00:00 [MUSIC]
00:02 Every time anyone sees this car, they have a huge smile on their face.
00:05 [MUSIC]
00:06 >> Smaller than I remember.
00:08 >> I've loved weird cars my whole life.
00:10 It's kind of a ludicrous idea.
00:12 The world's smallest car.
00:14 [MUSIC]
00:20 Sometimes it doesn't start very quickly, sometimes it does.
00:23 This was my worst fear.
00:27 [MUSIC]
00:34 It's red, it's rare, it's really tiny.
00:39 The smallest production car ever built.
00:42 This mini marvel from the swinging 60s is the Peel P50.
00:46 [MUSIC]
00:56 The P50 came out of the Isle of Man, which is a small island between Ireland and
01:00 England.
01:01 Basically, the concept was a little car that you could use in the city.
01:05 I've loved weird cars my whole life.
01:09 It's kind of a ludicrous idea in the fact they only made 49 of them.
01:12 [MUSIC]
01:15 There was a gentleman in Vancouver, British Columbia, that wanted to import
01:18 them. He brought in, I've heard, numbers three to six,
01:21 which is a huge number of the overall production.
01:23 This is one of those cars because it had some special features for
01:27 the Canadian market, which makes it really special, I think.
01:29 [MUSIC]
01:35 At just one meter high and less than a meter wide,
01:39 this really is a truly minute machine.
01:42 The P50 is powered by a DKW 49cc engine and
01:47 has a top speed of 37 miles per hour and 4.2 horsepower.
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01:54 It's a one-seater, one headlight.
01:55 I also love how it's three wheels.
01:58 So the back wheel is the one that is driving it with a chain from a little
02:02 moped engine.
02:03 It's got this cool suicide door.
02:06 And you have to be kind of smart to get in.
02:09 So you have to bend like this.
02:13 There you go.
02:13 Easy as that.
02:15 Here's the gear shifter, this orange little contraption.
02:18 It's three speeds.
02:19 There's no reverse because you have to get out of the car and
02:22 go around to the reversing handle, pick up the car and
02:24 turn it around, and then get back in.
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02:30 This may be a small car, but it has a big history.
02:34 There was a Russian freighter that came into the port of Vancouver.
02:37 They used it to drive around their huge freighter on the deck.
02:40 But then the refrigerator broke.
02:41 So when they came back, they traded this car in on a refrigerator.
02:45 It was in this ship supply store sitting there for $100.
02:49 This gentleman named Wendy bought it and brought it home for
02:52 his son Don 50 years ago.
02:54 And that's who I bought it from, that family.
02:56 While it was bought for a song half a century ago,
02:59 if you're lucky enough to find one up for grabs now, expect to pay big bucks.
03:04 A P50 was sold at auction in 2016 for $176,000.
03:10 [MUSIC]
03:12 Peel actually made two models.
03:13 This was their first one.
03:14 And then they built another one that looks like a little flying saucer, and
03:17 that's called a Trident.
03:18 And that's what I was actually after.
03:21 I was just playing online, looking around.
03:23 And as I was searching, I found this one.
03:25 It was in Kelowna, British Columbia, five, six hours away.
03:28 When it came to restoring this vehicle, Greg had his work cut out.
03:32 It was very complete, but I needed a number of things.
03:35 The hardest part of restoring the car was just finding the parts and
03:39 waiting months and months and months to get them from England.
03:42 Once in its life, it had been chopped into a convertible.
03:45 Luckily, the roof had been kept and put back on, but
03:48 there was lots of little pieces that had gone missing over that time.
03:51 We got a new door and had that fitted.
03:53 I've never really restored a car from the ground up, so
03:56 this was a great opportunity for me to do that.
03:58 [MUSIC]
04:02 And now, having not seen the car since its restoration,
04:06 the previous owners have come to check out Greg's handiwork.
04:09 [MUSIC]
04:16 >> Where did you get the mirror?
04:17 >> [LAUGH] >> It makes me want to cry.
04:21 It's so adorable.
04:23 >> It looks smaller than I remember.
04:25 >> [LAUGH] >> Same seat.
04:29 >> Same seat.
04:30 >> You just reupholstered it.
04:31 >> Yeah, reupholstered, yeah.
04:33 >> Because they used to tell us our seat was wrong.
04:36 >> I found another BC car, and it has that seat.
04:39 >> Really?
04:40 >> Yep, I was like- >> So we did have the real one?
04:42 >> Yes.
04:42 >> Where did you find another BC car?
04:45 >> Eastern Washington.
04:47 I'm a sleuth.
04:48 >> Totally. >> I love it.
04:49 I'm a car detective.
04:50 >> I learned to drive on this.
04:52 >> At six and a half.
04:53 >> At six and a half, way before my license came up.
04:56 >> Straighten out all the wheels.
04:58 >> My husband was on his way home from work one day, and
05:00 he had to pass this second hand store, and it was sitting on a shelf in the window.
05:05 And he screeched to a halt and ran in and said, I want that.
05:09 It was payday that day.
05:10 >> So no groceries, but came home with a car.
05:12 >> Yes, no groceries but a car.
05:14 I don't think he were that happy that day.
05:16 No, I was gonna kick him right from here to eternity.
05:18 >> [LAUGH] >> The chrome on the inside of
05:22 the engine where it breathes.
05:23 >> I know, and you can't see it.
05:25 >> It was cut like this.
05:27 >> He kept flipping it all the time.
05:28 >> Couldn't get out.
05:29 >> He couldn't get out, so he took the top off.
05:31 Every time it landed, it landed on the door.
05:33 >> [LAUGH] >> That's the windshield washer.
05:37 >> That is the windshield washer.
05:38 >> And you've got it in the ashtray.
05:40 >> That is the holder for it.
05:42 >> It wasn't the ashtray?
05:43 >> It wasn't the ashtray.
05:44 I thought it was the ashtray too.
05:47 >> You squeezed the bottle and it's.
05:49 >> [LAUGH] >> No way.
05:51 >> [LAUGH] >> I did drive it to school one time.
05:57 >> Yes, you drove it to school?
05:59 >> Yeah, it was grade four.
06:01 And at recess, I got in the car and drove out into the soccer field.
06:05 I remember having 11 children on the car, hanging on the outside,
06:10 on the front, and maybe that's what happened to the rear view mirror.
06:14 [LAUGH] The teachers got wind of what was going on.
06:17 I finally did get slowed down, and then I got a couple of days off school for free.
06:21 >> [LAUGH] >> And I think dad had to come and get me.
06:25 >> Looks better than it ever has in its life, I'm sure.
06:28 It's wonderful.
06:29 >> It's just such a good feeling.
06:31 >> You know when you look back as a child, things always have a rosy look?
06:35 I'm looking at this thinking, damn, that was a pretty good childhood.
06:38 [LAUGH] >> Every time anyone sees this car,
06:42 they have a huge smile on their face.
06:44 And that's really fun to be around.
06:46 [MUSIC]
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