Each new version of a car nowadays is (slightly) bigger than its predecessor.
That hasn't always been the case.
Between 1962 and 1965, a small company on the Isle of Man, between England and Ireland, wanted to find out just how small a car could be made.
The Peel Engineering Company succeeded in bringing the world's smallest car into production: the Peel P50.
And that little car was very small. About as small as a refrigerator. It's so small it doesn't even need a reverse gear. If you want to go backwards, you can get out and pull the car backwards.
It's not expensive to ride the P50. Its 49cc engine, producing 4.5 bhp, is satisfied with very small sips of petrol. The fuel consumption is approximately 1 litre per 42 kilometres.
Top Gear fans might remember: Jeremy Clarkson drove the Peel P50 through the BBC offices. The thing even fit in the lift: https://youtu.be/dJfSS0ZXYdo
Only 47 Peel P50s were ever built, of which around 26 remain. I did my best to buy one, but it was still beyond our budget. A few years ago, one was auctioned off. It fetched 176,000 $.
What we could afford to buy was the smallest four-person car in the world: a Fiat 500.
This bright yellow classic from 1972 is available for hire. Still running after almost 50 years.
Not as economical as the P50, but fuel is included in the rental price.
You can view all the information about our oldest acquisition here.
