1983 Ford Trio - AllCarIndex

Official press release:

The smallest four-wheeled passenger car ever to bear the Ford badge will make its world debut on the Ghia Operations stand at the Geneva Motor Show (March 10-20, 1983). Known as the Ghia Trio, this new microcar is just 2,408 mm long, yet can seat two passengers as well as the driver.

The key to the Trio's exceptional passenger accommodation lies in its unusual seating arrangement:    the driver's seat is located

centrally, with a passenger seat either side, set back in an "arrowhead" configuration. These staggered seats enable three adults to sit within a width of only 1,362 mm.

Economy of operation

Economy of operation was the guiding principle during the design, development and construction of the Trio in Ghia's Turin workshops.

Weight saving is even practised in the interior of the Trio, which has a kerb weight of only 337 kg. The floor of the passenger compartment is a honeycomb sandwich of glass fibre and kevlar, while the seat frames are made from aluminium and glass fibre, upholstered in an orange suede material with fawn contrast panels.

A strong, light, tubular frame serves both as the chassis and to locate the aluminium body panels of the Trio, while side and rear light assemblies are formed from metacrylate, a scratch-proof plastic that is stronger yet lighter than glass.

Flush glazing gives the Trio a modern look and to eliminate the weight of the window-winding mechanism, each side window incorporates a hinged drop-down section for use when paying parking tolls. Door thickness can therefore be kept to a minimum: this space-saving feature is used to accommodate lightweight soft shopping bags either side of the driver.

As Trio is only intended for urban operation, power has been kept to a minimum, and it is equipped with a rear-mounted 250 cc twin-cylinder, two-stroke engine driving the back axle through a BMA continuously-variable belt-transmission. It can achieve a fuel economy of less than 4 litres/100 km, and has a maximum speed of 80 km/h.

Luggage capacity

A lever ahead of the driver selects forward or reverse motion, while a centrifugal clutch gives two-pedal control for ease of operation in city traffic. The umbrella-handle parking brake is concealed beneath the parcel shelf, which carries two soft-topped parcel boxes. Further luggage space consists of a lidded parcel box between the passenger seats, with a wide shelf behind bringing the total luggage capacity to over 1.5 cubic metres.

"The philosophy behind Trio's unusual layout is based on the fact that for 90 per cent of the time urban vehicles travel with only the driver in the car," comments Filippo Sapino, Managing Director of Ghia Operations. "But while the Trio has ample space for the driver, its extra seats enable two passengers to be carried on short journeys".

LENGTH:    2,408 mm

WHEELBASE: 1,650 mm

HEIGHT:    1,345 mm

WIDTH: 1,362 mm

TRACK (front): 970 mm

TRACK (rear): 1,154 mm

TYRES: 4.80 x 400

WEIGHT: 337 kg