Trident Iceni diesel supercar for Salon Privé

The 2012 Salon Privé has announced another coup – the all-new Trident Iceni Grand Tourer.

We fear that describing a carmaker most of us have never heard of as “iconic” may be over-doing things a bit, but the Iceni is certainly an interesting device. Instead of a whacking great petrol V8, its power unit of choice is a rather less obvious 6.6-litre turbodiesel.

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The British-built Trident Iceni has been around for several years, but its appearance at the closest thing we have to Pebble Beach may be a sign that it’s finally going to make it into some kind of production.

Certainly the styling has been updated. But it’s the stats that will really draw some attention. In standard tune the engine delivers 430hp and an utterly ridiculous 950lb ft of torque.

Happy to slurp regular diesel, bio diesel, palm oil or even linseed oil, at 70mph the big unit will apparently be rotating at less than 1,000rpm and have 700lb ft ready on tap.

If so, in-gear acceleration should be properly described as absolutely nuts. Here’s hoping Trident has got the traction control right – assuming the Iceni actually has any.

Still not mad enough? You’ll be wanting the upgrade package, then. This boosts power to 660hp and torque to 1,050lb ft. ‘Yikes’ is the word you are looking for.

It’s not all monster, though. At that 70mph cruise, the engine is apparently working so effortlessly it will return 68.9mpg while providing a 2,000-mile range.

On Bing: see images of the Trident Iceni

In Pictures: Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance

Salon Privé 2012: 20 reasons to visit

Slovenian supercar gets Salon Privé debut