Vikings from the Isle of Man

Peel Viking Minisport owner John Fischer contacted me with some news on his car's identification. He wrote: "Hi Jeroen, whilst at the NEC classic car show this weekend I spoke to two people on the Microcar stand who have a lot of knowledge about Peel and gave me a lot of information about Vikings. All fibreglass moldings from Peel had plates with a number on. Initially letters and numbers denoted different types of products such as motorcycle fairings, boats and different models of cars but at some stage the rack of plates fell over and all the plates got mixed up. They didn't bother sorting out the plates so from then on random numbers were issued. They believe however that Peel Vikings were to be issued with F800 to F849 numbers."

"As my Peel carries F809 they are 99% sure it is an early Isle of Man car. They believe cars built by Peel would have been registered with the F*** chassis numbers, but kit built cars would use the donor Mini chassis numbers. They believe an exception to this was the D-reg one that has the Minivan trailer which had an F*** number as it was being built with new parts (more on that one here). The original moulds went to Suffolk and were eventually destroyed so when one of these two people wanted some shells in later years a new set were made to produce 'repro' cars. He used a 'repro' shell to build the car that is now in the Lane Motor Museum, the roof came out very rippled, hence the vinyl roof (here for that one). These moulds are the ones that sold on Ebay and are now with Exo Sports Cars in Nottingham (there you go)."

"There are two cars on the Isle of Man, one being MAN 123 (see Maximum Mini 1 and here), the other is the orange J reg car that was pictured for sale at Newark kit car show (this one). This car has been in and out of the Isle of Man several times and has carried various registrations over the years. There is another original car in England with the daughter of an ex-Peel employee, which may still be on the road on the South Coast. The one shown in your book racing off road still exists as a body, but the front was cut off at some stage to aid cooling. Originally there was a frame that held the metal reinforcements for the body whilst it was being molded but this was left to rot on the island so later bodies were said to be missing reinforcement. The only set of steel doors known, like fitted to mine, were the ones made to mould the fibreglass ones from, so my doors can't be explained at this stage."

"They are going to investigate further and send me any information they can trace about the original Peel built cars. At present they know of my car but hadn't traced it back further than Peamore Garage in about 1980, but know of only one unidentified original car, so there is a possibility it is this one. I will let you know if more info comes to light."

John's Peel Viking Minisport at the Mk1 / Maximum Mini Action Day at Blyton Park in 2015

Picture Jeroen Booij

Joined by a TiCi. Note late (april 1980) registration number, the reason for which is unknown

Picture Jeroen Booij

Made on Man, or so it seems. 'F809' may suggest there were at least 9 bodies produced on the island?

Picture Jeroen Booij

But the link to Peamore Garage, in Alphington, Exeter, is also still shrouded in mystery

Picture Jeroen Booij

The engine in this particular Peel is an 850 from a 1964 Austin Mini

Picture Jeroen Booij

Much of the car's interior had been eaten by mice, but the mechanical side is all okay

Picture Jeroen Booij

Most Peel Viking's have fibreglass doors; this one does not. They are shortened steel Mini items

Picture Jeroen Booij

Last on the road in 1993... In 1982 it supposedly was a Christmas present to a young man in Devon

Picture Jeroen Booij