Reliant Robin

The Reliant Robin (often incorrectly referred to as a Robin Reliant) is a small three wheeled car manufactured by the Reliant Motor Company in Tamworth, England. Being a three-wheeler with an official weight below Auto kg|453.6|0, the Robin can be driven by holders of a B1 category licence or car licence in the United Kingdom, and can be registered and taxed at motorcycle rates, which gives considerable savings over a conventional car. The single wheel in the front steers, while the engine (also in the front) drives the rear axle.

The Robin was first manufactured in 1973 and the final original Robin rolled off the production line in 1981. The vehicle was also produced under licence in Greece by MEBEA between 1974 and 1978. In 1989, Reliant produced a new and totally revamped Robin featuring a new fibreglass body, and increased engine power. This Robin and variants of it were available until February 2001 when Reliant announced the end of production. The final sixty-five Robins designed in 1997 manufactured by Reliant formed a Special Edition known as the Robin 65, featuring leather trim, walnut interior, and a numbered plaque, and sold for approximately £10,000. Manufacturing of the Robin resumed under licence by a company called B&N Plastics in April 2002, but stopped in October of the same year.

Reliant three-wheelers enjoy a special place in British culture, often as the butt of jokes. The Reliant Robin is staple material for comedian Jasper Carrott. However, perhaps two of the best known Reliants in British comedy are actually Reliant Regal Supervans — the dirty yellow van owned by the Trotter brothers in "Only Fools and Horses", and the light blue which always ends up getting tipped over, crashed into, bumped out of its parking space etc by an Austin Mini in "Mr Bean".

Robins are raced, as shown in the photograph on the right. During races several cars usually overturn. The driver can return the car onto its wheels unaided from inside the car by rocking it and pushing down on the track through the window.

In the February 18, 2007 episode of "Top Gear", a Reliant Robin was used by Richard Hammond and James May in an attempt to modify a normal K-reg Robin into a reusable space shuttle. [cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/show/episodes/series9episode4.shtml |title=BBC - Top Gear - Episode Archive - Series 9 - Episode 4 |accessdate=2007-02-21 |format=HTML] Steve Holland, a professional radio-controlled aircraft pilot, helped Hammond to work out how to land a Robin safely. The craft achieved a successful launch, flew for several seconds into the air and managed to successfully jettison the solid fuel rocket boosters on time. This was the largest rocket launched by a non-government organisation in Europe. It used 6 x 40960 NS O hybrid rocket motors giving a maximum thrust of 8 metric tons. However the car failed to separate from the large external fuel tank due to a faulty alignment between the Robin and the external tank (10 thousandths of an inch out), the Robin subsequently crashed and 'seemingly' exploded soon after.

In the June 18, 2007 episode of "Fifth Gear", Tom Ford and Johnny Smith both modified a Reliant Robin, to compete against each other in a speed challenge and a destruction derby.

In the UK, the Reliant Robin is sometimes affectionately nicknamed the "Plastic Pig" because of its distinctive shape and fibreglass bodyshell.

A Reliant Robin is featured in the Golden Earring's video of "Radar Love."

Reliant Robins make semi-regular appearances on "Scrapheap Challenge", often stripped down to a light three-wheeled chassis. One team converted the car into a wheelie-racer. [ [http://www.qwizx.com/jyw/series6/wheelie/cars.html/ qwizx.com] ]

The Reliant Robin had a sister model of car also made by Reliant call the Rialto. Both look similar and have the same chasis.

References

In the popular book series "Angus Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging" by Louise Rennison, Georgia Nicholson's family purchases a Reliant Robin. Georgia refers to it as a "clown car" and is embarrassed at the thought of even being seen riding in it. In one of the books, Georgia's family goes to Memphis, Tennessee to go to a Reliant Robin convention.