Trident Iceni Grand Tourer

You would be forgiven for never having heard of Trident - an archetypal British car manufacturer.  They are, as Enzo Ferrari would have said, a garagiste.  A little history lesson is called for.

In 1965 TVR showed the TVR Trident Coupe convertible at the Geneva Motor show.  They made three coupes and a single convertible prototype.

In 1966, with TVR in financial trouble, they passed the project to one of their dealers, Bill Last, who created the Trident Cars Company.  At his own premises Last put together the Trident Clipper Convertible based on an Austin Healey 3000 chassis with a fibreglass body and with a Ford 4.7 litre V8.

The car was shown to the public in 1966 at the Racing Car Show in Olympia but it wasn't until the same show in 1967 that anything further was heard from Trident.  They brought along the Clipper Coupe.  It had a claimed top speed of 150mph and a 0-60 time of 5 seconds.  Customers would order the car and they were made to order.

In 1969 Trident announced the Venturer with a Ford 3.0 V6 engine and based on a Triumph TR6 chassis.  In 1971 the Tycoon was released.

Trident went bust in 1974 but soldiered on until finally being wound down in 1977.  They sold in total 39 Clippers, 84 Venturers and 7 Tycoons.

Then in 1999 Trident was revived to produce a 2 seater sports car using a 3.2 litre V6 GM engine.  Nothing much came of this and it wasn't until 2007 when the company was revived yet again with the Trident Iceni. The Iceni was shown to the public as a prototype in Monaco and Goodwood in 2008.

The Iceni is now finally ready for sale and looks sensational.  But beyond the looks the performance figures are also sensational.  Performance in this regard is not only measured in terms speed but in all of its vital statistics.

The new Trident Iceni Grand Tourer has a top speed of 200mph and achieves 0-60 in 3.7 seconds.  It's engine produces 430bhp and 950lbs ft of torque at under 3250rpm.

It also returns 68.9mpg at 70mph.

These astonishing figures are due to the Iceni's 6.6 litre turbo-diesel engine and the use of something Trident calls Torque Multipication technology.  From the intensive research we have undertaken this is something mystical to do with the transmission.

The Iceni Grand Tourer can run for 2000 miles on one tank of diesel and it doesn't just have to be pump diesel.  It will run on palm oil, linseed oil, mineral diesel and bio diesel.

The Trident Iceni Grand Tourer is being shown at the Salon Privé from 5-7 September in West London.  It is available to order now from £75,000.

Trident Clipper