Rare Suffolk Sports car comes to Reeman Dansie 

For further details or to discuss entering a vehicle for sale please call Lewis Rabett or James Grinter on 01206 754754

Launched at the end of the 1960’s, this sharply styled 2 door coupe offers exclusivity that James Bond could only dream of, with far fewer produced than Bond’s Aston Martin DB5. What is it I hear you ask? Well it might just be the best car you’ve never heard of before- a Trident Venturer. 

The Trident story starts in Blackpool in the 1960’s at the TVR company where a young designer’s new model the Clipper is unveiled. Unfortunately as is so often the case in the British car industry, TVR were entering financial difficulty and so the project passed to TVR dealer, William Last, who founded Trident Cars in Woodbridge, Suffolk to produce the new model. 

The Clipper Convertible prototype was first displayed at a London show in 1966 but little more was heard of it until the first Clipper Coupé was shown a year later. The car had impressive performance figures thanks to its Ford sourced V8, with a claimed 150mph top speed and a 0 - 60 time of 5 seconds. 

Following on from launch of the Clipper the firm’s second car the Venturer quickly followed in 1969. Like the Clipper it had Fiore’s sharp styling and impressive performance figures from its lightweight construction and Ford Essex V6 engine, with 120mph top speed and a 0 - 60 time of 8 seconds. 

By the early 1970’s the economic climate had considerably worsened with a combination of the fuel crisis and economic recession forcing Trident to close their doors in 1974. Two years later an attempt was made to restart production down the road in Ipswich, Suffolk. This was short lived with the firm closing their doors for the last time in 1977. At the time of the firms demise it is believed around 130 Tridents including 39 Clippers and 84 Venturers were produced.

The rather stunning yellow 1971 Trident Venturer you can see before you will be sold in our next Classic Car auction on Thursday June 30th 2022. The car- YRP 333J  is probably one of the best known Tridents in existence, it appears numerously on the internet in articles and even on Wikipedia. The car is also the one immortalised in the Esval diecast model of the Venturer! 

It is being sold by direction of the executors of the cars former owner, who was a prominent member of the Trident Car Club. The car has been cherished by its doting owner since he acquired it in 1988 until he passed away in 2021. Included with the car is an incredible history, running to two bulging ring binders filled with bills, receipts and photographs including a substantial restoration of the car in the mid - late 1990’s. There is also an interesting hand written account of the cars acquisition in January 1988, which states it was previously owned by an Essex millionaire from when the car was 2 years old. Today the car remains in excellent overall condition and is very much a credit to the late owner.  

When the car is auctioned on 30th June will be sold, for the first time in almost 35 years. It represents a very rare opportunity to acquire what must surely be one of the very best and certainly best known Tridents in existence. It is estimated at £20,000 - 25,000.