Peel Trident at Ripleys New York.

[Trident]

 

[marcus]

Wonder if it's a replica. Has Andy Carter got a concession with Ripley's? Ta for that

[Jim Janecek]

I am pretty sure you can assume it is a replica.
It looks like it has the same electric drive for the back wheel as the Peel P50 replica they have.

I will say this- the Peels get a LOT of attention.  We had a P50 at the NY Auto Show and afterwards, I got a call from someone at the Montreal Auto Show that wanted an Exhibit of Microcars for THEIR Auto Show next January.   Oh, and they really really needed to have a Peel P50 as part of the Exhibit (anything else was just filler apparently...)

Which one of these would you rather go for a ride in:

[marcus]

Well I too am pretty sure that it's a replica, but would not wish to offend anyone who may have restored it, but it does look a bit "better than new". Never mind, it's a great attention getter, and to some extant good publicity for micros, and yes, it certainly will attract attention over there. Mind you, I would still prefer to see a Heinkel/Trojan, Messershmitt, Velorex or Mochet driving along 5th Avenue, and If I ever win the Pools or Lottery I will ship my Trojan over there to see the reaction, then ship it down to Texas and drive it around Plano and Dallas where I work. Then I'd drive it over to Walnut, pull up at that Diner where that gorgeous young waitress almost lost all (ahem!) "self-control" when she heard my accent, and ...(the rest of this post has been deleted, Ed.) !!!

[Jawmedead]

I'd love a ride in the big bin being pushed around by that beauty. 

[marcus]

Oh, is it a bin? I thought it was a tin of fibre-glass polish, to keep the Peel shiny!

[P50]

Mind you, I would still prefer to see a Heinkel/Trojan, Messershmitt, Velorex or Mochet driving along 5th Avenue,

Sorry Marcus but whilst a Heinkel/Schmitt/Isetta etc are pretty far out on the road, a Peel Trident along 5th Avenue would utterly usurp them.

The above machines are usable and pratical.  Peels sold in very low volume because whilst the concept was correct in reality they were not actually fit for purpose. 

However a byproduct of a Peel is its styling,  and that is what a Peel has in abundance. It is off the scale and nothing comes close. Nothing.

(I remember at Peel in '05 in my B&B and hearing high revving two strokes. As I looked out the window I saw 3 Tridents zipping past making their way to the camp site at the other end of Peel Town.  They looked like little spaceships. I rest my case..) 

[marcus]

I quite agree about  the looks issue, I really mean for something to be driven casually through the traffic and cutting it with everything else on more-or-less equal terms. I suppose I am more to the side of a "real car" than a "curio" in the context of driving at normal speed through traffic and being a genuinely useful conveyance. NO DISRESPECT to Peels and other minimal micros!