"bwp240" (bwp240)
03/24/2015 at 13:45 • Filed to: 2sday
0
2|
"bwp240" (bwp240)
03/24/2015 at 13:45 • Filed to: 2sday | 0
| 2 |
Welcome back to the weekly installment of 2sday where I post about a vehicle that came out in a selected year ending in 2. Then I challenge you, the Oppo community to find other vehicles that came out that year.
This week the year is 1962. Fresh out of the 1950s, cars began giving up there big boaty exteriors in favor for slightly smaller cars, except for Cadillac. Fiberglass and aluminum began making their appearance in cars, and the transition to the big block muscle car era began.
This week we are not profiling one of the big cars of the era, but a notable one nonetheless. 1962 marked the first year of availability for the Peel P50, the car made famous when Jeremy Clarkson drove it through the BBC office building and television centre (because British). The Peel P50 is not the most practical car in the world in that it has little power, no luggage capacity, and there is a decent chance that you will set your pants on fire.
Production of the Peel P50 began on the Isle of Man by the Peel Engineering Company in 1962. It had a 49cc engine which would get it up to about 40mph downhill with a tailwind. Part of what got the Peel P50 to its hair-razing speed was a three speed manual transmission. the transmission had 3 forward gears and no reverse gear, as Fiona Bruce knows. A brand new one cost 199 GBP in 1962 (~$2,200 USD) and only around 100 were produced.
After the Peel Engineering Company ceased production of the car in 1965, an investor bought the rights and opened up a new company in 2010 to start reproductions of the Peel P50 in Britain. Today they are producing models powered by a small electric motor and ones powered by more efficient petrol engines than in 1962. The 1962 Peel P50 claimed to get nearly 100mpg. I am sure that can be increased with modern technology.
Peel P50s are still road legal in the UK and are also street legal in the United States. I would get one and drive it straight from my living room to my cubicle, heck maybe I will just use it as an office chair. If you can find an original version from 1962-1966 go ahead and import it. In fact, maybe Doug should have it as his next car.
So what other interesting vehicles can you find from 1962?
Image Credits: Google Images
References: Wikipedia
MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
> bwp240
03/24/2015 at 14:02 |
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Mercury is always the answer:
Hot Takes Salesman
> bwp240
05/05/2015 at 17:47 |
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1962 Ferrari 250 GTO...