THE PEEL MANXMAN

by Tony Marshall (published in the Isetta Gazette March 1980)

Although the Peel P.50 and Peel Trident cars, or more correctly Saloon Scooters, have become quite a feature of micro car rallies in recent years, and are thus relatively well known to the enthusiast, it is not generally well known that there was another model of Peel three wheeler, which emanated from the same factory, and predated those two by several years. This was the Peel Manxman.

The Manxman was unveiled in 1955, and was a fibre glass bodied saloon with three wheels. Like the majority of Peels (but not all of them) it had two steerable front wheels, and one driven rear wheel, powered by an Anzani two stroke engine of either 250cc or 350cc. Nobody seems quite sure.

As with most Peel products, there were some unusual features, the most striking being the arrangement of the doors, of which there were two, one on either side. To open them one did not pivot them on hinges, neither did they slide. On this car the doors were pivoted at the bottom rear corner, and the front of the door lifted so that the door, in the fully open position, was flush with the side panel of the car, but tilted through ninety degrees onto its rear edge. A novel idea which solved the problem of how to open the door in a confined space.

As there was a third, loading, door at the back of the Manxman, it was, perhaps, the first of the 'hatchbacks'. When the hatchback was opened, there was a flat floor inside which represented the luggage space, said to amount to sixteen cubic feet. The boot floor had a trap door, beneath which was the engine.

As has already been mentioned, the exact details of the engine are uncertain, but contemporary reports state that a choice of gearboxes was available, one giving four forward speeds, and the other offering three forward gears and a reverse. The engine was started electrically, using the Siba dynastart. This is unheard of for the later, and somewhat less refine Peel products. Another surprise is the use of relatively large (for a Peel) wheels of 4.00 x 8 size, which were braked hydraulically.

Performance was said to be 50 MPH top speed and 90 MPG. Unfortunately, no examples of the Peel Manxman are known to survive, unless, of course, you know better.