Peel Trident

The Peel Trident is the second three-wheeled microcar built by the Peel Engineering Company on the Isle of Man. An all-new design from its one-seat counterpart the Peel P50, the Trident has two seats.

History

The Trident was launched at the 1964 British Motorcycle Show held at Earls Court [Exhibition Centre|Earls Court]. The seat, stated as being wide, was intended to provide for use as an occasional two-seater.
A completely new design from the earlier side-engined Peel P50 microcar, the Trident was manufactured in 1965 and 1966.
In 2011, Peel Engineering Ltd. reinstated manufacture of the Peel Trident and P50, in Sutton-in-Ashfield, near Nottingham, England. All vehicles are hand-built to order in petrol and electric form.

Description and specifications

The glass-fibre shell was a monocoque with coil-sprung, undamped wheels. It featured a clear bubble top and either two seats or one seat with a detachable shopping basket.
The Lakeland Motor Museum observes that the Trident's bubble top constituted grounds for its sobriquet "The Terrestrial Flying Saucer." Like its predecessor, it was marketed as a "shopping car" or a "Saloon Scooter".
The car is long and wide, with a weight of . Like the P50, it uses a DKW engine which generates, and a top speed of. It was advertised that the Trident got, "almost cheaper than walking". The original retail price was £190.
All engines supplied to Peel from Zweirad Union were of the 49 cc 3-speed 4.2 hp 804–1600 type. Uniquely, however, the Peel engines had the 8th digit as a 4, thus being of the form 80416004***. This car is one of the smallest in the world.