Electric P50 completes Isle of Man TT course lap

The car was joined by two Peel Tridents on the famous circuit

An electric Peel P50 microcar has completed a lap of Isle of Man TT Course as part of a rally celebrating the world's smallest production car.

Organised by the Manx Transport Heritage Museum, a host of rare cars made by Peel Engineering Limited were on show on the island last weekend.

The event marked the 60 years since the firm was officially registered, with the electric P50 belonging to the 2017 worlds strongest man Eddie Hall joining the tour.

Jim Buggle from the firm that current manufactures electric versions of the vehicles, London-based P50 Cars, said fog, wind and rain on the Mountain Road had "really tested" the modern take on the original car.

He said the replica, which the firm was upgrading at the time of the event and was brought to the island with Mr Hall's blessing, "managed to get up a mountain" despite doubts whether it would.

The rally stopped in Jurby, Ramsey, Douglas and Peel

Designed and built by Cyril Cannell and Henry Kissack in the 1960s, the original Peel P50 had three wheels, one headlight, three gears and no reverse.

Rally organisers said it was thought to be the first time an electric P50 has taken on the 37.73-mile (60km) road racing course.

A host of rare P50s along with Trident and Viking models toured of the island

Mr Buggle said he was "focused on the battery gauge" during the lap as he "wanted to make sure it could do the whole course".

He said it had made the trip with about 20% battery left, reaching a top speed of about 40mph (64km/h), with the challenge proving the cars could "do more than people expect them to do".

With passers-by waving and beeping their horns, he said the car itself had garnered a lot of attention during the lap.

"The reactions we got in this little car was just fantastic," he added.