Reliant Robin

I like my Reliant Rialto, it does exactly what it says on the tin and is very fun to drive. It's galvanised chassis and plastic body mean that if looked after (and not pranged), then it should last anyone's lifetime! The only dislike that I have about it, is the lack of respect from certain four-wheeler drivers: People who drive right up to the back end of the car or pass on blind bends, simply because they can't stand being behind a three wheeler. I may be driving at the speed limit of the road, but they still do it. I've seen some stupid driving in order to get in front of me.

The Reliant Robin is nice and sweet

i want it :D

there aren't any bad points-I love this car.. :D

A Very British Machine

The Robin Reliant as it is nicknamed is a throw back to the pre war era of 1935 when motor cycles with side cars were popular with the cloth cap working class. The next step up was to a three wheel car as the mini had not been invented. In Germany the Bubble car was popular after the war. In the UK there were the Reliant Regal and Bond Bug they made it into the 1970's. The bubble cars were gone by the 1960's in Germany but due to the UK allowing a driver with a motor cycle license to drive a three wheel car they continued in the UK and also as road tax was much cheaper as well as insurance it was cheaper than most other cars.

The Reliant Regal was replaced by the Robin in 1973 with great hilarity to me as it was a pleasure to spot one and to see a genuine working class man driving it. In 1979 they were restyled and called Rialto produced until 2001 when the market had all but dried up as it was no longer at all cheap costing up to £10,000. New car prices have dropped that much in comparison in real terms.

Powered by Reliant's own all alloy 850cc 40 hp engine performance was reasonable for the day 85mph top speed 0-60 in 16 seconds fuel economy was very good 50mpg at 70 mph 80mpg at 50 mpg and 40mpg around town. I remember there being a lot of these about in the early 1970's up North were I lived by 1990 I had one for a year they were very rare by then and most are gone now the end of an era of motoring.

Produced in India as the Sipani they also made a version of the Robin! It had the engine in the boot a 198cc it proved a disaster as it would wheeley and in India 2 door cars are banned it was eventually allowed to be sold in Southern India only. A bodged up 4 door model was also introduced too late to matter as Suzuki had the market by then with the Maruti.

When i bought the Reliant Robin standard it was only a matter of time before i had modding plans swimming around my head day and night, my dreams were filled with nitros and ceramic turbos.

The first thing to do was the most important... i removed the engine and replaced it with a highly modified 3000cc twin turbo unit out of a nissan 300zx. once in i replaced the gear box with a 6 speed, steering wheel paddle shift unit from a mitsubishi fto. with all this in place the rear end of the drive chain needed a bit of tweeking. This was acomplished by fitting a custom made carbon fibre drive shaft to a Trust Limited Slip Differential that was designed for the Nissan Skyline R32 'D1 Drift Cars'.

Although i was going for mower over style i opted to fit 19"x9.5" 3 piece BBs split rims to the rear, just incase of a bit of dampness on my local mini roundabouts.

The interior was stripped to remove unnessissary weight and the dash was replaced with a custm designed carbon fibre unit with alluninium Autometer instruments. After fitting a full alloy roll cage and cobra (FFA aproved) bucket seat i finneshed the remainder of the interior with specially commissioned MOMO accessories which i had to travel to Italy to have made by their 'in-house' design team.

Soon enough i was in the body shop fiting an evoV front bumper, Escort Cosworth whale tail, and 80s style Audi Quarto Turbo arches. once smoothed in i finnished the whole car with a special 7 colour 'Candy Apple Red' paint that was sprayed for me (with thanks and a free plug) to the boys up in Blackpool at TVR.

I intend to take my baby to Japan in the coming months to take on some of the Jap street racing 'big boys'. Hopefully i will be able to break the 300mph on Tokio highways record..

I will keep you posted on any upcoming events, and lookm forward to seeing you all at the upcoming D1 Drift Competitions found around the world.

Performance specs....

0-62mph 2.45 seconds.

BHP@6200rpm 987

Standing Quarter 6.679 seconds @ 178mph

A mint motor, I use mine everyday and the looks i get of all those fine ladies makes people in other cars crazy. Mine is modded with spot lights in from a home DIY store and leaded windows [like in a church], The nitro works in combo with the supercharger means that my car will beat other cars at the lights. It would be the Don of cars if it wasn't for a russian Lada Riva 1500 that has been kickin around my area for a couple of weeks now. Next i will fit a 18 inch front tire.