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Peel Trident with Rocket Engine Sets Absurd Drag Racing Record

Bubble cars – we all know them as a crazy idea born out of necessity. The Germans made the famous Isetta, while the Bits are famous for the Peel P50, the smallest road-legal production vehicle ever.
Peel Trident with Rocket Engine 6 photos
Photo: screenshot from Youtube
Peel Trident with Rocket EnginePeel Trident with Rocket EnginePeel Trident with Rocket EnginePeel Trident with Rocket EnginePeel Trident with Rocket Engine
Well get ready to see bubble cars like never before!

This next video shows how a red Peel is pushed to its limits on a raceway. This custom-built machine posted a top speed of 78.48mph over a quarter mile at Santa Pod Raceway. That's 126 km/h in a four-wheeler that used to measure only 1.8 meters from plastic bumper to plastic bumper.

We say "used to" because this has Peel has been heavily modified. It actually looks like a kart chassis with a Peel Trident body on top.

Many people are calling this a jet-powered car, but that's probably not correct. We think that's actually a modern version of the pulse jet engine, the same kind that the Nazis used for their V1 flying bombs.

The pulse jet gets its name because combustion occurs in short pulses. They can be made with very few parts and are much cheaper tan conventional rockets. Unlike jet engines, they have no spinning blades and are also capable of running statically.

The Peel Trident is just as interesting as the motor that powers it. According to most sources, they only made about 50 of these in 1965 and 1950. The bubble roof earned it the nickname of "The Terrestrial Flying Saucer."

We want to end this story on a more amusing, less tech-savvy note. Just as the video drew to its end, a very interesting question popped in our head: If you would show this footage to somebody in the 60s that just watched an episode of The Jetsons, would he believe this rocket-powered Peel is the car of the future?

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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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