TV Show Investor Rescues Peel, Makers Of The World's Smallest Car
Published: August 20th, 2010
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Thanks to one of the most popular Top Gear segments ever, the Peel P50 is now well-established in the minds and imaginations of the world’s automotive cognoscenti. After all, how often does Clarkson say that “if [car X] had a reverse gear, I would describe it as the absolute ultimate in personal mobility”? But now there’s another reason to pay attention to Peel: having been bought a few years back by Gary Hillman and Faizal Khan, the British microcar maker is set for a comeback that’s being funded by Sonny Coreleone himself, actor some British investor named James Caan (born Nazim Khan… cheers to colin42 for the British pop culture lesson, and apologies for unwittingly making the story better than it is).
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self-described “ultra conservative” actor James Caan. - different James Caan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Caan_(entrepreneur)
@ steve65: The official label was Messerschmitt TG 500, as Messerschmitt was not allowed to use the Tiger label, due to copyright reasons (a truck manufacturer had tradmarked the Tiger label). The German Wikipedia entry (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messerschmitt_Kabinenroller) has some nice pics that show the difference between TG 500 and the other Kabinenroller. BTW: Here is a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7W8-2wd6XwE.
"As a British made product, Peel encompasses traditional values and manufacturing." Does that mean this will be a car made with electronics by the prince of darkness, and has body panels that will be falling off before you get it home? Or does it simply mean it will be made by communists?
Don't worry, panzerfaust. Both Lucas and communists are out of business for a while. As the rest of the UK car industry (except Morgan, Bristol ("handbuilt cars for individuals") is international now, you might even be lucky with body panels.