Trident Iceni Diesel Grand Tourer Coming To Salon Privé 2012

As far as sports and GT cars are concerned, the British and the Italians are best. However, while the Italians may have the likes of Ferrari and the rest, Britain has a myriad of small ‘shed-based’ manufacturers which make unique cars for people looking for a very specific kind of car.

Take the £75,000 (€94,880 / $119,160) Trident Iceni, a hand-built car which is very British and truly interesting. It is a two-seater GT cruiser, with its big 6.6-liter V8 engine mid-mounted behind the front axle. It produces 430 hp and 1290 Nm (950 lb-ft), yet those figures can be boosted to 660 hp and 1420 Nm (1050 lb-ft) with an available engine upgrade.

This monster of an engine allows the Iceni to sprint from 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) in under 4 seconds and on to a top speed of around 320 km/h (200 mph). Furthermore, if a constant speed of 110 km/h (70 mph) is maintained, the engine will only turn over at some 980 rpm, allowing the car to achieve an incredible efficiency figure for such a big engine - 4.1 l/100km or 68.9 UK mpg, allowing it to travel as much as 3,200 km (2000 miles) on a tankfull of regular diesel, mineral diesel, bio diesel, palm oil or linseed oil.

Trident Sports Cars managing director, Phillip Bevan, says: “We are very pleased to be at Salon Privé which this year is a great celebration of all things British and home grown talent - something we feel very strongly about at Trident.  It is also a place where sports cars and super cars of this calibre are sold, and we look forward to taking new orders for the Iceni at Syon Park this September.”