Dictionary Definition
reliant adj : relying on another for support;
"dependent on Middle Eastern oil"
User Contributed Dictionary
Extensive Definition
- This article is about a motor manufacturer. For other uses see
Reliant
(disambiguation).
- For the Chrysler's "K car" see Plymouth Reliant.
Reliant was a British
car manufacturer. The company
was traditionally based at Tamworth in
Staffordshire,
England,
but in 2001 it moved to nearby Cannock. It ceased
manufacturing cars shortly afterwards.
History
Reliant was founded in 1935 by T L Williams to take over making the Raleigh 3 wheeler delivery van which he had designed in 1933 and Raleigh no longer wished to make. It was powered by a 750 cc V twin engine to the rear wheels through a 3 speed gearbox and shaft drive. In 1939 the engine was replaced by Reliant's version of the straight four cylinder 747 cc Austin 7 side-valve engine. In 1952 a four seat car version was launched and in 1956 the bodywork was changed to glass fibre.The company is notable for building
composite-bodied specialist vehicles, such as the sports cars
Reliant
Scimitar (including the unusual sports estate) and Reliant
Sabre; and the infamous three-wheeled Reliant
Robin, Reliant
Regal and Reliant
Rialto economy cars.
After absorbing Bond Cars,
which had also been a maker of three-wheeler cars –
though in their case with more stable rear engines –
Reliant used the Bond name for the iconic 1970s Bond Bug, a
sporty three wheeler designed by the Ogle designer
Tom Karen.
Reliant also built a four-wheeled version of the
Reliant Robin called the Reliant
Kitten; the forerunner to this was the Reliant
Rebel and between 1983 and 1990 a utility / pickup vehicle
called the Reliant Fox
(this car was based on an original MEBEA development on
Reliant mechanicals and was jointly developed for production by
MEBEA and Reliant; it had originally been built in Greece by this Greek
company between 1979 and 1983). They also made a small 3 wheeled
commercial vehicle called the Reliant TW9,
later sold by other companies as the Ant, which was basically a
Chassis / Cab onto which a custom rear body was fitted and used by
public utility companies.
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
Seven ).
Reliant's own aluminium alloy engine is also used as the
replacement for the Austin Seven engine by the 750 Motor
Club in their Formula 750
motor sport.
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 new Glass Fibre Bodied London Taxis, 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
and Otosan
in Turkey in
the 1960s, and MEBEA in Greece and Sipani in India in the
1970s.
In 2001, production rights for the Reliant Robin
were sold to a Sudbury-based
firm called B&N Plastics, but production ceased in 2002.
Reliant concentrated on importing "speciality" vehicles from
European manufacturers, including Piaggio, Bultaco and
Ligier. The
firm also had plans to import the Indian San Storm
sports car, but this plan never came to fruition.
Reliant Kitten Register
The Reliant Kitten Register is a preservation society for all the small four-wheeled Reliant, which also caters for many homebuilt and limited production specials based upon the 4 wheeler components.The Register has subscribers in Portugal, France, the Netherlands,
Belgium and
Germany, as
well as the UK.
The intentions of the Register are to keep track
of as many of these cars as possible, at the same time giving their
owners a means of communication. A bi-monthly 14-page magazine
("The Mewsletter") is sent to subscribers. The sourcing of
difficult spare parts and provision of technical information are
prime priorities.
Models
External links
- R3W The worlds largest Reliant forum
- History of Reliant Sports Cars
- History of Reliant
- The early years of Reliant (1930s-50s)
- http://www.reliant-motors.co.uk/
- http://www.reliantownersclub.co.uk/
- http://www.3wheelers.com/
- Reliant Regal Supervan III restoration project
- Reliant scale models
- Reliant Archives
reliant in German: Reliant
reliant in Italian: Reliant
reliant in Dutch: Reliant
reliant in Norwegian: Reliant