Reliant Robin
| Reliant Robin | |
|---|---|
| Production period: | 1973-1981; 1989-2001 |
| Class : | Microcar |
| Body versions : | Hatchback , station wagon , van |
| Previous model: | Reliant shelf , Reliant Rialto |
| Successor: | Reliant Rialto ( from Mrk. I ) |
The Reliant Robin is a three-wheeled microcar (formerly: small car ) that was built by the Reliant Motor Company in Tamworth ( England ) from 1973 to 1981 as the successor to the Regal model . After an "interlude" by the successor Rialto , a Robin Mk. II was released in 1989, which was produced until Reliant ceased production in 2001.
In the UK, Robin is due to its special shape and the body from fiberglass-reinforced plastic (GRP) often (German: as "Plastic Pig" plastic pig ), respectively.
Models
Robin (1973-1981)
| Robin | |
|---|---|
 Reliant Robin (1974) |
|
| Production period: | 1973-1981 |
| Body versions : | Hatchback , station wagon , van |
| Engines: |
Gasoline engines : 0.75-0.85 liters (23.5-29 kW) |
| Length: | 3302 mm |
| Width: | 1422 mm |
| Height: | 1370 mm |
| Wheelbase : | 2159 mm |
| Empty weight : | 406 kg |
At the beginning of the 1970s, Reliant was thinking of a successor to the successful shelf . Since the Scimitar had good experiences with Ogle Design , they were also commissioned to design the smallest Reliant model. Instead of the previous two-door sedan, there was a modern, three-door station wagon with a tailgate. Station wagon and delivery van corresponded to the models of the predecessor. Neu was also the four-cylinder in-line engine, a drilled version of the built-in shelf 3/30 motor side camshaft , 748 cc and a power of 32 bhp (23.5 kW) at 5500 min -1 . The single front wheel was steered, the engine installed in the front drove the rear wheels.
Since the Robin, like its predecessor, only had three wheels and officially weighed less than 450 kg, it was allowed to be driven with a motorcycle license in the UK and was also taxed like a motorcycle, which meant a significant saving compared to the tax rates of a normal car.
In 1975 the Robin got a larger engine with a displacement of 850 cm³ and an output of 40 bhp (29 kW), which also made the voices of the critics, who saw in it a constant traffic obstacle, quieter.
The car was also manufactured under license from the Greek car manufacturer MEBEA from 1974 to 1978 .
In 1981, after around 32,600 copies, the first Robin was replaced by its optically modernized successor, the Rialto .
Robin Mark II (1989-2001)
| Robin Mk. II | |
|---|---|
 Reliant Robin Mk. II SLX (1994) |
|
| Production period: | 1989-2001 |
| Body versions : | Hatchback , station wagon , van |
| Engines: |
Otto engine : 0.85 liters (29 kW) |
| Length: | 3410 mm |
| Width: | 1450 mm |
| Height: | 1400 mm |
| Wheelbase : | 2159 mm |
| Empty weight : | 398 kg |
In 1989 Reliant presented a new, completely redesigned Robin with a new GRP body and again 40 bhp (29 kW) engine power. He wore the headlights of the '84 Ford Fiesta .
Well-known customers were the British Princess Anne , who already owned a Reliant Scimitar , and the US Embassy in London, which bought three of these vehicles in 1990.
Under the new managing director Jonathan Heynes, small Robin pickups with the name Reliant 850 Pickup were to be built in 1996 . Prototypes were made and brochures were printed, but there was never any series production.
The car received in 1999 again a facelift with a completely new chassis and the headlights of the Opel Corsa B . This car was designed by Andy Plumb, was only available as a station wagon and was built until 2001, when Reliant ceased its entire car production. The last sixty-five Robin made in 1999 sold for approximately £ 10,000 as a special edition Robin 65 with leather interior, faux walnut interior trim and numbering.
7,218 Robin Mk. II were made. After production stopped at Reliant, the Robin was manufactured under license at B&N Plastics from April to October 2002.
In racing
The Robin is also used in circuit racing. During these races, a few cars usually tip over, but their drivers can straighten them up again without assistance by shifting their weight and pushing them out of the open window.
In the media
The Reliant Robin appears several times in the television car magazine Top Gear of the British BBC :
- In the episode of February 18, 2007, Richard Hammond and James May tried to turn a normal Reliant Robin into a space shuttle . Steve Holland, a professional model airplane pilot, helped Hammond work out how to safely land a Reliant Robin remotely. The "plane" took off successfully, flew in the air for a few seconds and managed to drop the solid rocket in time. This was the largest rocket ever launched in Europe by a private organization. It had six 40960-NS-O- hybrid rocket engines that carried the rocket 8 to. Given boost. But the car did not separate from the large external fuel tank and hit the ground.
- In the first episode of the 15th season of Top Gear , the Robin made another appearance. Here, stronger reference was made to the tendency to tip over.
- In the July 1, 2010 episode, Jeremy Clarkson travels 14 miles in Yorkshire and the vehicle tips over several times. An attempt to overcome the tendency to tilt by mounting side support wheels also fails.
- In January 2016, Clarkson announced that the Reliant Robin had been tampered with by the Top Gear team to make it tip over at every turn. In addition, according to Clarkson, several Reliant Robin were purchased as company cars for the new production company.
In the June 18, 2007 episode of the television car magazine Fifth Gear , Tom Ford and Johnny Smith competed against each other in a modified Reliant Robin in a speed race and a stock car race.
A Reliant Robin appears in the video for Golden Earrings's 1973 song Radar Love .
Since March 2013 a Reliant Robin named “Robin” has been part of the show Mission: Auto on Sport 1 . The moderators Alexander Wesselsky and Cyndie Allemann bring the car a kind of love-hate relationship.
Reliant Robin also appear more often in the DMAX television show Scrapheap Challenge , often dismantled down to the chassis. A team converted the car into a wheelie racer.
In the miniseries Good Omens produced by Amazon Originals in 2019 , the "witch hunter" Newt Pulsifer , played by Jack Whitehall , drives a Robin I, which he named after the famous mugger " Dick Turpin ".
Web links
swell
- Pither, Don: Reliant Regal & Robin , Sutton Publishing Ltd., Stroud (2001), ISBN 0-7509-2521-3
Individual evidence
- ^ Culshaw, David & Horrobin, Peter: The Complete Catalog of British Cars 1895-1975 , Veloce Publishing plc., Dorchester (1997), ISBN 1-874105-93-6
- ↑ BBC - Top Gear - Series 9 - Episode 4 (English)
- ↑ http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/ingear/clarkson/article1653405.ece
- ↑ Scrapheap Challenge at Qwizx.com (English)