- Reliant
Infobox_Defunct_Company
company_name = Reliant
company_
foundation = 1935
defunct = 2002
fate = production ceased
location =Tamworth ,England
industry =Automotive
key_people = T L Williams, founder
products =Automobiles
parent =:"This article is about a motor manufacturer. For other uses see
Reliant (disambiguation) ."Reliant was a British car manufacturer. The company was traditionally based atTamworth inStaffordshire ,England , but in 2001 it moved to nearbyCannock . 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) andReliant Sabre ; and the infamous three-wheeledReliant Robin ,Reliant Regal andReliant 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 1970sBond 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 theReliant Rebel and between 1983 and 1990 a utility / pickup vehicle called theReliant Fox (this car was based on an originalMEBEA development on Reliant mechanicals and was jointly developed for production by MEBEA and Reliant; it had originally been built inGreece by this Greek company between 1979 and 1983). They also made a small 3 wheeled commercial vehicle called theReliant 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 andOtosan inTurkey in the 1960s, andMEBEA inGreece andSipani inIndia 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 andLigier . The firm also had plans to import the IndianSan Storm sports car, but this plan never came to fruition.Models
*Fox 1983-1990
*Kitten 1975-1982
*Robin 1973-2002
*Rebel 1964-1973
*Regal 1951-1972
*Rialto 1981-1998
*Sabre 1961-1964
*Scimitar GT 1964-1970
*Scimitar GTE 1968-1982
*SS1 1984-1990
*SS2 1988-1995
*TW9 1967-1987
*FW5 1966-1975
*FW11 1977External links
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