A 59-year-old Peel P50, which once made it into the Guinness Book of Records for being the tiniest production vehicle on Earth, just found a new owner at an online auction who bought it for £110,000, or around $143,000 USD. For reference, you could buy a shiny new Mercedes-Benz S-Class in the UK for £83,000.
The Peel P50 emerged as a result of cooperation between Cyril Cannell and Henry Kissacks. It first debuted 60 years ago and went into production a year after the unveiling. The creators advertised it as a personal means of urban transportation offering car comforts at the price level of a scooter. Back in the 1960s, British buyers of the Peel P50 could indeed afford one for as little as 199 pound sterling.
Only 46 such vehicles was produced in total. Each one had a plastic body 1.3 meters (4 feet) long, a laughably small 49cc (3-cubic-inch) single-cylinder DKW engine, and a three-speed manual transmission without a reverse gear (you had to turn it around manually). The top speed did not exceed 60 km/h (37 miles per hour).
The seller claims this particular example was number one in the production batch, and technically qualifies as a pre-production test vehicle. It was originally used for advertisement and is still in great condition with all OEM parts preserved, even the tires. The mileage is not stated anywhere.
Autoevolution reports that other Peel P50 units have sold for larger amounts before. Four instance, one example was auctioned off six years ago for an equivalent sum of £135,000. In 2019, a modern replica fetched €150,000.