Engineering is making a comeback 45 years after its last car rolled off the production line.
The company, credited with making the smallest car ever to go into production, is now owned by two entrepreneurs who went on BBC programme Dragon’s Den with the idea of reviving the brand's P50 and Trident models. Their pitch impressed dragon James Caan who invested £80,000 in return for a third of the company and one of each car.
Gary Hillman and Faizal Khan are now planning a limited production run of 50 cars based on the original P50 and bubble-roofed Trident designs, but with an electric motor.
Only 50 were actually ever made of the original Manx-built three-wheelers, which measured a tiny 1.3m long by 1m wide. They were originally budget cars selling for £199 in 1962, but the new cars will retail at £12,499.
The company is also planning to generate extra income by selling a range of products capitalising on the brand name. “Plenty of people will want to own a piece of history,” said Caan. "The brand is ideally placed to expand into a larger product range.”
