Reliant Motor Company
| Industry | Automotive |
|---|---|
| Fate | Finishing of production |
| Founded | 1935 |
| Headquarters | Tamworth, England |
|
Key people
|
T L Williams, founder |
| Products | Automobiles |
| Website | www |
Reliant was a British car manufacturer. The company was traditionally based at Tamworth in Staffordshire.
Reliant was mainly known for producing the 3-wheeled Reliant Robin, (in spite of the fact most people erroneously refer to them as "Robin Reliant") but in fact produced a variety of different vehicles during a production run of over 60 years, including popular sports cars, convertibles and commercial vehicles. Around 1 to 2 million Reliant vehicles were produced, and were sold in at least nine countries. For a period from the 1970s to the 1990s, Reliant was the UK's biggest British-owned car manufacturer.
Reliant Motor Company LTD is now a dormant company and the only part that still exists is Reliant partsworld which produce spares for Reliant vehicles and the Tempest sports car manufactured in Malvern.
When the Raleigh Bicycle Company decided to discontinue the manufacture of their three-wheeled vehicles in 1934, their Works Manager Mr T. L. Williams and a colleague, Mr E. S. Thompson, felt that the days of lightweight three-wheelers were not over. They decided to build their own vehicle in Williams's back garden at Kettlebrook, Tamworth. The homebuilt design closely resembled the Karryall van previously built by Raleigh, and the prototype was licensed in January 1935. It was a 7 cwt (356 kg) van with a steel chassis, powered by a 750 cc V-twin engine driving the rear wheels through a 3-speed gearbox and shaft drive. The body was a hardwood frame with aluminium panels attached to it, in the traditional manner of the time. With the obvious motorcycle front end, mounted in the open, in front of the bulkhead, it was essentially a motorcycle fitted with a box body.
From building vehicles at home, the work moved to a disused bus depot on Watling Street in Fazeley. June 3, 1935, saw delivery of the first Reliant. Powered by a single-cylinder air-cooled 600cc J.A.P. engine, the driver sat centrally on the vehicle astride the engine, much like a motorcyclist. The single-cylinder engine left the Reliant underpowered. March 1936 saw an update to a two-cylinder water-cooled J.A.P. engine and an increase to 8 cwt (407 kg) gross vehicle weight (gvw). The driver no longer sat astride the engine and the vehicle gained more conventional forward-facing seats in the front. The first improved 8cwt twin cylinder model was delivered on March 16, 1936.
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Wikipedia