Now I know that there is the trifling matter of £96,000, but just bear with me – here’s why we should all bag ourselves a Trident.
First of all it will last your lifetime, however long that may be. The composite bodywork and infinitely repairable stainless steel chassis are going to be around pretty much forever.
Second, it is safe. Unlike so many of these low-volume sports cars, it will have all mod-cons such as ABS and airbags. That was something beyond the chaps at TVR, but Trident boss Phil Bevan believes that everything is possible with proper engineering.
A Trident is not a Ferrari. That’s good because it is different. Whereas you may well pass another Ferrari quite often in some postal districts, chances of seeing another Trident are slim. I’ve only seen a couple and I‘ve been to the factories quite a few times over the years.
I know a Ferrari has a racing pedigree, but the Trident does GT Cup, Brit Car and Dutch Supercars, and that should be good enough for anyone.
Apart from being a car for life, when it comes to green credentials it will run on just about any sort of biodiesel. Not only that, the technology means that every gallon is stretched beyond 50mpg, but unlike your leggy Volkswagen Passat estate oil burner it will do 170mph.
What seals the deal for me is that Trident refinement is based on the benchmark barges of the 1990s. Out front of the Trident factory, among the articulated truck cabs and sundry commercials, is a Japanese-spec Lexus LS400, an Audi A8 and a Mercedes SL.
Those barges look scruffy and down at heel but are simply wonderful. So instead of some hard-riding supercar these cars are the basis for a softer GT package that is the Trident. I would love to think that just beneath the surface of my Trident is an old LS. Maybe I’m just odd.
Actually, even though I rather like the TVR-esque styling and the fact that everything is bespoke, part of me would like the Trident technology plumbed into, say, a Bristol, Jensen or maybe a Bentley. Bevan said he would think about it.
Most of all I want to be charmed by an old school car maker and buy a car that’s been designed and built in Britain by an innovative independent British company.
So that’s my argument for why we should all have a Trident supercar. There is however the trifling matter that the company only plans to make one a month.
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I wish Trident all the best, and if they find customers then it will only add variety to the roads, which is a good thing. But many of the claims made for the car are as yet unverified, and personally I would need a lot more reassurance (such as an independent test, supposedly the bedrock of this publication), before parting with £100k.
Intriguing but I wonder