Absolutely, I’m an OFAH fan, but I’m not a fan of turning every Reliant van on the road in existence into a Yellow Trotter van, it’s a nice to see one in a period colour.
People always viewed the Mini as the all successful and iconic British car, while having no idea that this exact van survived the arrival of the Mini and even outlived it. What a great little Supervan it was.
Dad won the pools big time (£300), so he sold the Norton Big 4 and bought one of these. Luxury. As a self conscious teenager in the 70s, I was hugely embarrassed about it, and resisted the lift to school because Dad was passing that way, however, he insisted and I had to ride with him. I made sure that Dad dropped me off well out of sight from school so that none of my friends would see me. We would go on family adventures in this beast, usually to the seaside. I'm from Harrogate, so a day trip to Brid would take around 4 hours to get there, with mum in the passenger seat, and my sister and I sat on the wheel arches in the back. Yes, really safe. There was always a little bit of Reliant camaraderie, and all Reliant drivers would offer and return the forefinger salute from the steering wheel. Later, ironically, I had a Bond Bug, what an absolute hoot that was. Similar running gear and triple the laughs.
My first reliant was a 1964 regal and in the early 70s I ended up with 3 supervan 3’s I had loads of fun with them, painting them up I even had a bright pink one, and I turned one over on its side on a main road when it stopped we got out and tipped it back on its wheels and drove it home.
Your video is the type we forget about: show the car talk for a moment, then talk when driving as if we're in the other seat. And I'm American, so we see one, and think: "Mister Bean's Nemisis!" But only if you watched PBS, until recently. Now my PBS station has America's only all-British television station. And, frankly, I'd want Johnny English to have a villain drive a blue one. Rowan's an engineer: he could get one ready by himself! 😁
Back in the days, four of us plus camping gear and towing a sailing boat went from Liverpool to Bala North Wales with no trouble, Great little workhorse.
Alot of old memories. That was my first car. I used it to get home on the weekend from barracks in Windsor to Dudley. Drove miles in it had a top speed of 70 mph. My dad used to have the morgen 3 weehler. That had a kick start if the ignition did'nt work. Get times.
I know Reliant 3 wheelers are a standing joke, but I actually love them! I bought a Reliant kitten as a stop gap car, it was a really rough old thing, but the handling was fantastic, so I set about fully restoring it, as I needed a parts car I bought a Robin with a blown head gasket for peanuts, it was so clean & tidy that I ended up buying two more Robins for parts, both cars got finished & enjoyed thourouly, wish I still had them!
There are 2 types of people who hate them 1. The same ones who say the Toyota Supra is the best car in the world 2. People with too much money, high standards and high blood pressure. This is from experience.
Nice honest review - all true. I had the upmarket 1968 Regal 21E-700 in a beautiful metallic blue. In 1977 having traded in my motorcycle, I remember the first day I drove it, pouring of rain but I was nice and dry in the Reliant. I got 84 MPH out of it and averaged 45 MPG.
I adore these vans. As a toddler my Nana owned one and every year from March to October we drove to Rhyl and back every weekend to my Nanas caravans. My sister and myself loved to sit on the wheel arches even though it had a back seat fitted. These vans have a special place in my heart.
Hands down one of the wittiest, hilarious and most well-informed reviews of anything on the internet. People pretending to hate the things they love- a cornerstone of British comedy delivered by one who also just happens to know a shitload about these vans. Brilliant.
I remember going round the Reliant factory on a school trip in the early 1970s. On one side of the A5 (which ran through the middle of the factory) they lovingly hand built Scimitars whilst on the other side of the road they threw together three wheelers, final inspection and quality control was a man with a hammer. 😀😀 A friend of mine in the 6th form had a Bond Bug, bloody scary thing!
Excellent video :) Back in the early 80’s, when I was 17, many of us with full bike licenses had Super Vans. I bought a powder blue 3/25 in the summer of 82 for £250. I used it though the very bad winter of 82, sometimes even fitting eight of us in it; which can be interesting in deep snow on country lanes! I learned how to balance it through bends on two wheels. I got enough miles in it to enable me to pass my car test first time round with only four or five “proper” lessons in a Sunbeam on 23 December 1982. I kept on using the 3/25 until I could afford a “proper car”, an Austin 1300GT in the spring of 1983; I eventually sold the 3/25 (and made a profit on it), but the Austin was no where near as much fun as the 3/25 :)
Very interesting. I was one of those blokes who had a motorbike licence and bought, in my case a Reliant Regal (saloon). Driving was always interesting. One time the gear stick came off in my hand. On another occasion I got a flat tyre (thankfully a rear one) in the middle of Manchester. That's when I discovered I didn't have a jack. My pal lifted the side of the car up so I could get the wheel off and again to put the spare on! The day I was part ex-ing it (after passing my car test) I used it to go to work one very cold morning. Scraped the windscreen free of ice and set off. 100 yards down the road, it frosted up again and I rear-ended a parked Hillman Avenger. The Avenger wasn't damaged and the owner was very nice. The front of the Regal folded like a concertina though. But a bash on the bonnet with my fist saw it boingg back into place, albeit with a good few cracks. After work, I took it to the garage to part exchange it, anticipating a re-negotiation, but the salesman didn't bother. This would have been in 1978, by which time they were worth peanuts anyway. I drove away in a Mk2 Vauxhall viva 1300. You could see I was going up in the world.
I had one of these in that awful beige colour. I think it was an H reg for £200. It had glass rear side windows and had a double fold-down seat fitted. If you want some fun you can do what I did - took it from Hull to Avignon and back. This was much to amusement of the French who see a 3-wheeler as an invalid carriage and were always surprised at petrol stations when I got out fit and healthy (this was in the late 70s). Of course the exhaust pipe fractured at the port and I had to have one flown out, having stupidly gone without one. They failed so often that, under the passenger footwell carpet, I used to keep a cross head driver and a suitable spanner for quick changes. As you say it was warmer and drier than a motorbike , which my wife greatly appreciated.
Useful for the unassuming self-employed local tradesman back in the day. You could get an old one cheaply then, they didn't rust, and parts were always pretty affordable. Simple enough to fix and service yourself. Plumbers, gardeners and electricians toddling around town fixing odds and ends. Kept the costs and the customer's bills down, no doubt.
You are right…. BUT the chassis on my 1970 model needed a complete replacement (£80.00 in 1976 from Reliant) due to the inherent danger of trying to patch weld the chassis in such close proximity to the fibreglass body!
Just found your channel for the first time, and I'm happy to be subscriber number 55! And I agree, as god awful as the plastic pig would seem to anyone that owns a modern vehicle, you cannot look past the fact that Reliant put so many people in an enclosed, heated cabin on cold dark winters evenings, with nothing more than a motorcycle license. They had such a loyal following right up until the end too. Even though by then they weren't particularly cheap, when compared to other much better cars in a similar class. Anyway good luck to you and your channel.
Thank you very much for subscribing! At the end of the day, they served a purpose! And for what they lacked in refinement, the did the job they were made for well.
A great video and honest overview, my Dad drove Reliant Robins for years( 13 in total) he practically rebuilt 2 of them, I remember helping him with repairs that he needed to do to keep “the old girl” on the road. He had passed his motorbike test in the early 1960’s and never took car driving lessons or a test so he chose to drive Reliants. Had one myself for 2 years, they are pretty nippy motors and don’t just roll over or “Fall over as people say, it actually takes quite a bit of effort to roll one over, if they were THAT unstable no way would they be allowed into production. Anyway great video mate, liked and subscribed.
my dad had reliants after coming from a norton 88 and then my mum got pregnant had regals robins rialtos we drove to cornwall on hol mum dad.Me and my 2 sisters on the back seat and my little brother sitting on a toolbox with a cushion in the boot area also towing a box trailer! in a robin supervan 850 happy memories last car dad had bought with his retirement money a brand new v reg robin sunroof and a stainless steal exhaust We sold it after he passed away in 2009 for £2500
Thank you so much for that. It brought back so many fun memories of the 1960s when I bought my first new Reliant Van to use for my window cleaning round .It stood me in good stead for two years with no problems at all. I then upgraded to a Supervan with the new grill and again it performed very well and was ideal for the job. As far as comfort was concerned there was none. On one occasion we travelled to Oban in Scotland. It took two days for the journey and on arrival it felt like we had spent two days in a tumble dryer! However what fun days they were.
Thanks for the video, great to see an old Supervan on the road. I had one of these in 1980, it was a 1972 Van and ran really nice, none of the bangs and excessive rattles of the one you are driving but then it was 43 years ago. I bought one because I had a motorcycle licence and it was a cold winter, I remember going to a Reliant dealer in Bristol to pick up some service part and seeing a Robin on the forecourt, the Robin looked so luxurious and glamorous compared to my Supervan! The following year I passed my car test, bought a 4 wheel car and never looked back, until years later when nostalgia took its grip on my soul.. but remember folks, Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
I had four over a period of time two 21 E s and two supervan 3s had loads of fun with them and loads of grief fixing them core plugs to name one but they were brilliant in the snow
I bought a regal saloon 21E in 1972. It was a 1969 model. I drove this car for 70,000 miles until a car pulled out of a junction and crashed into it. I was sorry to see it go as it was reliable and cheap to run. It was a godsend to a lot of people and a lot of people bought them.
My father had 3 of these, and 4 Robin's super 850. 5 kids in the back of one of them😂 and I wish people would STOP calling the plastic pigs, there made from fiber glass. Many many happy memories
Loved the video. My Dad used to be a Reliant main dealer in Bath years ago. Barton Motors also sold Bonds, Triumph motorbikes, Hondas and Suzuki’s and even early Fiat Pandas! I have many great memories of driving Reliants. Gearboxes were really snappy although I remember that you had to lift the gear stick fairly hard to select reverse in the Rialto. Some customers pulled them off completely. To test the gearbox in a trade in, Dad used to drive up Rush Hill and engine brake using second, third and fourth to see if they jumped out of gear. Never knew of one rolling over. Thanks, that was fun.
I had one of these in the late 1970s in South Devon. Loved it! Went on the whiff of an oily rag and several times ferried 5 of us for same-day there-and-back trips to London. It was indeed fantastic.
Brilliant! I've got a 1969 Regal saloon. If you want to fix that back end noise it might be easier to just replace the entire axle. Also how old are your Crossply tyres? On my car I fitted brand new crossply's to replace the old ones, and the difference was massive. Night and day comparison. It went from a boneshaker to almost feeling like it floated over bumps. I was amazed at the improvement.
Hi, thanks for watching! I think iv seen your saloon… very impressive job I might add! I think an axle may be the best way to go… as for tyres they were brand new waymaster crossplys when I put it back on the road, the roads I was driving in this video were particularly shocking!
A friend had the car version, the Regal followed by a Robin in the late 1970s. Because he only had a motorcycle licence. After he passed his car test he got an Austin Allegro (yeah that's what I thought).
An interesting addition to my research on the British three wheeled mini cars (Bond cars & Reliant’s Regal/Robin). These really are a step up from the Bond cars in performance & are RWD where the Bonds use the front wheel to pull themselves along. That 701cc engine is quieter than the 247cc Villiers engine although still noisy & crude sounding.
Hi. Good to see an honest review of one of these useful little vehicles. You might notice, I'm also a Reliant owner and have had several over the years, including a Supervan III, for which I think I paid about £50 back in 1980. It's the one parked behind the tipped 3/25 Super, in my banner picture. All the best!
I had a Regal saloon in about 1982. It was low mileage and in good condition. The exhaust was quite throaty as I don't think they had much in the way of baffle material. It was not rattly or bone-shaking though. I sold it after I passed my car test, mainly due to concerns about the fragility of the bodywork.
Like you said back in the day, I had a motorcycle licence and bought a Reliant Regal, and a Robin which gave me plenty of driving experience till I past my car test I then went on to get a Morris mini !
I've had two Reliant vans over the years and thought them splendid little vehicles. They did what I wanted from a van: got me from A to B and kept the weather off. Plus, I was able to take my son on days out that I couldn't do on a Honda 90. When I sold the second one, the buyer painted it yellow and made it a Trotter's look alike to raise funds for a children's charity. Cheers!
I`ve always wanted to put an electric moped wheel in the front of one of these, with the battery's low down under the seats to help stabilise them, like some weird hybrid with 2 entirely separate powertrains & the ability to be 3x3 when stuck, or FWD when broken down..
I had 2 Regal 3/30 saloons followed by the Robin and then the Kitten . Having driven up the M6 in the Regal in fairly high wind it affected the Regal a lot but I passed a Hillman imp that seemed to be struggle even more. The Robin handled much bettef.
I had a wonderful Regal 3/25 it cost me £15 it was my first "car" I was in a bike gang at the time so on a cold wet Friday night 7 of us squeezed into it 6 in the car and 1 in the boot.. Ohh them were the days lol
New subscriber 116 here . Loved your honesty on this review . No rose tinted specs. This was my first car , tipped it twice . But loved it. As soon as i passed my test i did a straight swap for a morris 1100 estate. . I kept the wrong one . Value of these has gone through the roof the 1100 sold for 700 quid just before covid. Glad you enjoy it . Keep making great videos . Cheers from Portadown NI.
Thanks for subscribing! More videos on the way!! I’m sure the 1100 was a good upgrade at the time, but yes the value of these plastic units has gone mad!
Thanks for subscribing! More videos on the way!! I’m sure the 1100 was a good upgrade at the time, but yes the value of these plastic units has gone mad!
Great video, as a firm fan of the Relient model I seem to remember there was a time when the vehicle didn't have reverse gear because the classified as a motorcycle so if you were driving on the old MC licence you couldn't drive a vehicle with reverse. Apparently it was easy enough to change it back to factory specs and get reverse gear .
My 1st car was a Supervan 3 in brown reg OBR 75H never let me down did a regular trip from the North East to the West Midlands (195 mls) could keep up with motorway traffic and return 60 mpg a tad noisy but after sound deadening on the floor , around the engine and footwell, lining the bare roof to the rear door noise level was significantly reduced, had it for over 3 years until some SOB nicked it never to be seen again ,,, probably stripped to make a trike
I had a 72' with rear bench seat and windows. It was suprisingly quick, good on fuel, comfortable, warm and dry. Nobody refused a ride in it, especialy if it was raining or cold. Swapped it for a Mariner which was a big mistake.
When I worked at Hawker Aircraft a chap there had a Reliant van and was involved in a collision on the crossroads outside the factory, I arrived on my motorbike shortly after and all I could see was a chassis with seats and loads of small bits of fibreglass scattered all around, totally obliterarted.
Very enjoyable video. These may be awful in some respects, especially by modern standards, but that's partly why they are so interesting and characterful. Nice to see one preserved as it would have been in the 70s when in daily use. I have vivid memories of being a passenger in one with all the racket going on and wondering if it was going to disintegrate. Good luck with your channel.
They were fine, not expensive second or fifth hand. they got great mpg and ideal for motorcyclists if they had girlfriends that wanted to keep warm in the winter. Eight mates of mine were in the earlier van with wooden floor on a countryside pub crawl. After much refreshment the driver made an error, the vehicle flipped and slid along nicely on the roof until the body detached from the chassis. They had to walk to the next pub and were picking glass fibre strands out of their hair and clothing for some time. Another friend had one and he never looked after it, even repainted it with orange emulsion paint which quickly flaked off, one day we had to bump start it and when he dumped the clutch two sets of hands and two rear windows entered the luggage area. Even fully laden with long-haired mates you could get them onto two wheels at every roundabout. No need for a car jack you can pick up the rear end easily. Access to the engine through the tiny bonnet was not good, we said it was like performing an abortion through a belly button.
I had one it was my dad's it was a j reg xka731j the sunvisers were an extra cost option when the chassis was beyond economic repair I got a kitten mhf441r that was so amazing but again as time went it became beyond economic repair loved working on them
The biggest problem for me was the fact that the chassis on my 1970 model needed a complete replacement (£80.00 in 1976 from Reliant) due to the inherent danger of trying to patch weld the chassis in such close proximity to the fibreglass body!
All remaining Regal Supervans appear to have been repainted yellow in Del Trotter logos, great to see one its original colour. I would love to drive a non Trotter one along Blackpool promenade today for people to poke fun at it. How many Regal vans and cars still exist?
The trotter thing is not for me... you do get some funny looks from people just driving around. As for numbers left, I couldn't give you a accurate answer, but not that many in the grand scheme of things.
I'm new here and I really enjoyed this one.👍🏼 Just so you don't try it yourself, you can get these things up on two wheels. Much to my detriment, I used to own a light blue Van, very similar to yours a long time ago in a Galaxy far far away. Take any 90* left hand turn (junction maybe) at a speed in access of 28mph and she will roll up on two wheels, if you don't immediately turn to the right, you're going to turn the whole crate over. Why did I say left hand turn, because the driver is sat in the right hand seat so it's all about unfair distribution of weight. Bloody things should have been banned years ago. The only safe configuration is two wheels at the front and one at the rear. (Morgan Three Wheeler) 🤔
Excellent video. Perhaps you would be interested in my book "Tipping Point- Designing a Great British Underdog" which covers the Regal and Robin design history.
@@badgerlodgegarage I almost bought a Reliant Regal myself but somebody else was faster. I hav a copy of this book and it is on of the best technical manuals I hav seen. For another Regal I have to wait. They're rare on the continent especially as left hand drive. Btw you've got the 21E version. That's the "luxury" version of the Regal 3/30 😀
@@knut8556 ah yes, they don’t come up very often in the UK either I’m lead to believe. And you are correct this is a 21e model… but most of the 21e bits are now gone!
As awful as they are I'd love one!! I like anything that's a bit left field and this one fits the bill!! Trouble is they are few and far between and fetch silly money as and when they do crop up.🙂👍
i crashed mine into a mercedes 380 ( the German tank ) and almost wrote it off( 2 new door skins front wing rear quarter mirrors 1 window) the only damage the reliant sustained was a smashed mirror and some scrape marks. So i will disagree with you. Fiberglass is tougher than you think and also very flexible insome ways better than carbon fibre. I also have got 3" spacers on the rear wheels( extended wheel arches) which acts like a great stabilizer while cornering. I replaced the fuel pump with electric. Ported and polished head and added contactless ignition the change was amasing really smooth running good cornering more power and reliable even on cold starts.some of most expensive supercars are fiberglass which i think is well worth mensioning.Reliant also made bodys for Lotus. So i strongly disagree
I have seen a regal converted using milk float parts, and a robin done in a similar manner, I think they start getting a bit too heavy when batteries are added…
A decade back there was a Dutch guy on TH-cam converting one...we got as far as disassembly, engine removal, electric motor and battery assembly, then test drives and his applying for permission from the Dutch Transport Department to license it, but after that all went quiet. I suspect permission might have been refused for some reason, which is a shame. I'd have thought Reliant three wheelers would make a good electric vehicle, especially with modern light batteries and motors.
I grew up with Reliants, my Dad had several. It’s nice to see a Supervan which hasn’t been “Trotter’d”! Great video
Thanks for watching! They are pretty useful and reliable all things considered… the trotter look is not for me!
@@badgerlodgegarage If I had a Supervan I would give it a vauxhall blue colour.
Absolutely, I’m an OFAH fan, but I’m not a fan of turning every Reliant van on the road in existence into a Yellow Trotter van, it’s a nice to see one in a period colour.
People always viewed the Mini as the all successful and iconic British car, while having no idea that this exact van survived the arrival of the Mini and even outlived it. What a great little Supervan it was.
Dad won the pools big time (£300), so he sold the Norton Big 4 and bought one of these. Luxury. As a self conscious teenager in the 70s, I was hugely embarrassed about it, and resisted the lift to school because Dad was passing that way, however, he insisted and I had to ride with him. I made sure that Dad dropped me off well out of sight from school so that none of my friends would see me.
We would go on family adventures in this beast, usually to the seaside. I'm from Harrogate, so a day trip to Brid would take around 4 hours to get there, with mum in the passenger seat, and my sister and I sat on the wheel arches in the back. Yes, really safe.
There was always a little bit of Reliant camaraderie, and all Reliant drivers would offer and return the forefinger salute from the steering wheel.
Later, ironically, I had a Bond Bug, what an absolute hoot that was. Similar running gear and triple the laughs.
My first reliant was a 1964 regal and in the early 70s I ended up with 3 supervan 3’s I had loads of fun with them, painting them up I even had a bright pink one, and I turned one over on its side on a main road when it stopped we got out and tipped it back on its wheels and drove it home.
Your video is the type we forget about: show the car talk for a moment, then talk when driving as if we're in the other seat.
And I'm American, so we see one, and think:
"Mister Bean's Nemisis!"
But only if you watched PBS, until recently.
Now my PBS station has America's only all-British television station.
And, frankly, I'd want Johnny English to have a villain drive a blue one. Rowan's an engineer: he could get one ready by himself! 😁
Thanks for the feedback, this video has definitely been more popular this side of the pond!
Back in the days, four of us plus camping gear and towing a sailing boat went from Liverpool to Bala North Wales with no trouble, Great little workhorse.
Oh yes! Can’t deny the reliability/ surprising usability of these.
Alot of old memories. That was my first car. I used it to get home on the weekend from barracks in Windsor to Dudley. Drove miles in it had a top speed of 70 mph. My dad used to have the morgen 3 weehler. That had a kick start if the ignition did'nt work. Get times.
I know Reliant 3 wheelers are a standing joke, but I actually love them!
I bought a Reliant kitten as a stop gap car, it was a really rough old thing, but the handling was fantastic, so I set about fully restoring it, as I needed a parts car I bought a Robin with a blown head gasket for peanuts, it was so clean & tidy that I ended up buying two more Robins for parts, both cars got finished & enjoyed thourouly, wish I still had them!
They really are not as bad as people like to think... especially restored examples.
There are 2 types of people who hate them
1. The same ones who say the Toyota Supra is the best car in the world
2. People with too much money, high standards and high blood pressure.
This is from experience.
Nice honest review - all true. I had the upmarket 1968 Regal 21E-700 in a beautiful metallic blue. In 1977 having traded in my motorcycle, I remember the first day I drove it, pouring of rain but I was nice and dry in the Reliant. I got 84 MPH out of it and averaged 45 MPG.
84... now thats going some! thanks for watching
I had several Regal's (saloons) in the 70's, due to only having a motorbike licence. I drove one to the South of France in 1975 - quite an experience!
Thanks for Watching... an experience indeed!
I adore these vans.
As a toddler my Nana owned one and every year from March to October we drove to Rhyl and back every weekend to my Nanas caravans.
My sister and myself loved to sit on the wheel arches even though it had a back seat fitted.
These vans have a special place in my heart.
Good to hear! They do have a charm. Thanks for watching!
Plucky little van! I love them, fully realizing the limits. Thanks for sharing.
Hands down one of the wittiest, hilarious and most well-informed reviews of anything on the internet. People pretending to hate the things they love- a cornerstone of British comedy delivered by one who also just happens to know a shitload about these vans. Brilliant.
100%
I remember going round the Reliant factory on a school trip in the early 1970s. On one side of the A5 (which ran through the middle of the factory) they lovingly hand built Scimitars whilst on the other side of the road they threw together three wheelers, final inspection and quality control was a man with a hammer. 😀😀 A friend of mine in the 6th form had a Bond Bug, bloody scary thing!
Scary? I was in a Rialto at the age of 14 going 50mph around bends and was fine with it.
Give us more please. Good video. Peace brother.
Excellent video :)
Back in the early 80’s, when I was 17, many of us with full bike licenses had Super Vans.
I bought a powder blue 3/25 in the summer of 82 for £250. I used it though the very bad winter of 82, sometimes even fitting eight of us in it; which can be interesting in deep snow on country lanes!
I learned how to balance it through bends on two wheels. I got enough miles in it to enable me to pass my car test first time round with only four or five “proper” lessons in a Sunbeam on 23 December 1982.
I kept on using the 3/25 until I could afford a “proper car”, an Austin 1300GT in the spring of 1983; I eventually sold the 3/25 (and made a profit on it), but the Austin was no where near as much fun as the 3/25 :)
Cant be denied, they served a purpose!
This is absolutely one of the most entertaining reviews I have seen in years. Excellent work, Sir , really enjoyed this 👍👏
Very interesting. I was one of those blokes who had a motorbike licence and bought, in my case a Reliant Regal (saloon). Driving was always interesting. One time the gear stick came off in my hand. On another occasion I got a flat tyre (thankfully a rear one) in the middle of Manchester. That's when I discovered I didn't have a jack. My pal lifted the side of the car up so I could get the wheel off and again to put the spare on! The day I was part ex-ing it (after passing my car test) I used it to go to work one very cold morning. Scraped the windscreen free of ice and set off. 100 yards down the road, it frosted up again and I rear-ended a parked Hillman Avenger. The Avenger wasn't damaged and the owner was very nice. The front of the Regal folded like a concertina though. But a bash on the bonnet with my fist saw it boingg back into place, albeit with a good few cracks. After work, I took it to the garage to part exchange it, anticipating a re-negotiation, but the salesman didn't bother. This would have been in 1978, by which time they were worth peanuts anyway. I drove away in a Mk2 Vauxhall viva 1300. You could see I was going up in the world.
Thanks for watching, the vauxhall was definitely going up in the world!
I had one of these in that awful beige colour. I think it was an H reg for £200. It had glass rear side windows and had a double fold-down seat fitted. If you want some fun you can do what I did - took it from Hull to Avignon and back. This was much to amusement of the French who see a 3-wheeler as an invalid carriage and were always surprised at petrol stations when I got out fit and healthy (this was in the late 70s). Of course the exhaust pipe fractured at the port and I had to have one flown out, having stupidly gone without one. They failed so often that, under the passenger footwell carpet, I used to keep a cross head driver and a suitable spanner for quick changes. As you say it was warmer and drier than a motorbike , which my wife greatly appreciated.
Went in a few Regals, vans & Robins in the 70's great. Raced an 850 mini one day & beat it. 🤪
Useful for the unassuming self-employed local tradesman back in the day. You could get an old one cheaply then, they didn't rust, and parts were always pretty affordable. Simple enough to fix and service yourself. Plumbers, gardeners and electricians toddling around town fixing odds and ends. Kept the costs and the customer's bills down, no doubt.
Indeed! Thats sort of what I use mine for… economical run about with plenty of space in the back.
You are right…. BUT the chassis on my 1970 model needed a complete replacement (£80.00 in 1976 from Reliant) due to the inherent danger of trying to patch weld the chassis in such close proximity to the fibreglass body!
I think you mean the body did not rust, it was only after a good accident you'd realise how rotten the chassis was!
Just found your channel for the first time, and I'm happy to be subscriber number 55! And I agree, as god awful as the plastic pig would seem to anyone that owns a modern vehicle, you cannot look past the fact that Reliant put so many people in an enclosed, heated cabin on cold dark winters evenings, with nothing more than a motorcycle license. They had such a loyal following right up until the end too. Even though by then they weren't particularly cheap, when compared to other much better cars in a similar class. Anyway good luck to you and your channel.
Thank you very much for subscribing! At the end of the day, they served a purpose! And for what they lacked in refinement, the did the job they were made for well.
A great video and honest overview, my Dad drove Reliant Robins for years( 13 in total) he practically rebuilt 2 of them, I remember helping him with repairs that he needed to do to keep “the old girl” on the road.
He had passed his motorbike test in the early 1960’s and never took car driving lessons or a test so he chose to drive Reliants.
Had one myself for 2 years, they are pretty nippy motors and don’t just roll over or “Fall over as people say, it actually takes quite a bit of effort to roll one over, if they were THAT unstable no way would they be allowed into production.
Anyway great video mate, liked and subscribed.
Thanks for watching and subscribing! nice to hear peoples stories of ownership.
my dad had reliants after coming from a norton 88 and then my mum got pregnant had regals robins rialtos we drove to cornwall on hol mum dad.Me and my 2 sisters on the back seat and my little brother sitting on a toolbox with a cushion in the boot area also towing a box trailer! in a robin supervan 850 happy memories last car dad had bought with his retirement money a brand new v reg robin sunroof and a stainless steal exhaust We sold it after he passed away in 2009 for £2500
Never been my sort of thing (prefer a large estate). but always been curious. Nicely done and some good points well made. Cheers
Thank you so much for that. It brought back so many fun memories of the 1960s when I bought my first new Reliant Van to use for my window cleaning round .It stood me in good stead for two years with no problems at all. I then upgraded to a Supervan with the new grill and again it performed very well and was ideal for the job. As far as comfort was concerned there was none. On one occasion we travelled to Oban in Scotland. It took two days for the journey and on arrival it felt like we had spent two days in a tumble dryer! However what fun days they were.
Love the tumble dryer description! Glad you enjoyed. Thanks for watching
My Grandfather bought one new in 1963. He gave up driving in the early 80's and sold it for more than he paid for it.
Thanks for the video, great to see an old Supervan on the road. I had one of these in 1980, it was a 1972 Van and ran really nice, none of the bangs and excessive rattles of the one you are driving but then it was 43 years ago. I bought one because I had a motorcycle licence and it was a cold winter, I remember going to a Reliant dealer in Bristol to pick up some service part and seeing a Robin on the forecourt, the Robin looked so luxurious and glamorous compared to my Supervan! The following year I passed my car test, bought a 4 wheel car and never looked back, until years later when nostalgia took its grip on my soul.. but remember folks, Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
I had four over a period of time
two 21 E s and two supervan 3s
had loads of fun with them
and loads of grief fixing them
core plugs to name one
but they were brilliant in the snow
I bought a regal saloon 21E in 1972. It was a 1969 model. I drove this car for 70,000 miles until a car pulled out of a junction and crashed into it. I was sorry to see it go as it was reliable and cheap to run. It was a godsend to a lot of people and a lot of people bought them.
My father had 3 of these, and 4 Robin's super 850. 5 kids in the back of one of them😂 and I wish people would STOP calling the plastic pigs, there made from fiber glass. Many many happy memories
Loved the video. My Dad used to be a Reliant main dealer in Bath years ago. Barton Motors also sold Bonds, Triumph motorbikes, Hondas and Suzuki’s and even early Fiat Pandas!
I have many great memories of driving Reliants. Gearboxes were really snappy although I remember that you had to lift the gear stick fairly hard to select reverse in the Rialto. Some customers pulled them off completely. To test the gearbox in a trade in, Dad used to drive up Rush Hill and engine brake using second, third and fourth to see if they jumped out of gear. Never knew of one rolling over. Thanks, that was fun.
Pretty cool that you got it running and legal from the state it was in.
All we need now is a 0-60 speed test between it and the Morrie 👍
Thanks… now that’s an idea!
The Rialto could do less than 16 seconds. I'm sure this should get less than 25 at least.
@@mrjed6912 Stay tuned… I think we need to find out!
@@badgerlodgegarage Remember that these engines have no rev limit! Also great video.
Reliants were pretty quick of the line, though the Variomatic Daf could beat it.
I had one of these in the late 1970s in South Devon. Loved it! Went on the whiff of an oily rag and several times ferried 5 of us for same-day there-and-back trips to London. It was indeed fantastic.
Brilliant, it does have a unique aroma! That’s for watching.
Thanks for watching, it should have been!
Brilliant! I've got a 1969 Regal saloon. If you want to fix that back end noise it might be easier to just replace the entire axle. Also how old are your Crossply tyres? On my car I fitted brand new crossply's to replace the old ones, and the difference was massive. Night and day comparison. It went from a boneshaker to almost feeling like it floated over bumps. I was amazed at the improvement.
Hi, thanks for watching!
I think iv seen your saloon… very impressive job I might add! I think an axle may be the best way to go… as for tyres they were brand new waymaster crossplys when I put it back on the road, the roads I was driving in this video were particularly shocking!
A friend had the car version, the Regal followed by a Robin in the late 1970s. Because he only had a motorcycle licence. After he passed his car test he got an Austin Allegro (yeah that's what I thought).
An interesting addition to my research on the British three wheeled mini cars (Bond cars & Reliant’s Regal/Robin). These really are a step up from the Bond cars in performance & are RWD where the Bonds use the front wheel to pull themselves along. That 701cc engine is quieter than the 247cc Villiers engine although still noisy & crude sounding.
The bond minicar was so much worse than any Reliant. I can't stress it enough.
The perfect combination of classic motoring and dry witticism. Looking forward to seeing more from Badger Lodge and his garage
I’m glad you enjoyed, thanks for watching and for the feedback!
Hi. Good to see an honest review of one of these useful little vehicles. You might notice, I'm also a Reliant owner and have had several over the years, including a Supervan III, for which I think I paid about £50 back in 1980. It's the one parked behind the tipped 3/25 Super, in my banner picture. All the best!
Thanks for watching, they are very useful And reliable vehicles all things considered! Also Nice to see an ex HubNut vehicle living on!
I had a Regal saloon in about 1982. It was low mileage and in good condition. The exhaust was quite throaty as I don't think they had much in the way of baffle material. It was not rattly or bone-shaking though. I sold it after I passed my car test, mainly due to concerns about the fragility of the bodywork.
Like you said back in the day, I had a motorcycle licence and bought a Reliant Regal, and a Robin which gave me plenty of driving experience till I past my car test I then went on to get a Morris mini !
Thanks for watching ... They serve a purpose, no frills but they do it!
I've had two Reliant vans over the years and thought them splendid little vehicles. They did what I wanted from a van: got me from A to B and kept the weather off. Plus, I was able to take my son on days out that I couldn't do on a Honda 90.
When I sold the second one, the buyer painted it yellow and made it a Trotter's look alike to raise funds for a children's charity. Cheers!
Glad to hear it, Thanks for watching!
I had the three wheel van and we used to go on holidays in it found it was brilliant cheap to run and fix
All of the above! And very fun
I`ve always wanted to put an electric moped wheel in the front of one of these, with the battery's low down under the seats to help stabilise them, like some weird hybrid with 2 entirely separate powertrains & the ability to be 3x3 when stuck, or FWD when broken down..
To keep them more stable we fitted wider wheels and tyres all round.
I had 2 Regal 3/30 saloons followed by the Robin and then the Kitten .
Having driven up the M6 in the Regal in fairly high wind it affected the Regal a lot but I passed a Hillman imp that seemed to be struggle even more.
The Robin handled much bettef.
I had a wonderful Regal 3/25 it cost me £15 it was my first "car" I was in a bike gang at the time so on a cold wet Friday night 7 of us squeezed into it 6 in the car and 1 in the boot.. Ohh them were the days lol
Plenty of stories about these! makes motoring much more fun!
Great video, love to see more on the supervan, I'm restoring an 80's rialto van.
Thanks, there will be more! Best of luck with your rialto restoration.
New subscriber 116 here . Loved your honesty on this review . No rose tinted specs.
This was my first car , tipped it twice . But loved it.
As soon as i passed my test i did a straight swap for a morris 1100 estate. .
I kept the wrong one . Value of these has gone through the roof the 1100 sold for 700 quid just before covid.
Glad you enjoy it .
Keep making great videos . Cheers from Portadown NI.
Thanks for subscribing! More videos on the way!! I’m sure the 1100 was a good upgrade at the time, but yes the value of these plastic units has gone mad!
Thanks for subscribing! More videos on the way!! I’m sure the 1100 was a good upgrade at the time, but yes the value of these plastic units has gone mad!
Great video, as a firm fan of the Relient model I seem to remember there was a time when the vehicle didn't have reverse gear because the classified as a motorcycle so if you were driving on the old MC licence you couldn't drive a vehicle with reverse. Apparently it was easy enough to change it back to factory specs and get reverse gear .
I had a 3/25 for a time. It was quite a good little car.
My 1st car was a Supervan 3 in brown reg OBR 75H never let me down did a regular trip from the North East to the West Midlands (195 mls) could keep up with motorway traffic and return 60 mpg a tad noisy but after sound deadening on the floor , around the engine and footwell, lining the bare roof to the rear door noise level was significantly reduced, had it for over 3 years until some SOB nicked it never to be seen again ,,, probably stripped to make a trike
I love big luxury cars, but somehow I just want that Reliant van.
I had a 72' with rear bench seat and windows. It was suprisingly quick, good on fuel, comfortable, warm and dry. Nobody refused a ride in it, especialy if it was raining or cold.
Swapped it for a Mariner which was a big mistake.
When I worked at Hawker Aircraft a chap there had a Reliant van and was involved in a collision on the crossroads outside the factory, I arrived on my motorbike shortly after and all I could see was a chassis with seats and loads of small bits of fibreglass scattered all around, totally obliterarted.
Very enjoyable video. These may be awful in some respects, especially by modern standards, but that's partly why they are so interesting and characterful. Nice to see one preserved as it would have been in the 70s when in daily use. I have vivid memories of being a passenger in one with all the racket going on and wondering if it was going to disintegrate. Good luck with your channel.
Thanks for watching! It’s a thrilling experience… and I do like to use my vehicles hence why non of them are shiny!
They were fine, not expensive second or fifth hand. they got great mpg and ideal for motorcyclists if they had girlfriends that wanted to keep warm in the winter. Eight mates of mine were in the earlier van with wooden floor on a countryside pub crawl. After much refreshment the driver made an error, the vehicle flipped and slid along nicely on the roof until the body detached from the chassis. They had to walk to the next pub and were picking glass fibre strands out of their hair and clothing for some time. Another friend had one and he never looked after it, even repainted it with orange emulsion paint which quickly flaked off, one day we had to bump start it and when he dumped the clutch two sets of hands and two rear windows entered the luggage area. Even fully laden with long-haired mates you could get them onto two wheels at every roundabout. No need for a car jack you can pick up the rear end easily. Access to the engine through the tiny bonnet was not good, we said it was like performing an abortion through a belly button.
I took the engine out of this one to replace a burnt valve... couldn't be bothered fighting through the hatch! Thanks for watching.
"You cant park there, Dave!"
Great video! The roads near you look as awful as ours!
They are not great!
I had one it was my dad's it was a j reg xka731j the sunvisers were an extra cost option when the chassis was beyond economic repair I got a kitten mhf441r that was so amazing but again as time went it became beyond economic repair loved working on them
Nice one! They are a good basic reliable vehicle at the end of the day.
The biggest problem for me was the fact that the chassis on my 1970 model needed a complete replacement (£80.00 in 1976 from Reliant) due to the inherent danger of trying to patch weld the chassis in such close proximity to the fibreglass body!
I welded a new bracket for the brake master cylinder on mine… the potential for complete combustion did add for some extra thrill!
Fun 👍
Ah you need banana skins and sawdust, that'll quieten down the moaning axle.........well at least until you've sold it to the local Vicar
All remaining Regal Supervans appear to have been repainted yellow in Del Trotter logos, great to see one its original colour. I would love to drive a non Trotter one along Blackpool promenade today for people to poke fun at it. How many Regal vans and cars still exist?
The trotter thing is not for me... you do get some funny looks from people just driving around. As for numbers left, I couldn't give you a accurate answer, but not that many in the grand scheme of things.
How can a car be ugly and beautiful at the same time
I'm new here and I really enjoyed this one.👍🏼
Just so you don't try it yourself, you can get these things up on two wheels.
Much to my detriment, I used to own a light blue Van, very similar to yours
a long time ago in a Galaxy far far away. Take any 90* left hand turn (junction maybe)
at a speed in access of 28mph and she will roll up on two wheels, if you don't
immediately turn to the right, you're going to turn the whole crate over.
Why did I say left hand turn, because the driver is sat in the right hand seat so
it's all about unfair distribution of weight. Bloody things should have been banned
years ago. The only safe configuration is two wheels at the front and one at the rear.
(Morgan Three Wheeler) 🤔
Oh yes don’t worry, iv lifted a wheel! But it does take more effort than people think! Thanks for watching!
My first 3 wheeler was a Bond 875 then 3 supervans, passed bike test in 82 car test in 85
Is it true that the Bond 875 could do a wheelie since it was rear engined?
A friend of mine had an 875 when we were teenagers. It would leave an MGB standing at the lights.
MR BEAN BLUE CAR 1972
Same model yes!
Have a 72 mr bean blue van only one in ireland 👍
It was actually Mr Sprout's car if I remember rightly! The only car Mr Bean could bully in his Mini!🤣🤣
Excellent video. Perhaps you would be interested in my book "Tipping Point- Designing a Great British Underdog" which covers the Regal and Robin design history.
Thanks very much! I would be interested... where would i find a copy?
Icertainly would.
We have a guy where I live runs customised Reliants , wide wheels ,wing etc.
Thanks for watching, now that is a bit different!
I highly recommend "How to restore Reliant Regal" by Elvis Payne! (Veloce Classic Reprint Series)
Definitely needs some love! Thanks for watching and for the recommendation, il have a look…
@@badgerlodgegarage I almost bought a Reliant Regal myself but somebody else was faster. I hav a copy of this book and it is on of the best technical manuals I hav seen. For another Regal I have to wait. They're rare on the continent especially as left hand drive. Btw you've got the 21E version. That's the "luxury" version of the Regal 3/30 😀
@@knut8556 ah yes, they don’t come up very often in the UK either I’m lead to believe. And you are correct this is a 21e model… but most of the 21e bits are now gone!
@@badgerlodgegarage You may have a look at DB67 here on TH-cam. He made some vids about a Regal 3/30 21E.
As awful as they are I'd love one!! I like anything that's a bit left field and this one fits the bill!! Trouble is they are few and far between and fetch silly money as and when they do crop up.🙂👍
Awful… but characterful and good fun! And that’s the point of driving for me!
Absolutely, I'd rather drive something like that than a modern boring computer on wheels.🙂👍
Nice one mate, I have a Supervan or 2 on my channel MEC-TEC if you fancy a look, may help you know how these tick too 👍👍
Thanks for watching… may have to go and have a look!
I was hoping that you would show the load area and give a few dimensions.
Thanks for watching! I will definitely be doing a future video that’s more in-depth as it seems to have been quite popular!
Thanks for watching! I will definitely be doing a future video that’s more in-depth as it seems to have been quite popular!
My father had one back in the day, he managed to roll it and it cracked like a egg
Sounds about right!
i crashed mine into a mercedes 380 ( the German tank ) and almost wrote it off( 2 new door skins front wing rear quarter mirrors 1 window) the only damage the reliant sustained was a smashed mirror and some scrape marks. So i will disagree with you. Fiberglass is tougher than you think and also very flexible insome ways better than carbon fibre. I also have got 3" spacers on the rear wheels( extended wheel arches) which acts like a great stabilizer while cornering. I replaced the fuel pump with electric. Ported and polished head and added contactless ignition the change was amasing really smooth running good cornering more power and reliable even on cold starts.some of most expensive supercars are fiberglass which i think is well worth mensioning.Reliant also made bodys for Lotus. So i strongly disagree
All the ones I’ve found for sale are plastered with Only Fools and Horses stuff
Thanks for watching, and yes most are these days!
I wonder has anyone modified one of these into an EV ?
I have seen a regal converted using milk float parts, and a robin done in a similar manner, I think they start getting a bit too heavy when batteries are added…
A decade back there was a Dutch guy on TH-cam converting one...we got as far as disassembly, engine removal, electric motor and battery assembly, then test drives and his applying for permission from the Dutch Transport Department to license it, but after that all went quiet. I suspect permission might have been refused for some reason, which is a shame. I'd have thought Reliant three wheelers would make a good electric vehicle, especially with modern light batteries and motors.