Funny Car With Single Front Wheel

Three-wheeled car produced by the Reliant Motor Company

Motor vehicle

Reliant Robin
1977 Reliant Robin (Mk ane)
Overview
Manufacturer	Reliant
Production	1973–1981 (UK) 1989–2001 (UK revamped) 2001–2002 (B&N Plastics)
Assembly	Tamworth, England Athens, Hellenic republic (1974–1978, under licence) Burntwood, England
Body and chassis
Class	City car
Torso style	2½-door 3-bicycle saloon with big opening rear window[1] 3-door three-wheel manor 3-door three-wheel hatchback 3-door van
Layout	FMR Front-mid engine with rear-cycle drive
Related	Reliant Regal Van Reliant Kitten[1] Reliant Rialto
Powertrain
Engine	748 cc and 848 cc OHV low-cal blend direct-4[1]
Manual	4-speed transmission all-synchromesh[1]
Dimensions
Wheelbase	85 in (ii,159 mm)[1]
Length	131 in (iii,327 mm) (saloon) [i]
Width	56 in (1,422 mm)[1]
Peak	54 in (i,372 mm)[1]
Chronology
Predecessor	Reliant Regal
Successor	Reliant Rialto (MK.1)

The Reliant Robin is a small iii-wheeled car produced by the Reliant Motor Visitor in Tamworth, England. Information technology was offered in several versions (Mk1, Mk2 and Mk3) over a period of 30 years. It is the second-near pop fibreglass car in history,^{[ further caption needed ]} with Reliant being the second-biggest British car manufacturer for a time.^[ii]

History [edit]

Mk. 1 [edit]

Reliant Robin Mk ane

The Robin was commencement manufactured in October 1973^[3] equally a direct replacement for the Reliant Regal. These models feature a 750cc engine, but in 1975, the automobile gained a number of improvements including an engine boost to 850cc. The Reliant Robin was well received in the 1970s because of good work executed by Ogle Design, (who had previously designed the Bond Bug, and Reliant Scimitar) and affordable price, considering 70 and 85 mph (113 and 137 km/h) was possible, and orders increased with the 1970s fuel crisis. The final original version of the Robin rolled off the production line in 1982, and later a number of limited editions, including the GBS and the Jubilee, it was replaced by the restyled Reliant Rialto designed by IAD in Worthing, UK. The vehicle was also produced nether licence in Hellenic republic by MEBEA between 1974 and 1978, and it was manufactured in India past Sunrise Automotive Industries Limited as the "Badal".

Mk. 2 [edit]

Reliant Robin Mk 2

In 1989, Reliant revived the Robin name, producing a new and totally revamped Robin featuring a new fibreglass body featuring a hatchback, with later an estate and van joining the range. The Rialto continued in production alongside the new Robin until 1998 as purely a cheaper model in saloon, manor and van models too. After on in production, the Robin received new, 12 inch wheels, improved brakes (from the original mini) and an improved interior with new dials and interior trim. Reliant too started offering an unleaded engine (shown by having a dark-green rocker cover) which features hardened exhaust valve seats. As well as this, the new models joined the range with the Lx, SLX, BRG, and Royale models. Royale and BRG models were acme of the range and cost over £9,000. New colours such every bit metallic silver, British racing greenish, royal blueish and nightfire red were used, along with a range of retro-way optional extras such as minilite blend wheels and jaguar custom seat patterns, which then became bachelor on all Robin models.

Mk. 3 [edit]

Reliant Robin Mk three

The Robin received another facelift in 1999, with the design executed by Andy Plumb, chief designer at Reliant at that time. This terminal version was launched boasting the biggest changes since the original launch, with completely new panels and Vauxhall Corsa front lamps. It was the first Robin to be designed with the utilize of a estimator. An electric and a diesel version forth with a pickup variant were conceptualised, but never made. A hatchback van was manufactured.

In 2000, it was announced the last Reliant Robin would be built later 65 limited editions were made. It was named the "Reliant Robin 65" and had a very loftier specification. All 65s had gold metallic paint, red and grey leather seats, red carpets, walnut dashboards, white dials, minilite alloy wheels, premium stereo systems, electronic ignitions and gold plaques on the dashboards which were individually numbered and bore the original owner's engraved name. The selling price was £x,000. The final Reliant Robin produced was given away by The Lord's day newspaper in a Valentine's Twenty-four hours competition in 2001.^[four]

BN-1 and BN-2 [edit]

Manufacturing of the Robin resumed under licence by B&N Plastics in July 2001. This firm was immune to produce 250 cars a year, but it was stalled past problems and production faults and went into financial trouble after producing just twoscore or so consummate cars up to October 2002.

The BN-ane Robin was based on the Robin 65 express edition, and featured all the expensive extras simply with a more than modernistic feature set. The car had a completely redesigned interior, with a new dashboard and interior in black. The trunk as well received some under-the-skin features, including integrated fibreglass skims for the door hinges and a new whole-torso fabrication process, which resulted in reduced weight. The revised motorcar was reapproved, and so that it was legal for sale in the UK.

The BN-ii Robin was a higher specification model, featuring higher-grade materials for the interior, a custom metal pigment terminate, a radio-CD (instead of radio-cassette) and forepart electric windows, a first for the Robin.

General specifications [edit]

The single wheel in the front is responsible for the steering, while the engine (also in the front) drives the rear axle. The Reliant Robin aimed to provide economic and anticipated personal transport. The 850 cc engine gives an acceleration of 0 to 60 mph in 14 seconds and a top speed of 85 mph, they likewise give a very expert economic system figure of upwards to 70 mpg; the later Mk3 Reliant Robin was quoted to give 60 to 100 mpg.

Licence requirements [edit]

Despite its size, by being a three-wheeler with an official mass beneath 450 kg (992 lb), the Robin could traditionally be driven by holders of a B1 category driving licence^[v] in the United Kingdom, and registered and taxed at motorcycle rates, which gave a saving of £55 a year over a conventional automobile. Up until 2001, the B1 licence entitlement was given to those who passed the category A motorcycle test, leading to the common misconception that people could drive a Robin on a motorcycle licence. Those passing their motorbike test subsequently 2001 could non drive a Robin, until the law changed in Dec 2012. As of 29 Dec 2012, tricycles such as the Robin no longer fall within the B1 category licence; in-line with European Union law, tricycles are now classified under the category A "motorcycle licence". Equally such, any person belongings a "full motorcycle licence" may legally drive a Robin. Equally it was not the licence entitlement that inverse, merely rather the categorisation of tricycles into an existing category, the change applies to all holders of category A motorbike licences, whenever they were obtained. Presently afterward this an oversight was that a person with a full motorcar licence could no longer drive a three-wheeled vehicle; this was then altered by the United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland authorities afterwards car companies which produce iii-wheeled vehicles (such as Morgan) protested over the licensing changes, this resulted in motorcar licence holders now being able to bulldoze a three-wheeled vehicle, but an historic period limit of 21 was also added; this 21 or over historic period limit also applies to motorcycle category A licence holders.

Driving a Reliant with a motorcycle licence (Great britain regulations) [edit]

Originally, it was possible to drive a three-wheeled Reliant with a motorcycle allow, as a full motorcycle permit included a B1 class endorsement, which gave a driver the right to drive vehicles with iii or four wheels of upwardly to 550 kg.^{[ citation needed ]} Nonetheless, the DVLA ceased to result the B1 endorsement in 2001.^{[ citation needed ]}

Interest in the Reliant increased again after Jan 2013, when the licensing scheme was inverse in one case once more. From 2013, a holder of a full category A motorcycle licence over the age of 21 may drive a three-wheeled vehicle of any ability. This historic period brake applies to full Category B holders also. In a further modify in 2014, the UK government created a new descriptor "motor tricycles with power output over 15kW" within the top-level category A (including its related commuter age restriction of 21 years), into which the Reliant three wheeler range fits.^{[6] [7]}

Considering of these licensing changes, a Reliant Robin cannot exist driven with a provisional licence;^[viii] unless the commuter meets sure disability criteria.^[9]

In popular culture [edit]

Reliant iii-wheelers enjoy a special identify in British culture, often as the butt of jokes, such as when Patsy Rock dismissively refers to Edina Monsoon's isolation bedroom as resembling one in the Tv set serial Absolutely Fabulous. In the United Kingdom, the Robin is sometimes affectionately nicknamed the "Plastic Hog" considering of its distinctive shape and fibreglass body shell. It is also often, and erroneously, referred to as the Robin Reliant.^[ten] Georgia Nicolson, the fictional heroine of Louise Rennison's Confessions of Georgia Nicolson book series aimed at teenaged girls, regularly makes fun of the family unit car, referred to as a Robin Reliant.

Miss Shepherd owned ane Reliant Robin^[11] in The Lady in the Van, a 1989 book, 1999 play and 2015 pic by Alan Bennett, a real-life portrayal of a case of Diógenes syndrome.

The Reliant Robin is staple material for comedian Jasper Carrott.

Maybe 2 of the all-time known Reliants in British one-act are actually Reliant Purple Supervans—the dirty yellowish van endemic by the Trotter brothers in Only Fools and Horses, and the light blue van that always ends upwards getting tipped over, crashed into, bumped out of its parking space etc. by a British Leyland Mini in Mr. Bean.

Reliant Robins brand semi-regular appearances on Scrapheap Claiming, ofttimes stripped downward to a light three-wheeled chassis. One team converted the car into a wheelie-racer.^[12]

The 2011 Disney film Cars ii features a French grapheme named Tomber who is patterned on a Reliant Regal saloon car, though he also has been compared to a Robin. His name means "falling" in French, referencing the instability of 3-wheel vehicles.^[13]

The 2018 music video for Rick Astley'south She Makes Me, from the album Beautiful Life prominently features a yellow Reliant Rialto.^[xiv]

The original American television serial Magnum P.I. features a Robin in the flavor six opener from 1985, titled "Deja Vu". Johnathon Quayle Higgins rents and drives one.

In the 2019 Amazon Prime Video series Good Omens Witchhunter Private Newton Pulsifer (played by Jack Whitehall) drives a robin's egg blue Robin.

Top Gear [edit]

A replica of the Reliant Robin Space Shuttle used in Tiptop Gear

On xviii February 2007 episode of Meridian Gear (series nine, episode 4), a Reliant Robin was used by Richard Hammond and James May in an attempt to change a normal Yard-reg Robin into a reusable Space Shuttle. The booster rockets separated cleanly, but the fuel tank did not detach, and the Robin crashed into the ground. This launch was the "largest non-commercial rocket launch in European history."^[15]

In a subsequent episode of Top Gear (series xv, episode one), a modified 1994 Reliant Robin was used by Jeremy Clarkson to drive 14 miles from Sheffield to Rotherham. He described driving it as dangerous every bit "inviting your mum 'circular for an evening on chatroulette", and that the Robin "wasn't funny, it was a complete menace." During the segment, Clarkson rolled a specially side-weighted Robin at least six times. The post-obit ii episodes featured racing driver The Stig and Ken Cake on their test track in Robins, and neither of them could terminate a clean lap in the specially doctored Robin. Later on on, Clarkson admitted that the Robin used in the show had the differential modified to let "the poor fiddling affair" to whorl over easily.^{[sixteen] [17]} The car also had unequal sized wheels fitted creating an imbalance toward the driver'southward side.^[18]

See besides [edit]

• Biotechnia Ellinikon Trikyklon – Greek manufacturer of three-wheeled vehicles
• Liège

References [edit]

1. ^ ^{a b c d eastward f g h} "The Regal is dead...long live the Robin". Motor. Vol. 3708. 3 Nov 1973. pp. 18–19.
2. ^ Ian Shepherd (24 February 1972). "Motor Exports and Imports Face boom Twelvemonth - Reliant". Birmingham Daily Post. p. 12. Retrieved 2 March 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
3. ^ "Reliant". Uniquecarsandparts.com.au. 14 February 2001. Retrieved v February 2012.
4. ^ I've got last Del-Boy car, www.3wheelers.com Retrieved 21 Apr 2017
5. ^ The B1 category used to cover motor tricycles and quadricycles, weighing upward to 550 kg (1,200 lb) unladen (meet driving licence in the United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland)
6. ^ "Bike categories, ages and licence requirements". GOV.United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland. Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
7. ^ "What is the law relating to iii wheel vehicles?". Ask The Police force. Police National Legal Database. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
8. ^ "Changes to the driving licence and categories". Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. 30 Nov 2012. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
9. ^ "Driving licence categories". Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. 19 October 2015. Retrieved 28 Dec 2015.
10. ^ "Robin Reliant – the machine that doesn't exist". 3wheelers.com. Archived from the original on thirty May 2012. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
11. ^ Bennett, Alan (1989). The Lady in the Van. London Review of Books. ISBN184765357X . Retrieved 28 December 2015.
12. ^ "qwizx.com". qwizx.com. Archived from the original on 25 August 2010. Retrieved 29 November 2010.
13. ^ "Tomber". disney.get.com. Retrieved 2 June 2011.
14. ^ "YouTube official video of 'She Makes Me'". Archived from the original on 22 December 2021. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
15. ^ "BBC – Top Gear – Episode Archive – Serial 9 – Episode iv". Retrieved 21 February 2007.
16. ^ "Jeremy Clarkson Has Revealed Some Secrets Regarding Faked Scenes On 'Summit Gear'". The Lad Bible . Retrieved fifteen January 2016. ^{[ dead link ]}
17. ^ Clarkson, Jeremy. "The Clarkson Review: Reliant Robin". Driving. The Lord's day Times. Retrieved 24 Apr 2017.
18. ^ "BBC Top Gear - and the infamous rolling Reliant Robin episode". The Reliant Motor Club. Retrieved 12 March 2022.

External links [edit]

Media related to Reliant Robin at Wikimedia Commons

• Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear 'rolls' the Reliant
• Imagine Dragons – On Top of the World
• Reliant Owners Club
• iii-wheelers Website
• Reliant Motor Club

bennettconevesses1964.blogspot.com

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reliant_Robin

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