Size matters. At least that’s what some people say. I suppose it must be true because I have always had a thing for small cars. For some perverse reason even though I am of a “larger build”, I have always been attracted to smaller cars – Minis, MGs, Triumphs, Sunbeam Imps and all manner of vehicles that make people puzzle over how I fit into them. I guess that is why our Video of the Week (VotW) caught my eye. The Classic British Microcars is actually a single show split into three parts. I have included all three of those parts here for you.
Now, the cars I mentioned above are actually not microcars. In contrast to microcars, the Mini and even the Sunbeam Imp seem huge. What we are talking about in the realm of microcars are vehicles like that Peel and the Berkeley. The Peel, for instance, weighed in at about 500 pounds and the rear end could be easily lifted up to turn it. So much for needing a reverse gear!
Some of the microcars cars mentioned in this video are:
- Peel P50 Peel Trident
- Bond Minicar
- Frisky Sport
- Unicar
- Berkeley
- BSA Ladybird
None of these cars ever made it very big, pardon the pun, in the United States, and they were all but done by the end of the 1950s. A few remained even into the ’70s, but they were basically put out of business by the advent of the Mini in 1960. Why go for something smaller and less powerful when a Mini offered you space, power, and most of the comforts of a full-sized car but at a microcar price?
Michael Carnell is the editor and founder of the Just British Online Motoring Magazine. As a lifelong British car enthusiast, he has owned or driven British cars of all ages from Austins and MGs to Jaguars and Triumphs. He currently owns a 1966 Vanden Plas Princess 1100 and a 1977 MGB. But there is always room for more - no matter what his wife says.
