The Peel Engineering Company was a manufacturing company based in Peel on the west coast of the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

that primarily made

fibreglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...

boats through its subsidiary company West Marine Ltd. and fairings for motorcycles.

Description and history

The sports fairings were recognisable for their styling with integral 'blisters' enclosing the handlebar-ends and rider's hands, and were available for racing, named ''Mountain Mile'', with a similar sports-style for road use incorporating a distinctive, large rectangular

Cibié Valeo is a French global automotive supplier headquartered in France, listed on the Paris Stock Exchange ( CAC-40 Index). It supplies a wide range of products to automakers and the aftermarket. The Group employs 113,600 people in 33 countries wo ...

headlamp, named ''Peel 707''. A different design was for touring, aptly named ''TT Tourer''. Trident and P50

The company built an experimental

hovercraft A hovercraft, also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is an amphibious Craft (vehicle), craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and other surfaces. Hovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below the hull ...

design in 1961 powered by a 500 cc

Triumph The Roman triumph (Latin triumphus) was a celebration for a victorious military commander in ancient Rome. For later imitations, in life or in art, see Trionfo. Numerous later uses of the term, up to the present, are derived directly or indirectl ...

engine. In 1965, Peels arranged for all fairing production to be transferred under licence to ''Mike Ivory'' of

Luton Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable an ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...

, England. Prototype and development work continued in the Isle of Man. Peel Engineering developed the Peel Manxcar concept vehicle, and the Peel P-1000 4 wheeled

microcars Microcar is a term often used for the smallest size of cars, with three or four wheels and often an engine smaller than . Specific types of microcars include bubble cars, cycle cars, invacar, quadricycles and voiturettes. Microcars are often ...

, and the

Peel P50 The Peel P50 is a three-wheeled microcar originally made from 1962 to 1965 by the Peel Engineering Company on the Isle of Man, and then from 2011 to present. It was listed in the 2010 Guinness World Records as the smallest production car ever m ...

and

Peel Trident The Peel Trident is the second three-wheeled microcar made by the Peel Engineering Company on the Isle of Man. An all-new design from its one-seat counterpart the Peel P50, the Trident has two seats. History The Trident was launched at the 1 ...

3 wheeled microcars, in addition to the

Peel Viking Sport The Peel Viking Sport was a Mini-based car made by the Peel Engineering Company on the Isle of Man between 1966 and 1970. The 2+2 debuted at the 1966 Racing Car Show. Using moulded replicas of cut-down Mini doors, the glassfibre, monocoque, fastb ...

and prototype GRP Minis for BMC. These models constitute the only

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...

s manufactured on the Isle of Man; the company ceased manufacture in 1969. A limited-run Peel Manxkart

go-kart A go-kart, also written as go-cart (often referred to as simply a kart), is a type of sports car, close wheeled car, open-wheel car or quadracycle. Go-karts come in all shapes and forms, from non-motorised models to high-performance Kart rac ...

was also produced. The

is in the

Guinness record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

as the world's smallest production car. The Peel Engineering Company referred to in this article later became Peel Engineering Ltd. Originally launched in 1965, it dissolved in 1974 and the brand relaunched in 2010.

References

External links

Website of a UK company that produces replicas of some of the original Peel cars

Owners' club website for owners of original & reproductions of the Peel cars
{{Automotive industry in the United Kingdom Defunct companies of the Isle of Man Peel, Isle of Man

Description and history

See also

References

External links