If your first instinct is to say ‘Mini’ you’d be wrong. How wrong? Precisely 168cm wrong. That’s because while the original Mini hatch was a compact 305cm in length, the world’s smallest car is the Peel P50 which measures just 137cm long.
The Guinness Book of World Records officially recognised the Peel P50 as the smallest car in the world in 2010. While cars like the Mini and original 500 are tiny by modern standards, the P50 is tiny any way you measure it.
The P50 was only in production for three years but over the decades has become a motoring icon. Earlier this year, in March 2022, one of these tiny cars sold for a huge sum – £111,000 or nearly $200,000.
Jeremy Clarkson helped make the Peel famous when he drove one through the BBC headquarters for an episode of Top Gear. The P50 was so small it could fit through doors and even in the lift.
These days there are few true micro cars left, with the likes of the modern Mini three-door hatch measuring 386cm, more than 80cm longer than the original.
While the P50 is the smallest production car, the Guinness Book of World Records title for the smallest road-legal car belongs to American, Auston Coulson and his custom vehicle.
The professional custom car builder turned what was meant to be a car-like body for a pram into something that could legally be driven on public roads. His one-of-a-kind creation measured just 126cm long, 65cm wide and 63cm tall but has working lights, windscreen wipers and a horn.
What are micro cars? What is good about them?
The Peel P50 was one of several so-called ‘micro cars’ that appeared in the 1940s, ‘50s and ‘60s when carmakers were looking to build small, affordable transport for a recovering post-war Europe.
Resources were limited but people needed transport so several industries, not just the pre-war carmakers, got creative to come up with a solution. Several early micro cars were built by war-time aircraft manufacturers, including Germany’s Messerschmitt and Heinkel.
A typical micro car was compact in dimensions, often powered by a motorcycle engine and occasionally had only three wheels. The P50 ticks all those boxes with the original examples powered by German-made DKW motorcycle engines and riding on two front wheels but only a single wheel at the rear.
Some other examples of this early era of micro cars include the Bond Minicar, Messerschmitt KR200, Iso/BMW Isetta and the Fuldamobil.
What is the smallest car in Australia?
A few examples of the Peel P50 actually made it to local roads, which means it also claims the title of the smallest car in Australia.
However, if we’re looking at what’s currently available to buy in Australia, then the title goes to the modern take on Fiat 500, just ahead of the Kia Picanto and Suzuki Ignis.
The little Italian hatch measures just 357cm long, 162cm wide and only 148cm tall. That pips the Kia by just 2.0cm in the battle of compactness.
Are smaller cars becoming popular?
With carmakers, not so much, but customers continue to look to ‘micro’, ‘light’ and ‘small’ cars in meaningful numbers.
The industry is seemingly moving away from smaller cars and focusing on slightly larger compact SUVs. Former small car successes like the Hyundai Accent and Ford Fiesta have disappeared from Australian showrooms as ‘light car’ sales decline.
However, in 2021 (the last full year data at time of publication) sales of ‘micro cars’ increased by more than 90 per cent over 2020, with the Picanto leading the way ahead of the Mitsubishi Mirage and the Fiat 500. They do only make up a very small part of the overall market, with less than 10,000 sold in 2021.
The top five smallest cars in the world
1. 1962-65 Peel P50
Length: 137cm
Width: 99cm (P.50 is 104cm)
Height: 120cm
The Peel Engineering Company was based on the Isle of Man (yes, the same one motorbikes race around) in the 1960s and manufactured the pint-sized P50 for three years between 1962 and ‘65.
It cost just £199 when new and was advertised as a single-person vehicle. Power came from a 49cc DKW single-cylinder motorcycle engine that made just 3.1kW (4.2hp). The engine was paired to a three-speed manual gearbox, with no reverse gear. Instead, if you needed to go backwards Peel installed a handle at the rear that allowed you to pick it up and pull it; which wasn’t too difficult as it weighed just 59kg.
The Peel Engineering Company made just 50 examples of the original car but such was the mark it left on micro car fans that a new company was set up in 2011 to produce a modern “homage” to the P50.
The new company, P50 Cars, offers electric and petrol-powered versions of the tiny machine, sold as a completed car or in kit form. The electric model has been renamed the E.50 and comes with disc brakes.
P50 Cars also sells its own take on Peel’s other famous model, the bubble-topped Trident. Again, available with an electric motor.
Find further information here.
2. 1953-56 Iso Isetta
Length: 229cm
Width: 138cm
Height: 143cm
Before the Peel P50 came along the Iso Isetta was the world’s smallest car in the 1950s. Iso was an Italian company that built scooters and refrigerators but saw an opening in the market and decided to join the car industry.
Launched at the 1953 motor show in Turin the Isetta was so small it didn’t have room for doors on the side, instead the door was at the front of the car. This meant the steering wheel and instrument panel all moved when you needed to climb aboard.
However, unlike the single-seat P50, the Isetta could fit two adults on its bench seat.
The Isetta was powered by a 7.1kW two-stroke engine that was connected to the rear via a motorcycle-style chain. Another advantage over the P50 was the Isetta had a four-speed gearbox that also included a reverse gear.
It also rolled on four-wheels, after earlier three-wheeled prototypes proved prone to rolling.
The tiny car was popular in Italy and by 1955 BMW had bought not just the rights to the design but the tooling, too, and began to produce its own version.
In just three years BMW reportedly built more than 160,000 versions of its Isetta micro car.
3. 2005-13 Buddy Electric
Length: 244cm
Width: 244cm
Height: 143cm
Norway has been a global leader in the acceptance of electric cars and back in the mid-2000s it even tried to build its own. The Buddy Electric was a tiny, city-friendly car powered by a 13kW electric motor, which should have made it a smash hit around the world at a time when people were very worried about sustainable motoring.
Measuring just 244cm long the Buddy was able to be legally parked sideways in some parts of the world, which meant it was an ideal city car as it could squeeze into otherwise unusable parking spots and take up less room on the road.
However, with the arrival of the larger Nissan Leaf and then the success of the Tesla Model S in Norway, the market for this modern micro car slowed to a halt.
Instead of using lithium-ion batteries the Buddy was powered by lead acid batteries, these could recharge in less than eight-hours but only provided a driving range of between 20-60km.
Its performance wasn’t great either, only capable of a maximum speed of 80km/h, which meant it was strictly designed for the urban environment.
4. 2001-04 Smart K
Length: 250cm
Width: 147cm
Height: 150cm
The Smart K is what happens when a modern micro car meets a set of unique Japanese vehicle regulations.
The Smart car was the first product of a collaboration between automotive giant Mercedes-Benz and watchmaker Swatch, with the idea being to create a modern equivalent to the Isetta and P50.
While the Smart Fortwo was already a small car, measuring just 250cm long and 151cm wide, Japan’s unique ‘kei car’ segment for ultra-compact models meant a special, even smaller version of the Smart was built specifically for the Japanese market.
Kei car rules dictate the dimensions of a car, as well as engine restrictions in return for tax, insurance and parking benefits. The original Smart car was too wide to meet the rules, but only slightly, so the designers created a slightly narrower body in order to meet the kei car restrictions.
That made the Smart K one of very few non-Japanese built kei cars, but it only lasted on sale for four years, with buyers seemingly happier to stick with the cheaper locally-made options.
The Smart Fortwo was sold in Australia from 2003 but only ever sold in limited volumes and was dropped from local sale in 2015.
5. Commuter Cars Tango T600
Length: 257cm
Width: 99cm
Height: 154cm
It may sound like a dancing Terminator but the Tango T600 was something even stranger – an ‘ultra-narrow electric sports car’.
The brainchild of a father and son team, Rick and Bryan Woodbury, based in the US, the Tango T600 was designed to appeal to the millions of people who commute to work alone. It was deliberately narrow, measuring just 99cm wide but at 257cm long and 154cm high it gave the car a squashed appearance.
The T600 was powered by a pair of electric motors and had a range up to 128km with lead-acid batteries and 240km if the buyer opted for more expensive lithium-ion batteries. Performance claims were bold, too, with 0-60mph reportedly taking just 3.2 seconds; hence the description of it being a sports car rather than strictly a city run-around.
Commuter Cars managed to get some high-profile buyers, with actor George Clooney taking delivery of the first production model and Google founder Sergey Brin also bought one.
There were plans for the Tango T600 to not only be sold in Australia but potentially manufactured here, but those plans appear to have stalled with local representatives unable to be contacted at the time of publication.
