…anyone owned one ? Driven one ? What are they like to drive ?
At the grand old age of 48 years old I finally see the beauty and appreciation.
I’m not in the market for one I like my 300bhp toy to much, though family car could be fun 😂
Any funny stories about them and please post.
No pictures of Del trotters allowed !
I'll be first to say.... don't you mean a Reliant Robin?
Never driven a robin reliant, but I have driven a Reliant Robin, for a grand total of about five miles in the early 90’s
Scary.
Quite nice engine though
I’ll be first to say…. don’t you mean a Reliant Robin?
Does my bloody head in when people say robin reliant!
You wouldn't say Focus Ford would you....
Nothing else to add as I've never driven one, but me and a few mates did turn one onto it roof when we were kids! Sorry, if it was yours.
Legal to drive on a motorcycle license. My uncle drove Reliant Robins & Kittens all his adult life, never took his car test. Reliant also made the Scimitar and the Bond Equipe.
Slightly related. I once hitched a lift on the M1 in a Bond Bug. Driver rolled it from the outside lane to the hard shoulder. Nine stitches in the head for me. I would only buy one to marvel at.
I'm vaguely tempted as a sort of bike transfer machine...reckon it would be a hoot. Had a mate who used to drive them and put a bigger engine in them...didn't always go to plan as a couple of his attempts had the engine in the back and it meant the cabin got rather hot.
One of the officers in the Air Cadets had one...we'd always enjoy moving it and putting it in a really awkward place - from memory it was light enough for 4 teenagers to lift and move...
Now this is pretty cool. I Robin I could see myself on 🙂
Bloke I worked with at warehouse summer job had one, and let me one quiet night shift, drive it around the site. I think I spent the entire time thinking "How is this either safe or legal on actual roads?"
Not for me!
Remember my uncle having to chain his 3 wheeler Robin down when the high winds were about
Reliant also made the Scimitar
Princess Anne drove one, you know.
Sick.
Even got shopping trolley castors on it to stop it tipping.
Reliant also made the Scimitar
My dad used to have one. 3 litre V6 engine, I grew up wondering why other people's cars didn't sound as nice as ours... but then I also grew up thinking it was normal for your dad to spend at least two weekends a month working on the car, and for there always to be something that needed fixing on it!
Pfft, if I was in the market for a three-wheeler it would have to be one of these bad boys (made by the same company)...
I prefer to blot my parents ownership of one when I was kid from my memory, but now you've just gone and brought those nightmares back to life 😡
I think their only redeeming feature is how little is left of them when they catch fire.
My uncle drove Reliant Robins & Kittens all his adult life, never took his car test
Kitten was a 4-wheeler though wasn't it? A few mates drove Robins when we were teenagers, the main attraction was that you could drive them on a motorcycle licence. Nobody ever wanted anything to do with them once they'd passed a car test, I reckon that speaks a bit to their inherent qualities. I had an Airfix model of a Bond Bug when I was a lad, but that's as close as I've ever come to having a 3-wheeler.
As a kid four of us went in one over the tops (Holme Moss, Chinley) to Buxton to go climbing. It took a while.
I can't help thinking how much more pleasant the world would be if everyone drove around in one.
family car could be fun
Until you have an accident.
Some old cars are fun but there's no way I'd drive one regularly.
On a somewhat related note, morgan have unveiled their new one recently...
My Mom had a Reliant Regal - the forerunner to the Robin.
It worked but was pretty basic. I recall pulling up at traffic lights and looking, longingly, at the motorbike next to us (GPZ900RR) and realising his engine was bigger than ours :o)
The Regal was 650cc of awesomeness but it got us around and we never even came close to rolling it over.
I'm not really a Clarkson fan, but I did think that this segment was one of his better efforts
My uncle had one. Really difficult in any kind of snow, also a bit of a problem on farm tracks or those little-used lanes with grass in the middle.
Back around 2015/16 Morgan had a really nice electric prototype of the 3 wheeler called the EV3, had a proper steam punk look about it, then it vanished 🙁
We stuck the body work back together on one with gaffer tape after it had been blown over up in Shetland.
They've just launched a new 3 wheeler and I'd imagine an EV version is definitely in the works.
Entered thread to mention the Morgan but someone’s beaten me to it. New one looks very appealing
matt303uk
Full MemberBack around 2015/16 Morgan had a really nice electric prototype of the 3 wheeler called the EV3, had a proper steam punk look about it, then it vanished 🙁
They were talking about different powertrain options for the Super3 so it may well still be on the drawing board.
The Morgan EV3 was allegedly scuppered by the drivetrain/battery manufacturer that they had signed up with not being able to supply them at the last minute.
I have been seeing the new 3-wheeler prototypes driving past my house for quite a few months. They don’t sound as interesting as the V-twins.
The reason the EV3 sticks in my mind is we went to an EV event in Great Malvern in 2016 and Morgan said they'd have it to look at and even be taking people out in it, then they didn't turn up 🙁
Was still a nice day out 🙂
Does my bloody head in when people say robin reliant!
You wouldn’t say Focus Ford would you…
Yeah agreed, but in the 70s/80s everyone called them Robin Reliants!
Entered thread to mention the Morgan but someone’s beaten me to it. New one looks very appealing
I watched Henry Catchpole's Youtube thing about it last night. You can spec rugged external pannier bags with a bottle holder. The Morgan person in the film was laughing that it's the first external cup holder made in over a century (but costs over £700 iirc).
I've driven a plastic pig.
It used to belong to a mate. She drove it on a bike license as she couldn't be arsed at the time to take her test.
They may not look very fast but even at 30 I was terrified.😂
Also used to live near a guy that had a Bond Bug with a Fireblade engine in it.
He actually did a pretty good job of it (custom cars were his thing) and it sounded absolutely brilliant.
Well done Davesport,that's the first film that I thought of when I saw this thread title.
A few people had Robins at the place where I first worked,they were spectacularly shit and dangerous in equal measures.One lad even had a weird three wheeler powered by a Villiers 150cc two stroke,we deliberately used to make him stall it so he had to open the bonnet to kick start it 😜
I once saw three Robins in one morning,all crashed and rolled over at the same spot in a field.They had been blown across a corner that had black ice on it.🤣
They missed a trick not putting one in Transformers 7.
Ref 'Clarkson' up there a similarly memorable segment was the Peel P50 one (notably available in Forza Horizon alongside the Reliant Supervan)
They may not look very fast but even at 30 I was terrified.😂
Also used to live near a guy that had a Bond Bug with a Fireblade engine in it
There was a brief report in a car mag years ago about a Robin that had been stopped on a motorway doing well over the speed limit. Apparently the police couldn't ascertain what engine was in it because the engine cover was melted shut.
I was following one once when I was on a motorbike. There was a very strong and gusty side wind blowing and the front of the Robin was lifted by a gust of wind and dumped about 2 feet towards the white line. Cue lots of wobbling from myself and the
Reliant and a rather brown-trouser moment.
I had a Mk1 Scimitar in the early 80s. It was heavy, slow and did about 17mpg. There was always something that needed fixing. The steering trunnions used to get seized up and it leaked in the rain. I once had to decline somebody a lift because the rear seats were in about 3" of water. Most of the running gear was either Ford or Triumph. When I cleverly found that the front brakes were from a Triumph TR7 and saved quite a bit buying TR7 pads I experienced the scariest brake fade ever on the lanes from Bingley to Ilkley.
I think this is the Bug I was talking about but not 100%.
It defo had a chequered flag rear end on in though so chances are pretty high.
https://www.rodsnsods.co.uk/threads/old-age-aargh-bond-bug-fireblade-engined-spridget-nice.126522/
I had a Mk1 Scimitar in the early 80s
There were always stories about them going on fire because of sketchy wiring/electrics.
Bet all that fibreglass burned well.😉🙃
My father in law had one in Norfolk, when i first met my wife, one of the scariest rides i have been in crossing the raised dykes of the Fens in a 45mph cross wind... had bailer twine for door handles!
When it conked out, their dog loved it so much, they kept it as a dog kennel.
A mate of mine had a Reliant Robbin. He got it after a climbing accident meant he couldn’t ride his bike anymore (no car licence). It used to go like absolute stink down narrow country lanes. Truly terrifying as a passenger.
Allegedly, Top Gear had to work quite hard to get their car to roll - adding weight to the roof, messing with the diff, etc.
A chap down the road from me has a Reliant Rebel which is actually pretty cool. This is not his, his is in need of quite a lot of love. It was hand sprayed by the previous owner with glass in & wheels on with very little in the way of masking up.
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… had bailer twine for door handles!
It often feels that every other car I travelled in, during the 80s and 90s, had things like bailer twine holding the doors shut. My eldest daughter recently told me how difficult it is to start modern cars - do you put your foot on the brake or clutch before pressing the button and how does she connect her phone, etc. I tried to describe a 'choke' to her, and how difficult it might be to start a strange car using one, when not all the cylinders fired from cold, etc.
What I haven't bored her with are the various faults that you'd find on used cars - the fact it would cut out around certain radius r/h bends; or how to get in when none of the doors worked; or how you shouldn't press the 'diff' button because that actually locked all the wheels into a forward position; or how the turbo takes around two minutes to kick in and steers the car into the 3rd lane of the motorway unless you fight the steering wheel; or.... ad infinitum. 😀
I tried to describe a ‘choke’ to her, and how difficult it might be to start a strange car using one, when not all the cylinders fired from cold, etc.
Ahh, memories...
