Reliant Motors

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Reliant Motor Company was a British car

manufacturer based in Tamworth,
Staffordshire, England. It was founded in
1935 and went defunct in 2002.
 Reliant Motor Company

1971 Reliant Regal

Industry Automotive

Fate Ending of car

production
Founded 1935

Founders Tom Williams, Eddie

Thompson,
Defunct 2002

Headquarters Tamworth, England

Products Cars, vans, pickup
trucks
Parent Hodge International
(1962-1977) Nash
Group (1978-1990),
Bean Industries
(1989-1994)
Website www
.reliantpartsworld.co
.uk

Reliant was a large manufacturing

company that mainly produced vehicles
for niche markets, such as small three-
wheeled vehicles and sports cars. It was
best known for the three-wheeled Reliant
Robin, but produced a variety of vehicles
over 60 years, including sports cars,
convertibles and commercial vehicles.
Approximately half a million Reliant
vehicles were produced and sold in at
least nine countries. For a period from the
1970s until the 1990s, Reliant was the UK's
2nd biggest British-owned car
manufacturer behind British Leyland.[1]

To make their vehicles light, the company

decided to produce car bodies from
fibreglass in the mid-1950s. From this,
Reliant became a pioneer in fibreglass
design, techniques, and developments.
Reliant also produced kitchen countertops,
train bodies, and personal watercraft
shells from fibreglass. In the 1970s,
Reliant was the largest producer of
fibreglass in Europe.

The only part of the Reliant Motor

Company that still operates after its
closure is Reliant Parts World, which
produces spare parts for Reliant vehicles.

Company history and car

production
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verification. Learn more
1974 Reliant Robin

Reliant Kitten Estate.

Bond Bug
Reliant Scimitar SS1

First vehicles …

When the Raleigh Bicycle Company

decided to discontinue the manufacture of
their three-wheeled vehicles in 1934, their
works manager, T. L. Williams, and a
colleague, E. S. Thompson, felt that the
days of lightweight three-wheelers were
not over. They decided to build their own
vehicle in Williams's back garden on
Kettlebrook Road in Tamworth. Their
home-built design closely resembled the
Karryall van previously built by Raleigh,
and the prototype was licensed in January
1935.[2] It was a 7 cwt (356 kg) van with a
steel chassis, powered by a 600 cc single-
cylinder engine driving the rear wheels
through a 3-speed gearbox and chain
drive. The body was a hardwood frame
with aluminium panels attached to it, like
other cars of the time. With the motorcycle
front end, mounted in the open, in front of
the bulkhead, it was essentially a
motorcycle fitted with a box body. The
initial prototype had handlebars for
steering,[3] but after several trials with
small local companies, it was changed to
a steering wheel.

The work moved to a disused bus depot

on Watling Street in Fazeley.[2] On 3 June
1935, the first Reliant was delivered.
Powered by a single-cylinder air-cooled
600cc J.A.P. engine, the driver sat centrally
on the vehicle astride the engine, much
like a motorcyclist. The single-cylinder
engine left the Reliant under-powered. In
March 1936, a two-cylinder, water-cooled
J.A.P. engine and an increase to 8 cwt
(407 kg) gross vehicle weight was
released. The driver no longer sat astride
the engine and the vehicle gained more
conventional forward-facing seats in the
front. The first improved 8 cwt twin-
cylinder model was delivered on 16 March
1936.

In 1938, the Reliant Motor Company

started to use the 7 hp, 747 cc four-
cylinder Austin side-valve engine as found
in the popular Austin Seven. The first four-
cylinder Reliant was delivered on 12 March
1938. The Austin Car Company then
announced its intention to cease
production of the 747 cc Austin Seven
engine, as Williams was always
enthusiastic about making Reliant as
independent as possible. He was keen that
the company did not buy parts that it could
make 'in-house'. Austin sold all the 747 cc
engine tooling and manufacture rights to
Reliant, allowing them to commence
manufacturing the engine. Although
appearing very similar to the Austin
engine, the level of commonality between
Reliant and Austin remains unclear; the
Reliant side-valve engine was a 747 cc
four-cylinder unit built using smaller-scale
manufacturing techniques than Austin.
The Reliant crankcase was sand-cast
rather than die-cast.

Postwar vehicles and advent of

fibreglass
…
During the Second World War, Reliant
machined parts for the war effort. In the
post-war years, three-wheeler development
continued. Reliant introduced a slightly
modified van called the Regent. Visually
similar to an over-sized motorcycle, the
first Regent was completed on 13 March
1946, ten years after the first twin-cylinder
van. The Regent grew to a GVW of 10 cwt
and was better equipped, with sliding
windows in the doors rather than canvas
side screens. Two larger models were
produced, a 12 cwt Regent and a Prince
Regent. In 1953, the Regent continued to
be built alongside the Reliant Regal. The
Regent was eventually replaced by the
Regal Mk II 5 cwt van in 1956.[4]

In 1952, a four-seat car was launched,

initially with an aluminium body, but panel
by panel, the company substituted it for
fibreglass, as their understanding of the
material improved and the price of
aluminium increased.[2] By 1956, the
bodywork of the Mark 3 version of the
Reliant Regal had changed completely to
fibreglass. The first generation of vehicles
were designated Mk1 to Mk6, with each
one getting improvements and slightly
different styling. The car was originally
powered by the 750 cc Austin Seven
engine, originally manufactured by Austin
Motor Company and later Reliant. Reliant's
redesign of the engine gave it 17.5 hp
(13.0 kW), which was a big improvement
over the 7 hp of the original Austin design.
Reliant was one of the last companies to
produce a side-valve engine design, with
the production of the Reliant 750 cc
engine ending in 1962.

The 1963 Regal 3/25 had its body

completely made of fibreglass. On
previous generations of the Regal, the
body was fibreglass, but the floor was
made of bolted-together hardwood. Its
engine was the first mass-produced
lightweight overhead valve aluminium-
alloy engine in Europe and the UK.
Displacement was initially 598 cc on the
Regal 3/25, but was later upgraded to 700
cc on the later Regal 3/30.

Expansion …

At the same time, Reliant were working for

other countries to design vehicles for
home-grown production. Vehicles would
be sent over in kit form for the countries'
own workforce to assemble. Reliant would
first design the vehicle to the countries' or
companies' requirements. The first was
the Anadol in Turkey, which was based on
a mix of Ford parts and a custom chassis.
The Anadol began as a 2-door saloon, then
a 4-door saloon, followed by commercial
pickup and van versions. The pickup was
produced until the early 1990s.

A similar vehicle was the Israeli Sabra

Sport, also based on a Ford engine and
running gear. Reliant was so impressed
with the design, they sold it in the UK as
the Sabre to help Reliant's company image
expand beyond a 3-wheeled micro-car
maker. The car sold poorly against
offerings from Triumph and MG, however.
Later, Reliant bought a prototype design
for the replacement Daimler Dart, which
would become the Scimitar Coupe and
later the best-selling sporting estate—the
Scimitar GTE.

To power the Scimitar GT Coupe and

Sabre, Reliant turned towards Ford of
Britain and were supplied with the Zephyr
6 and Consul 4 engines. The Coupe GT
could be purchased with either the 2.5 litre
or the 3.0 litre Essex V6 engines. Later, 3.0
GTE's were fitted with the Essex V6 engine
and gearbox. On the 3.0 V6 GTE, the back
axle ratio changed depending on the use
of either a straight 4-speed gearbox or one
with an overdrive unit.

Reliant bought out Bond Cars in 1969 after

Bond had gone into liquidation. Reliant
purchased Bond after wanting to enter
Triumph dealerships. Bond's Equipe sports
car already had this agreement, but
Triumph entered British Leyland and the
deal ended. It is said that Bond was
Reliant's main competitor in 3-wheeled
vehicles, with the Bond Minicar and the
Bond 875, but Reliant's vehicles outsold
Bond's in huge numbers, with a much
larger production and dealer network.
Reliant did use the Bond name for the
1970s Bond Bug, which was a Reliant
prototype originally named the Reliant
Rogue. The Bug was a sporty 3-wheeler
designed by Ogle designer Tom Karen. The
Bug used a shortened Reliant Regal
chassis and other mechanical parts, but
many parts, such as the front swingarm,
were a new design that would also be
used on the 1973 Reliant Robin. The Bond
Bug came in 700, 700E and 700ES models
until replaced by the 750 model.

Reliant built 4-wheeled versions of their 3-

wheeled stablemates – the first was the
Reliant Rebel, which had three-quarters of
the rear chassis design of the Regal, but
Triumph Herald front suspension and
standard Austin Seven steering. The
engines were the same 600 cc and 700 cc
units used in the Regal, but with a higher
compression ratio and more torque
because of the extra weight the Rebel
carried over the Regal. The last model
came with the 750 cc version when the
Mk1 Reliant Robin was introduced. The
styling of the Rebel was intended to make
the car look unique so it did not seem like
a 4-wheeled version of the Regal; the Rebel
came in saloon, estate and van models.

The Reliant Kitten was the 4-wheeled

version of the 1970s Reliant Robin,
designed to replace the Rebel and
featuring the 850 cc version of Reliant's
own engine, which was introduced in 1975
(with the Reliant Robin gaining the engine
shortly afterwards). The design this time
featured very heavily on the Reliant Robin
with only the nose of the design being
different, having square headlights and a
black panel around them – this was done
mainly for cost-saving reasons so the
parts from both vehicles could be shared
for production.

After Reliant Kitten production stopped in

1982, the rights were sold to Sipani
Automobiles in India who made the vehicle
near-exactly the same, but with the name
Sipani Dolphin. Later, the vehicle became a
4-door hatchback called the Sipani
Montana. The car was built well into the
1990s with exactly the same Kitten
mechanical. Reliant exported engines they
had built for their own vehicles in the UK.

Between 1983 and 1990, a utility/pickup

vehicle called the Reliant Fox was
produced in the UK. This was based on an
original development by Reliant to design
a vehicle for the Greek company MEBEA. It
was based on Reliant Kitten mechanical
with its own pickup body and canvas top
design. It had originally been built in
Greece by MEBEA between 1979 and
1983.[5] After production finished in
Greece, Reliant decided to build it in the
UK, but gave the Fox many design
changes, including 12-inch wheels, altered
suspension and the high compression 850
cc engine. They designed a rear hardtop to
make the vehicle into a van or estate.
Tandy Industries used Foxes as a basis for
a compact, two-berth camper-van.

Reliant also made a small 3-wheeled

commercial vehicle called the Reliant TW9,
later sold by other companies as the Ant
(and, like the Robin, licence-built in Greece
by MEBEA[5]), which was a chassis and
cab, onto which a custom rear body was
fitted: a road sweeper, a flat back, a van, a
milk float and hydraulic lifting rear bed
version were common fitments. Also, a
fifth wheel (actually fourth wheel)
articulated tractor unit was created to pull
large trailers. It was often used by public
utility companies or more commonly sold
to councils, where its ability to negotiate
narrow alleyways was a big advantage.

Reliant's expertise in the area of

composite car body production also saw
the company produce lightweight
bodyshells for Ford RS200 rally cars and a
fibreglass-bodied taxi, the MetroCab – the
first to have full wheelchair provision,
manufactured by a division of Kamkorp,
they also made Ford fibreglass truck cabs
and Ford Transit hightops. With Reliant's
expertise in fibreglass. the company
created bodies for trains, kitchen worktops
and boat/jet ski hulls.

Reliant's main business was selling 3-

wheeled vehicles. The main market these
would sell to would be a motorcyclist who
didn't wish to pass their full car licence
test. It was a sizable niche market due to
the large number of motorcyclists present
and it lasted until 2001 when the EU
eliminated the B1 class from been issued
with a full motorcycle licence (the B1
allowing the holder to drive a 3 or 4-
wheeled vehicle up to the weight of
550 kg). The change capped Reliant's
market share.

End of car production …

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Learn more

The Hodge Group bought the majority of

Reliant in 1962, selling it 15 years later to
the Nash family. During the early 1990s,
the owner of Reliant was a major housing
developer and when the 1992 recession
hit, the company folded and Reliant was
sold to Beans Engineering. By 1996,
Jonathan Heynes took the lead and his
main backer took control – Heynes
created a new range of Robin and Rialto
specifications to appeal to more
customers including more luxury models
such as the SLX. Sales doubled as
previously most Reliant vehicles were
basic with not even the option of metallic
paint.

In 1997, production was relocated to Plant

Lane, Burntwood, following a major
redesign of the Robin model in 1998. The
new model featured all new panels and
was essentially a 'heavy facelift' designed
by Andy Plumb. Research continued into 4-
wheeled Reliant models such as a Kitten
for the modern age. Prototypes for this
featured in many newspapers and
magazines at the time. Production
continued of the Robin model until 2001
when shareholders decided to import
Ligier microcars and Piaggio Ape 3-
wheelers instead. Jonathon Heynes sold
his shares and left the company before
production ended because he wished to
create an all-new 4-wheeled Reliant model
instead.

The last Reliant made was the Robin 65 a

Reliant Robin in metallic gold to celebrate
65 years of car production. The vehicles
had every optional extra and sold for
£10,000 - 65 of these vehicles were built
up to Valentine's Day 2001.

Export markets
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Reliant, in the early 1950s, would strike a

deal in Israel to produce Regent vans in
SKD form. Not long after this, Israel would
ask Reliant for a 4-wheeled vehicle design
which could be built in Israel that was
strong for their rough roads and could be
used with a choice of van, pick up, and
estate body styles. The car used a lot of
Reliant's existing parts; basically
converting a Regent into a 4-wheeled
vehicle. This vehicle would never be sold in
the UK and called the Reliant Regent four
10 cwt van, this would be sold in Israel by
Autocars limited but the vehicle renamed
Sussita to make it seem a more
homegrown car. In 1958 Reliant showed
this vehicle excessively in the UK to show
they could design more than just 3
wheeled vehicles but also only showed in
LHD form as it was only an overseas
model. Later the pickup and estate models
would be designed with much praise from
Israel buyers.
Building on this relationship Autocars
would then set Reliant the challenge to
design a peoples car for their country, this
car would later be named the Carmel. The
Carmel was designed around the same
time Reliant were designing its Regal 3/25
and somehow some of its design features
rubbed off, the square styling with a
reverse slant Ford Anglia rear window for
one, the engine was also the 1100cc Ford
Anglia unit, apart from the body many of
the chassis and running gear was used
from the Sussita. Reliant would later
design the Sabra Sport using Ashley
Laminates existing kit car designs which
reliant would redesign again to sell it in the
UK market as the Reliant Sabre.

Reliant would continue designing vehicles

for Autocars into the early 1970s when
Autocars started to source parts from
Standard-Triumph severing ties with reliant
in the process, Autocars would end in the
late 1970s and would plan to start a new
company selling Reliant Kittens in Israel
but this would not happen.

From this export started another as in

1962 a Turkish delegation visited Autocars
in Israel and was impressed with its car
production, Turkey would later instruct
Reliant to design its own Peoples car.
Through this deal Reliant designed the
Anadol, a saloon vehicle using a GRP body,
separate chassis and ford running gear,
this deal though would not just be for a
vehicle design but to help turkey create its
whole car production from its factory,
paint and production. The company would
be named Otosan.

The Anadol would be designed into 2 door

saloon, 4 door saloon, van, pick up and
estate, several redesigns would keep the
Anadol looking modern into the 1970s,
later Otosan became more distant from
Reliant as local content rose. Reliant
offered in the 1980s again to redesign the
Anadol even presenting a prototype but by
this time Otosan believed it could go it
alone and redesigned the vehicle itself,
this wouldn't end well for Otosan with
declining sales and eventually Otosan
became a Ford assembly plant for Turkey
producing the Ford Escort.

Revival attempt
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Shortly after Reliant announced that

production of the Robin would cease,
production rights for the Reliant Robin
were sold to a Sudbury-based firm called
B&N Plastics, which redesigned major
parts of the car. A deal was done where
Reliant would supply the mechanical parts
of the Reliant Robin to B&N Plastics and
then the fibreglass skills of B&N Plastics
would be used to build the vehicle and sell
it under its own name.

Production of the new Robin would begin

in late 2001. The new car would be called
the BN-1 Robin with no Reliant branding.
The BN-2 model would be made with
extras such as electric windows. The cost
of the base model, the BN-1 Robin, was
£10,000, but had all the features of the
Robin 65, such as a leather interior. The
BN-2 model had all these extras and more.

However, after 30 to 40 cars were

produced, Reliant could not supply the
mechanical parts of the Reliant Robin as
they had decided to end production of the
Reliant 850 cc engine, which meant that
the BN-1 Robin would need a redesign to
use a different engine if production
continued.

B&N Plastics had already spent £100,000

on approving the Robin design so
production could start. The company
sought to find more investors to help fund
further redesigns to keep the Robin alive
but by early 2002, no investors were found
and B&N Plastics ended its car production
with over 200 orders unfulfilled. B&N
Plastics ceased production in late 2002.

In later years, it was revealed that B&N

Plastics were planning to fit a Japanese K-
car 660 cc 3-cylinder engine and 5-speed
gearbox to make the Reliant Robin more
modern.

Final years …

This section does not cite any sources.

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Reliant produced 50 vehicles a week until
2001, when it finished production of its
own models to focus on importing French
Ligier microcars and motorcycles as well
as the Piaggio Ape range of commercial
vehicles. A final version of the Reliant
Robin was produced with leather seats,
metallic gold paint, alloy wheels, walnut
dashboard, and some other luxurious
features, which retailed for £10,000. The
car was made in the company's 65th year
of production, and so was named the
Reliant Robin 65.

Reliant Cars Ltd. was renamed Reliant

Partsworld, and operates from the factory
where the Robin was built.

The old site of Reliant Motors, in

Tamworth, was turned into a housing
estate named Scimitar Park, after the
Reliant Scimitar that the company
produced. A number of streets in the
estate were named after Reliant models as
well, such as 'Robin Close'. The company
produced up to two million vehicles over a
65-year history starting in 1935, and sold
its cars in nine countries, including the
Netherlands, India, and the Middle East.

Other forms of
manufacturing
 This section does not cite any sources.
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Since Reliant would be known for building

robust fibreglass vehicles, it would
diversify into producing fibreglass items
other than their own vehicles. It was
showcased in the "World of Reliant"
documentary, which was written and
filmed by Reliant in the early 1980s to
show how diverse the company had
become from a small car company
producing 3-wheeled vehicles.

Other fibreglass products produced were

items such as GRP sinks and kitchen
worktops, GRP replacement car wings for
metal vehicles, GRP guttering and tubes,
GRP train carriage bodies for British rail,
and GRP aircraft bodies.

Reliant also had many contracts with Ford

to build fibreglass high roof tops for their
Transit model. Vauxhall Motors would also
contract Reliant to make their GRP body
kits for the Chevette.

Commemoration plaque

Reliant Blue Plaque

On 8 July 2017, a blue plaque was unveiled
to honour both the founders, T. L. Williams
and E. S. Thompson, and marked the
birthplace of Reliant. The first Reliant
prototype was built by Williams and
Thompson in 1934, in the rear garden of
Williams' residence, named Bro-Dawel, on
Kettlebrook Road.

Myths
The most widespread myth regarding
Reliant vehicles is that they cannot go
around corners. This was supposedly
demonstrated on Top Gear, but Jeremy
Clarkson admitted in The Sunday Times in
2016[6] that the Robin only rolled over
frequently because the production team
had tampered with the differential. If they
hadn't, the car would have been much
more stable.[7]

Another myth is that a Reliant – or any

three-wheeled vehicle – isn't allowed on
British motorways. This is not the case.
Any two-, three- or four-wheeled vehicle is
allowed on the motorway as long as its
engine size is over 50 cc (0.05 l).

It is a common misconception that the

main character Derek "Delboy" Trotter in
the British television comedy series Only
Fools and Horses owned a Reliant Robin.
Many people painted their Reliant Robins
and Rialtos yellow with the famous
"Trotters’ Independent Trading Co"
lettering, but the Trotters' van was actually
a Reliant Regal Supervan III.

Many people are under the impression

Reliant 3-wheeler can be driven on a
Compulsory Basic Training (CBT) licence,
but Reliant 3-wheeler have engines larger
than the CBT licence allows. Such license
holders cannot drive Reliant. To drive a
Reliant, a full motorcycle or car licence is
required and the driver must be over 21.
Another widely held myth was that all
Reliant 3-wheeler have no reverse gear;
before 1964, the reverse gear would be
disabled, but all Reliant vehicles were
equipped with one.

Licensing
Originally, to drive a three-wheeled vehicle
on a motorcycle licence required passing a
full motorcycle test and completing a
restriction period. When the licence was
issued it included a B1 class. This
conferred the right to drive a vehicle with
three or four wheels up to 550 kg, but the
final B1 licences were issued in 2001. In
January 2013, the licensing changed
again. Drivers with a full A-category
motorcycle licence who are over 21 years
of age may drive a three-wheeled vehicle
of any weight. The age restriction of 21
applies to full car licence holders also in
the UK. Driving any Reliant three-wheeled
vehicle is not legal on a CBT licence or
lower.[8]

Models
7cwt, 10cwt 1935–1939
8cwt, 10cwt, 12cwt 1946-1950
Regent 1950–1956
Regal 1953–1973 and Supervan III
Sabre 1961–1964
Scimitar GT 1964–1970
Rebel 1964–1974
FW5 1966–1975
TW9 1967–1987
Scimitar GTE/GTC 1968–1986
Robin 1973–1982, 1989–2002
Kitten 1975–1982
FW11 1977
Rialto 1982–1997
Fox 1982–1990
Scimitar SS1/SST 1984–1992
Scimitar Sabre 1992–1995
See also
List of car manufacturers of the United
Kingdom

References

Wikimedia Commons has media

related to Reliant.

1. "Classic Reliant Cars" .

www.usedclassiccars.co.uk. Retrieved
31 December 2019.
2. "Robin's rest". CAR: 106–108.
December 2000.
3. Payne, Elvis (2016). The Reliant Motor
Company. Crecy Publishing.
4. classiccars.brightwells.com
http://classiccars.brightwells.com/vie
wdetails.php?id=6274 . Retrieved
4 March 2020. Missing or empty
|title= (help)
5. Skartsis, L., "Greek Vehicle & Machine
Manufacturers 1800 to present: A
Pictorial History", Marathon (2012)
ISBN 978-960-93-4452-4 (eBook)
. "The Clarkson review: Reliant Robin" .
11 January 2016. Retrieved 30 August
2017.
7. "Jeremy Clarkson Admits Top Gear's
Reliant Robin Rollovers Were
 Completely Rigged" . 13 January 2016.
Retrieved 30 August 2017.
. English, Andrew (8 May 2013).
"Changes to the three-wheeler
licence" . Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-
1235 . Retrieved 23 March 2020.

Sources
Pither, D (2001). Reliant Regal and Robin.
Thrupp.
Wotherspoon, N (1993). Lawrie Bond; the
man and the marque. Minster Lovell.
Armstrong, Aldridge, Boyes, Mustoe &
Storey (2003). Companion to British
 Road Haulage History. NMSI Trading
Science Museum. ISBN 1-900747-46-4.
Payne, Elvis (2016). The Reliant Motor
Company. Crecy Publishing.

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