Trident Cars
[1] The company produced a small series of sports cars with different engines from 1967 to 1977 and was later re-established in 1999.
In addition to the TVR Grantura, the companies also had the Griffith 200 (later 400) in their range, which, with an unchanged body, was equipped with an eight-cylinder V-engine from Ford USA instead of a British four-cylinder engine.
[2] Fiore designed a compact hatchback coupe, of which the Italian Carrozzeria Fissore produced a prototype with an aluminum body and an extended TVR chassis.
During the course of the year, Fissore built two more prototypes - a coupé and a convertible - but after the bankruptcy of Grantura Cars at the end of 1965, the Trident project was initially discontinued.
[4] Arthur and Martin Lilley, who took over the production facilities in Blackpool in November 1965 and incorporated them into the newly founded company TVR Engineering, initially assumed that they would also take over the Trident project.
In fact, the British TVR dealer William “Bill” Last had previously acquired the rights to Fiore’s design and the moulds for the Trident body.
[2] Bill Last founded Trident Cars, initially in Woodbridge, using the premises he previously used for manufacture of the Peel Viking Sport.
Trident later began series production of the coupé in 1967, largely following Trevor Fiore's prototypes in terms of style.
Trident then tried to reach the North American market with a revised version of the Clipper, but nothing came of it and only two cars were built.
[6] Engine problems in the cars, the oil crisis and the financial climate in the 1970s resulted in the company closing down in 1974.
[9] The first result of this new venture was the prototype of a two-seater spider, the Iceni, which was presented at the Birmingham International Motor Show the following year.
The first 30 Clippers were equipped with eight-cylinder V-engines with a displacement of 4727 cm³ (289 cubic inches) from Ford, which delivered 271 bhp (275 hp; 202 kW) and in a similar form from 1962 to 1967, had been installed in the TVR Griffith 200 and 400.
They had a displacement of 5576 cm³, produced around 300 bhp (304 hp, 224 kW) according to factory information and were coupled to a three-speed automatic transmission from Chrysler.
All examples were based on the extended chassis of the Triumph TR6, giving the car independent suspension all round by coil springs.
The Venturer was equipped with a 3.0 litre (2,996 cc) version of the British Ford Essex six-cylinder engine.
[8][15] After restructuring the company, Trident introduced a revised version of the Clipper at the 1976 London Motor Show.
