Car Production
In 1952 a four-seat car version was launched, initially with an aluminium body, but panel by panel the company substituted glassfibre, as the company's understanding of the material improved and the price of aluminium increased. By 1956 the bodywork of the (by now) Mark 3 version of the Reliant Regal had changed completely to glass fibre.
The company is notable for building composite-bodied specialist vehicles, such as the sports cars Reliant Scimitar (including the upmarket sports estate Scimitar GTE, owned by Princess Anne) and Reliant Sabre; and the infamous three-wheeled Reliant Regal, Reliant Robin and Reliant Rialto economy cars.
To power the Reliant Scimitar and Sabre, Reliant first turned towards Ford of Britain and were supplied with the Zephyr 6 and Consul 4 engines. Later models followed with the Ford Essex V6 engines.
After absorbing Bond Cars in 1969, which had also been a maker of three-wheeler cars (though in their case with Hillman Imp 875 cc rear engines) Reliant used the Bond name for the iconic 1970s Bond Bug, a sporty three-wheeler designed by the Ogle designer Tom Karen. The Bug used a shortened Reliant Regal chassis and mechanics.
Reliant also built four-wheeled versions of the Regal and Robin, called the Reliant Rebel and Reliant Kitten respectively. Between 1983 and 1990 a utility/pickup vehicle called the Reliant Fox was produced. This was based on an original development by the Greek company MEBEA on Reliant mechanicals and was jointly developed for production by MEBEA and Reliant; it had originally been built in Greece by MEBEA between 1979 and 1983. Many Foxes were used by third parties as a basis for compact, two berth camper-vans. Reliant also made a small three-wheeled commercial vehicle called the Reliant TW9, later sold by other companies as the Ant, which was a chassis and cab, onto which a custom rear body was fitted. This vehicle was turned out in every concievable fixed wheelbase configuration and also as a fifth wheel (actually fourth wheel) articulated tractor unit. It was often used by public utility companies, where its ability to negotiate narrow alleyways was a big advantage.
Most of these quirky and distinctly British small cars used Europe's first mass-produced lightweight overhead valve aluminium alloy engine, initially 598 cc, but enlarged through the years to a final 848 cc in 1975. Early Reliant three-wheelers used an engine derived from the 747cc 1930s Austin Austin 7. Reliant's own aluminium alloy engine was based upon their experience of the Austin design, and as such is also used as the replacement for the Austin Seven engine by the 750 Motor Club in their Formula 750 motor sport. The engine was also used in portable fire-pump units after Coventry Climax ceased production.
Reliant's expertise in the area of composite car body production has also seen the company produce lightweight body shells for Ford RS200 rally cars and a glass fibre-bodied taxi, the MetroCab — the first to have full wheelchair provision, manufactured by a division of Kamkorp.
Reliant has provided designs to several other manufacturers, including Autocars in Israel, Otosan in Turkey and the proposed Anziel Nova in New Zealand in the 1960s; and MEBEA in Greece and Sipani Automobiles in India in the 1970s.
Famous quotes containing the words car and/or production:
“Fifty years from now, it will not matter what kind of car you drove, what kind of house you lived in, how much you had in your bank account, or what your clothes looked like, But the world may be a little better because you were important in the life of a child.”
—Anonymous. Quoted in The Winning Family, by Louise Hart, ch. 1 (1987)
“The development of civilization and industry in general has always shown itself so active in the destruction of forests that everything that has been done for their conservation and production is completely insignificant in comparison.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)