Fun fact. Clarkson is on record for saying that he regretted the section on the Robin. When they left the BBC and moved to Amazon they bought Robins for use in London as they are exempt from the various taxes implemented on the roads. Clarkson really liked his Robin as a runabout in London. And kept it for sometime after the others had been moved on.
Oh he regretted it did he? Never mind the implications of a Fake review, flipping a car just because you think it’s funny….oh well then just carry on…. No worries… Dickhead
The fact that Clarkson was alone and going down a very steep slope into flat turning probably helped a lot (along with the modification the production had made)
And with idiot Clarkson at the wheel - he would be determined to falsely justify his prejudice. The car was built for a purpose and that was something that Clarkson could never understand and was too arrogant to try to understand.
@@spelix14but fact it will not happen in a car with 4 wheels 😅 I remember a strange accident. A normal car flipped over on a straight road driving against a curb. It was so slow that they needed a stunt driver to replicate it. It was not easy
The main success of the Reliant, as you mentioned, was the fact you could drive it on a motorcycle licence and did not have to take the more arduous car driving test. Lightweight fibreglass body also meant they were quite economical for its time. My mate had a Reliant Regal, only 700cc I believe and it did about 60mpg (UK gallon mind...) - I remember it taking off on a humpback bridge - one day we parked it up and a van took out the right hand side - we drove it home with no door and the roof hanging down, not a problem as it had a proper chassis. In the wet, you could "power" slide it round roundabouts. We lived to tell the tale....
@@abattlescar thanks! Yeah, it’s my car, it’s absurd, I may have been telling them to tip it hahahah. Autocrossing I’ve gotten on 2 wheels quite a bit. But I usually have a good counterweight helping me out! And yeah, the damage was just a small little scrape! Stories are better than perfect paint on these cars! People like them because they’re stupid, not because they are restored!!!
I do like that you were able to appreciate the car for what it was meant to be (a cheap transportation device) and not just make fun of it all along. For the production numbers, it should be noted that Reliant made several other vehicles beside 3 wheelers and was at some point the second-largest British car manufacturer. One of their othe famous car was the Reliant Scimitar, a sports (yes) car that came with a 4 banger or a V6. Because they used fiberglass early for making their cars lighter, they had partnership with Ford of Britain to make fiberglass body parts for Ford. They also helped design car for an Israeli company and also designed the Anadol, a Turkish car that was produced for 20 years. The nail in Reilant's three wheelers market was that the specific provision for licence that allowed to drive their 3 wheelers with a motorcycle licence was removed, thus making their 3 wheelers cars requiring a regular driving licence.
Thank you for beating me to the comment about the Scimitar. To say that the 3-wheelers were all that Reliant made is to miss a lot of the things that happened to the company. I always though the use of the Robin engine in the Quasar motorcycle was an excellent choice for a more sophisticated bike, that managed to be moderately weather protected.
The Scimitar was and still is one of the best looking cars ever made. Also I had a friend who put a Hillman Imp engine in his Robin. It was seriously fast for a Robin!
You guys need to do a challenge road trip. All of you get a certain amount to use on a car of their choice. If you are slowly turning into top gear, might as well do it right
Please do this. The road trip videos are the best. I was trying to look through Donuts catalogue for videos like the one they did recently, taking that road trip in that little $10,000 little off-roader. Was surprised there wasn't anything else like it really. Janky road trips make for the best videos. The videos with a script and high production value are appreciated, you guys kill those.
Besides the negative connotation behind "being like someone else" with content, I think there is a HUGE opportunity for them to take a well loved format, and turn it into something that fits Donut's style. I've seen other channels on RUclips (like the one with two guys that went to Alaska I forgot their name.) Imagine with the staff and budget Donut has on hand, whilst not "buy and rebuild a car on the road" money, could still be a very personable and connect with the audience more, something I feel they struggle a bit with occasionally.
OVERDRIVE does stuff like that and it's very fun. I believe that the boys at Donut knowing their typical memery would do some funny things with their cars, I am totally all for that
They locked the rear diff. The secret to the robin is the open rear diff. As you start to roll, the inside rear tire comes off the ground and 99% of the time the power loss to the wheel on the ground was enough to slow the car to a safe speed for the corner. If you try REALLY hard, you can roll one with a stock, open rear diff, however once you lock the rear diff, both tires have power all the time so you can maintain corner speed and even accelerate through a corner.
You make it sound as though the Robin has some special diff when it's standard to pretty much all cars. Generally the inside rear wheel never lifts because the single front wheel understeers like crazy. When you watch each role over you see assistance like very adverse cambers or even ramps are used to get the rear wheel to lift. Only then does the locked diff seal the deal.
@@mrjed6912 Indeed it was the Bond Bug chassis. The Robin/Rialto chassis did have differences to the Bond Bug chassis. The mounting for the front radius arm was different, and the rear end was also different in terms of suspension setup, they were also allot shorter. however overall the main aspect of the chassis were the same. In fact many people who restore Bugs, involving new chassis, will often use Robin/Rialto chassis and make the changes needed.
As a Brit, I really loved this episode. I appreciate the research they did about the car and everything else about Britain. Hope to see more British cars in the future.
With all due respect, seriously, my opinion is Britan should not build cars. There is the economic perspective where Britan has comparatively less infrastructure to produce its own parts than many European countries. Then you get into the actual nuts and bolts of hiring folks to put a car together, and the base price goes through the roof, reducing the actual capital gains the company will require to survive. Another perspective is Britan has had a mindset of mend and make do since the late 1890s, and it would seem that the word innovation in Britan means "We've upgraded to what everyone else put out a few years ago." There is also the perspective of what all car companies inevitably have to do, sell cars. With the population base of Britan seemingly wanting an American Ford or a German Volkswagon over a British car, it's not all that surprising that plants were forced to close left, right and center. I could go on for an essay here but I won't. I will however put out one good thing about British cars. British cars are designed to be able to be taken apart and repaired, unlike the Germans who seem to feel the need to wrap a pipe around every component of the engine and drive train... Seriously, why does coolant need to be routed under the exhaust manifold again?
@@Danc0088 yeah, sometimes the keys stick. Side effect of dog fur... and one misplaced word in auto-correct. Edit: We have a tractor dealership here called Brittany Farms. My auto-correct is set to fill in work orders, Brittany gets shortened to Brittan to fit in the box. I type the country Britain and it auto-fills a second T...
The 3 wheelers aren’t all that reliant made, they also made some very sleek sports cars. The reliant scimitar was one of their models that started as a coupe and ended as a gte. Princess Anne went though about 8 of them over time before they went bust and was taken on by middle bridge. I own a 1974 reliant scimitar se5a and it’s truly a fantastic car, the Essex 3.0 v6 pulls really well and the car handles really well for something from 74.
@@ThePapaja1996 And the Rebel before it. They planned on making a lot more Rebels but they could never find enough spare production capacity, because the Regal was selling so well at the time.
Actually the episode where they turned a Reliant robin into a space shuttle was one of the most epic things I've ever seen. I believe at the time if it had sucessfully separated and landed the Robin they would've qualified for the X prize.
My theory for the differential is that they welded it. With an open differential, once your car starts to flip over and one tire gets into the air it will get all the power. Therefore the car will lose speed which often is enough to stop it from flipping over. If it's welded then you can keep adding gas as you're flipping which therefore lets the car keep tipping. I've learnt this from playing around in BeamNG lmao
@@Mcowling Yep, their exact gimmicks were that they welded the diff, added unbalanced weights under the car(So it's more likely to follow through on the roll instead of just the usual grinding a front corner before coming back down - that's why it consistently rolls to one side pretty much exclusively, and you can still see the shiny new bolts where they attached them to the frame in the show), and finally, they fitted unequal-sized wheels to just give it the best possible chance of rolling. Even then, Clarkson still had to either aim for situations(like the sloped driveway) where it would roll more easily, or simply aggressively cut the wheel to force it over.
I'm from Tamworth (Wilnecote actually) originally. Reliants were built in Two Gates just a smidge down the old Roman Road (Watling Street) My dad was a skilled machinist working in aerospace and was lured to Southern California in 1968 as machinists were in short supply. A lot of my relatives worked in the mines. My dad had the choice of being drafted or working in the mines. After 2 weeks in the mines, the Army sounded safer. He also did a similarly short stint at Reliant . . . something about his fist and the boss's chin. Laying up fiberglass will do that to a person. Yep Reliants were pretty common there in the 60's. They were taxed and licensed as motorcycles and you only needed a MC drivers license. We were an exception. My mother drove, had her own car, an ancient Ford Prefect with the turn indicators that flipped out the sides of the car while "the family car" was an Austin Mini (of course, as you do as a family of 4). You have to try really hard to flip a Mini . . .
There was a documentary of the entire staff doing that bit, and they actually had to do a lot of modifications to make it roll. Since it had a incredible center of mass. This one shown isn't the same model.
@@mrjed6912 They were designed to hit the front corner first and bounce back. They won't normally tip over. BUT almost every one does have road rash in the front corners and it apparently does feel like it's going to just roll over when it happens.
@@josephoberlander Yes you're right they were designed like that. If you look the front corners of the Regal 3/25 you can see shape of the nose transition getting wider the closer it gets to the front bumper. As someone who has been in one as a child I can tell you the car feels way more in control on 2 wheels than a 4 wheeled car.
Forgot to say during my rant that this is a wonderful, respectful and humorous review of an eccentric but noble little car. Thanks so much lads, I really enjoyed and appreciated that.
A few missteps here. One, the Robin wasn't made specifically for miners, nor was it marketed specifically local to Tamworth. Remember that the UK is about twice the size of Pennsylvania. Most US States are about the size of an entire European COUNTRY. Distances mean something very different here, Stateside, from what they do "across the pond". The Reliant Robin was built specifically to take advantage of the UK's then-existent loophole in the drivers' licensing laws of their era, which really were created post-WW2 with the idea in mind of a motorcycle with a sidecar. Their main competitor was Bond Cars Ltd which made the (in)famous Bond Minicar for the same purpose. Eventually, Reliant absorbed Bond, which led to the release of the Bond Bug in the mid-1970s, using a Robin chassis but a vastly different body, as a bit of a raspberry to the losing Marque (US: Badge), by way of a send-off. Both companies were suffering at the time, as the loophole they'd built the lucrative side of their business around had closed in the very early 1970s, cutting off their cashflow by essentially cutting the bottom out of the market. Also worthy of note, the Robin _predated_ the Regal. It was one of those things where the Regal was brought in as the Robin-but-much-better-and-newer, but the Robin name was so well-known, vs the then-unknown Regal, that they brought the Robin back because that's what people actually bought. Remember how Ford, here in the US, tried to replace the Taurus with the Five Hundred, and how _that_ went? Same thing. FWIW, been to the UK a few times as a tourist and fell in love with the place. My heart will forever pine for a flat in London...
Aw, I grew up with these cars. My dad was an ex-biker who "upgraded" to Reliants when he started a family. They are nippy enough around town, with 848cc and half the weight of a Fiesta. My dad always drove fast but carefully and never lifted a wheel. I vividly remember coming back from holiday up the motorway, family of four and our luggage in the back, 80mph all the way. Exciting, and hilarious seeing the faces of people in the "four-wheelers" we passed... That was a gleaming white one too, but we always had the estate ("wagon") versions. Then there was the day we raced the train... Anyhoo, thank you for bringing back some epic memories!
Stoked to hear my hometown Tamworth mentioned on Donut! I grew up 2 minutes drive from the Reliant factory and I can confirm - there were lots of miners around there (my dad was one!) but we had a Mini instead (I still do!). My first word as a baby was ‘Reliant’ though (I heard my older sisters reading the sign every timer we drove by!)
I was down the road in Wilnecote and had family that worked at the reliant factory. It's a bit before my time though I was born in 88. My grandad worked in the mines after serving in the RAF.
My dad (now 62) still has a bond bug which is like the racing version of reliant robins, he’s Rolled it once or twice and it suffered fire damage and we rebuilt it together which gave me my own love of cars. Quirky brightly coloured car that always turns heads and gets people asking questions.
I have a Reliant Rialto, and it's the most fun I've had in a car in a long time. It feels like driving a go-kart, and because it's so small - it can go anywhere. I have to keep a spare car battery on the passenger side to help keep balance, and have had it on two wheels way too many times... Great little drifters in the rain as well!
Anyone remember Mr. Bean constantly running a blue Reliant Robin off the road in every episode? That little tune they would play as he did it would always crack me up.
@@kanedaku That's not what I meant. I mean British tv just harms the car's reputation when it didn't need to. There's lots of quirks and fun things about driving a Reliant car but they're never mentioned. The Supervan was also the only 3 wheeler to survive the arrival of the Cooper. When people realised that it was just a modified Robin in Top Gear rather than the real thing, they just see it as a boring car cause yknow... where's the fun in that?
Just a slight correction, Tamworth is actually in the Midlands which isn't really "The North". But these were massively popular further north in mining towns for the reasons noted.
Main selling point was as mentioned, in the uk you could drive one on a bike licence,when a lot of people had bikes as a day to day,all year round transport ...And put a webber carb on the 850 and it was pretty quick. ...(and it had a heater)
To make it eligible to be driven on a bike licence it had to be below certain weight, so everything was as flimsy as possible. The first time I got in one I was less than pleasantly surprised to have the door bend inwards when I pulled it closed.
Fun fact: the golden age of motoring came to the UK later than the U.S. Motorbikes were huge and the biker with a kid but not much money could tax a 3 wheeler as a "Tri-cycle" and drive it without a car licence. They were renowned for tipping over. But with a 750cc bike engine they were too slow to be truly scary. Reliant had a few other hits. Before carbon fibre, fibreglass was the strong, lightweight material and Reliant were the experts. Princess Anne and loads of moustachioed 70s playboys drove a car called the Reliant Scimitar. This was a lightweight, mid-size 3 door coupe with station wagon practicality. Think Volvo P180 wagon styling but a bit bigger. Similar all glass hatch and swoopy lines. With a Ford V6 it was faster than the typical Capri or Granada (UK Fords with the same engine) and had a big following.
Hi Donut Media, these sort of videos are really well researched and produced. At the same time they are light and fun to watch! I think you got a format here with these two presenters bc now I wonder what they think of other cars aswell and I would watch another episode in a heartbeat. I really liked this and there is huge potential in these two fools especially! Upvoted and subscribed haha
The key reason for the Reliant's popularity in the 1960s and 1970s was the ability to drive it on a motorcycle licence in the UK, effectively being classified as a bike and sidecar. This is the reason the engine was made of aluminium alloy and the body of fibreglass, to keep the weight below the threshold. At the time, a bike licence was easier to pass than a car licence, and many bikers who married and started a family bought a Reliant 3-wheeler rather than taking a car driving test.
Where my Grandma lived in North West England the issues supposedly with these was getting flipped by the wind getting 'caught' under the sleek flat front/underside. Was every windy there. One of the external cameras must have a polarized lens, it is picking up the in windscreen ''stuff'
My Maltese great grandfather had a bright yellow one. He was so proud of that thing. He used to say "MY CAR, HE HAVE THREE WHEEL. NO FOUR WHEEL. HE HAVE THREE WHEEL". He probably only drove it because he only needed a motorbike license to drive it and he couldn't be bothered to take another test for just one more wheel, but he at least pretended that it was the best car in the world.
I used to work with an 80 year old volunteer who'd had a Reliant Robin for 35 years. Every couple of weeks she'd roll it by accident, and usually she'd just get out and push it back over and carry on. She died of old age, bless. Not sure what happened to the car.
As someone from Britain I appreciated how you respectful you were towards the Reliant Robin and the manufacturer. It was cars like the Robin which gave British cars their own charm (minus the horrendous reliability of some models).
Tl;dr: Top Gear got their Robin to easily roll by fitting two different wheels to the rear axle, welded the rear differential and added a lot of extra weight to the driver's side for extra rolling. The Robin can flip, but it's fairly hard to do as its steering is fairly heavy and the live axle has a fairly hefty anti-roll bat given the size of the car. And it has an open differential, meaning all power will be sent to the wheel that's not touching the ground in case it happens, which will slow the car down and put that wheel back on the ground.
Great video. The Robin wasn't the last of course, that was the Rialto. Reliant had some funky 4 wheeled vehicles too. The Reliant Regal was a major prop in the classic BBC comedy show Only Fools and Horses
Brit here. I remember going to our local oval and catching a reliant robin banger race final. It was everything you'd want and could imagine. The guys were running mismatched wheels and im sure all sorts of wonky suspension mods, but these things were fast. And bonkers... About half the grid crossed the finish line, and 2nd place was pushed across it, upside-down, by 3rd place.
My Dad was the warranty manager for Reliant . Thanks for the balanced and entertaining report . I learnt to drive in a robin. Round the field of the annual gathering of the Reliant owners club . You might enjoy looking at the reliant Scimitar for a real contrast from the same company👍
You guys should check out a Bond Bug, its a 3 wheeled sports car based on the the Reliant Robin and looks cool AF in it's bright orange paintwork which is the only colour they sold them in
HAYABUSA version, baby! Maybe they should tour the UK and visit a lot of owners of modified cars. We have the ultimate "ricers" here, they are serious!
Thank's for doing an honest review of the Reliant Robin, I had the Orange Estate version. After riding a Motorcycle it was akin to getting into a Bentley, Jeremy Clarkson actually hates the Robin Reliant as they are all British, as against just assembled from imported parts; nearly every part is British. Jeremy Clarkson for some reason hates British industry. Jeremy Clarkson praised Thatcher who's hatred of anything British was well known,
If you ever get a chance you should check out some of Reliants other cares. The Sabre was a lovely sports car and the Scimitar is a genuinely good car (3 litre ford Essex in the earlier cars). It’s also worth mentioning that Reliant constructed the fibreglass bodies for the Ford RS200.
@@TheDigger06 I found them to be very controllable and well handling cars to be honest. I even drove one around 15 laps in one around the Nurburgring. I recorded a 10.25 in a completely standard SE5 so we weren’t hanging around.
These were a relatively common sight on British roads when I was a kid. I'd love to see someone releasing a modern version as an EV city car to compete with Twizy and Ami.
An EV Robin with battery and motor tucked in front of the rear wheels would be very stable, and with less weight over the front wheel it would tend to slide and understeer rather than tip. Would still have an NCAP rating of "Fail", though.
An old guy near me had the 4 wheeled version, the reliant kitten. It was immaculate. Someone else near me now has the reliant scimitar, strange but beautiful at the same time.
The Robin in Top Gear was specifically modified to tip over. This was and still is typical of Top Gear and Jeremy Clarkson in particular (when he was on the show). 'If you can't take it on a race track, make the tyres smoke then do 150 it's no good.' Miners are mentioned. For so many ordinary working class people at the time cars like this were the only cars they could afford to buy and run. It's like the Citroen 2cv - designed for French farmers who had the choice of a 2cv or nothing. They would have loved something better but this was out of their reach.
My mate had a canary yellow robin that was surprisingly quick. We had 100mph out of it a few times. Great fun. Really came alive in the wet. You could get ridiculous low speed drifting action going on. If you think they're unstable going forwards, I dare you to get over 5mph going backwards 😂 Another guy we know had a neon orange robin that he put a Ford 2.2 pinto engine in and wheelie bars to stop it eating the back end 😂
Same bro dad had loads of these I still remember dad doing 100mph on motorway in Newcastle UK and people peeing their pants as we passed. Sadly I was peeing my pants in fear 😮
Seeing Justin on this channel and how much he's grown makes me simultaneously proud and a little jealous because I share the same name. It would be so cool to do what these guys do 🙂
They're super little cars, though they were road taxed as tricycles in the U.K. My first car was a 750 Robin as they could be driven with a motorbike licence. Cheap as beans to buy & great fun to drive. Robin owners love them while non-believers call them 'invalid carriages'. I replaced it with a Rialto 850 (dead posh!). (To be pedantic the vehicle at 7.00 minutes is a Rialto.) Their big downside is driving in snow. I was off to work one day on a snow covered road when, in a moment, I found myself on the other side of the road, up against a hedge facing the way I'd come. That was a hoot. On the second attempt when the snow was deeper the rear wheels were in tire tracks which resulted in no input from the steering wheel. Everybody should try one given a chance!
A very fair video. I glad you mentioned the motorcycle license as that was the key selling point of these. Until 1990 passing the motorcycle test was far easier than the car test. Ride three times around a block on something like a Honda C90 while the examiner walked around the block in the opposite direction watching you. There are stories of people falling off while out of view, hopping back on and passing. Many motorcyclists bought one of these when a family came along. A colleague bought one to go with his Triumph Trident. However, in 1990 the motorcycle test became far more difficult with the examiner following you on another bike. With the test now as difficult as that for a car most people concentrated on the car test. Source. I took my motorcycle and car tests in the early 1980s failing the car test twice. Bizarrely I am still licensed to ride the largest Harley Davidson (heavier than a Reliant) despite having never ridden a |Motorcycle over 100cc !
In my state in the US there are 2 classes of motorcycle license. 149 cc and below is called a motor driven cycle. You can not drive those on our Interstate Highways. 150 cc and above you get a Class M license and can drive anything with 2 or 3 wheels. A friend of mine had a Honda scooter with a 150 cc engine. It had a centrifugal clutch. Because it had a 150 cc motor he got the class M license. He would be legal to ride a Harley, one of those Boss Hoss motorcycles with a V8 engine or a 3 wheeled T bucket with a V8 because those are classed as motorcycles. For his sake I hope he moved up to an actual motorcycle some time but not a crazy heavy one.
@@1978garfield Things have changed a lot since the early 1980s when I took my Motorcycle test. However, the cut off between Mopeds and Motorcycles has always been 50cc here in the U.K.. It still says "No Motorcycles under 50cc" at the entrance to Motorways (the equivalent of your Interstates). Learners aren't allowed on those but until shortly after the launch of the 100MPH capable Yamaha RD250LC a seventeen year old could pick one of those up on his birthday, stick on some L plates then legally ride it around town without having any training whatsoever. Part of the U.K. Motorcycle classification involves a maximum weight so the Robin was designed to be under 1000lb using an aluminium engine. While there are a few around I don't know what licence you would need for a heavy V8 three wheeler.
I once saw one of these with a couple of young guys in it cruising at 75mph on the motorway in the UK. You could get them up to a respectable speed as they were all fibreglass body. It wasn't just miners who brought these, the elderly loved these things. I think Honda stole that market.
You guys were on my old snow plow route in Draper and Lehi for this shoot. Thanks for the memories of Suncrest, Empire Pass, the Alpine Loop and great piece on Luke's Speeder.
Of course they weren't. They are reliable, a lot of fun to drive and they help you meet interesting people. And nothing corners quite so well at high speeds as a Reliant Robin.
My mate had the Regal we had it on Ainsdale beach, it wouldn't flip over under normal driving, the front hits the ground and the diff stops driving, so on Ainsdale beach he rolled it, but it took a lot of effort, another reason they was popular with the working class, same road tax as a motorcycle, my step father had a regal, then the supervan 3, before having a Robin. Reliant made a 4 wheel version called the Kitten, they also made the Scimitar sports car. i'm not sure but i think that had a ford V6 engine.
Those always remind me of a three wheeled Vespa we had as a shop vehicle when I was stationed in Germany. That thing was nuts, but really stable for a three-wheeler. And of course someone eventually rolled it.
Also, in the 1950s a lot of people in the UK used a motorcycle and sidecar as family transport. Post war few people could afford cars, and most cars were made for export. The switch to a 3 wheel car was not so much of a change. My first car was a Robin driven on a motorcycle licence.
@@mrjed6912 There was a particular bend on a country road where I always lifted a rear wheel in the air. When driving home from the pub on a Saturday night. With 2 passengers on board.
Make James drive everything! We love it! Especially on stuff like Hi Low, I want somebody who drives like me testing those mods, Now I know if I spend too much money on a car I'll crash! Thanks Donut!😎👍
I live in the UK Midlands, and used to work right near the Reliant factory in the early 90s. They were a common sight on UK roads, and, to be honest, you still see a fair few knocking around. They did have their issues, but I have yet to see one on its roof! The UK law classing 3-wheel vehicles as motorbikes did make three-wheel cars very popular through the 50s-60s, but Reliant were by far the longest lasting builder of these cars. Performance was comparable to other economy cars of the time, but the Reliant always struck me as a little expensive for what you got. But then, you were buying a limited run hand made car! If I was on the look out for a Reliant, I'd probably go for a 4-wheel Kitten, or sporty Scimitar. Good video, btw👍🏻
Basically will flip the same way you could flip your old ATC. Flipped my 85 250R quite a few times. Especially if you brake into a corner shifting the weight to the front and turning lol
What I'd heard about the Top Gear segment was that they welded the differential and put a larger tire on the passenger side to make it more likely to flip. A lot of stuff like that was actually 'faked' so to speak for Top Gear. There was a bit they did with vans for one of the episodes where Hammond had a little Suzuki Super Carry microvan, and he had to flip it by going into a corner too fast. Apparently it actually took a lot of tries to flip that little thing.
Hammond still gets bad whiplash to this day from that too, crazy how THAT was the accident with the lasting effect on him and not the Rimac or Vampire, both of which nearly killed him (and they made him roll the van twice). Those vans were incredibly stable, according to Hammond it is cause all the weight is at the wheelbase so as a result of that weight if they roll they fall over HARD putting an incredible amount of lateral force on whoever is inside.
Never owned a Robin. But I did own a Bond Bug 700ES, fitted with a Reliant 850cc engine. Probably an even more quirky car than the Robin/Regal. Reliant also made a Sports saloon, called the Scimitar. Princess Anne probably helped sales by being stopped for speeding in one.
The loop was closed when we filmed this! Thought that this was a good location to display the cars full potential! We were going to hit up down town SLC as well, but ran out of time :)
Brilliant! I live about 20 minutes from the old Reliant factory. There were loads of them on the roads when I was a kid, but thinking about it, I haven't seen one for years now.
Did you know reliant made a few sports cars as well. There were the sabre, the scimitar and the ss1 (they all had 4 wheels and they had Ford engines too)
About 12 Robin shells with the revamped headlight surrounds turned up at the Auction (not specifically for Cars) in Beccles, Suffolk (200 miles or so from Tamworth) shortly after the Factory shut down. One of their more memorable head turning lots. Think they made about £200 each.
I owned several of these before I took my car test (drove them on a bike license) bloody good little motors for what they are and a lot more stable than people think.
Top Gear was a comedy program and you can see the assistance needed every time they rolled one over. Without that you'd never turn one over because they lack the cornering power. Pretty much every roll over was done on very adverse cambers and in some shots you also see the ramp used to give the left wheel lift. You were either brave on that corner of you faked it, they don't generate cornering power because the single front wheel creates massive understeer.
yes indeed, well reminded. a lovely car shape that seems to be lost entirely except the ferrari FF and the rather lovely Z3m coupe..... and some volvos from the early 00's. thank you
Hope you guys do a roadtrip challange series because all the personal shit the Cartrek guys are going through, I dont think we're getting an other season this year.
I was born, grew up & still live in Tamworth, the village Two gates where these cars were made is now a housing estate. I do wonder if any residence have found any buried Reliants yet? as they buried them to remove "assets" 😁 their nickname "plastic pig" was derived from someone ordering the wrong undercoat, this undercoat just happened to be Carnival pink. The facts are actually spot on and my dad & me worked on a fair few of these cars being a mechanic on the side with himself being a miner the whole industry was wiped out in the mid to late 80's. A very early memory of Reliant was me asking my dad as we passed the yard one day, "what are those cars over there, they look cool" thinking it was a new model Scimitar. My dad replied "its a special car for Ford, I think its called an RS200". zas everyone knows everyone round here, my dad knew a few workers in the Reliant works. Yep, Reliant made the bodyshells for the group B rallycars as they were the best in their field with fibreglass (or glassfibre, whatever your preference). I do have a fondness of the quirky three wheeler, especially with a motorbike engine up front - search for some, there was a local bloke who fitted a Rover V8 in one 😂. The 850cc they later came with was kind of Ford derived from the Anglia, the switchgear and electrical stuff was mostly Lucas, see Leyland, Rover, Landrover, basically any British car manufacture of that time. Yeah nail em round a corner and youre going over. A few blokes round here who were big of sature lets say had a bag of cement in the passenger footwell to balance the car out 😂 Much like the council paving slab in the back of a Ford Capri, it may as well of been an optional extra. Anyways, lovely to see an old Reliant doing what they used to do best 😂 our house stank of fibreglass and David's P.40 isopon (bondo) when i was a kid. Oh and the Mountainous range clip when on about Tamworth the mining town? thanks for the image but nah it aint that. We do have a Castle though in the centre of Town, as you do. Keep doin what you do y'all. Love your Videos
If you ever get the chance to drive one I'd suggest having a go in a Reliant Kitten. Its a bit like the Robin but it's got another wheel! Yes they made a car with 4 wheels! 😀
Great video! I've always wanted one of these cars. Reliant also made a 4 wheel version called the Kitten, as well as other 4 wheel vans. They are also well known for its Scimitar sports cars. An interesting video and a local company to me.
There's a reason they don't disclose location during filming. You said you would meet up of some kind......if everybody showed up, they would never finish their work. Stop being a maniac fan boy and give them space to work. 😅
![Felix "Unfair" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Oswujxm2Ag0/mqdefault.jpg)
Fun fact. Clarkson is on record for saying that he regretted the section on the Robin.
When they left the BBC and moved to Amazon they bought Robins for use in London as they are exempt from the various taxes implemented on the roads.
Clarkson really liked his Robin as a runabout in London. And kept it for sometime after the others had been moved on.
real shit?
Oh he regretted it did he? Never mind the implications of a Fake review, flipping a car just because you think it’s funny….oh well then just carry on…. No worries… Dickhead
This is my Robin, my buddy owns 2 of the “W. Chump and Son’s” robins. I’ve debated buying one of them, they are in California.
Top Gear really had no respect for anything. there is something special about a vehicle that does EXACTL what it's meant to.
I have a feeling is does or will regret a lot of the things he's said over the years. fun entertainer, blowhard windbag offscreen.
having two people in the car actually helps it to not flip over
Ha, just think of it like a motorcycle with a sidecar instead of a car.
You must remember that from Mr bean animated series
@@MScotty90but a motorcycle is stable without and with a sidecar lol
Not to mention Jeremy's engine was in the back.
@@NonsensicalSpudz Stable when riding**
The fact that Clarkson was alone and going down a very steep slope into flat turning probably helped a lot (along with the modification the production had made)
And with idiot Clarkson at the wheel - he would be determined to falsely justify his prejudice.
The car was built for a purpose and that was something that Clarkson could never understand and was too arrogant to try to understand.
@@childofthe60s100 of course he understands hes making a tv show genius
@@childofthe60s100 you do know he's not making a documentary right? its entertainment. You think they actually blew up a car with richard inside?
@@spelix14but fact it will not happen in a car with 4 wheels 😅
I remember a strange accident. A normal car flipped over on a straight road driving against a curb. It was so slow that they needed a stunt driver to replicate it. It was not easy
@@Nordlicht05 they have flipped cars many times lol, like in the old hatchback episode. Season 21 episode 1
Justin’s really come a long way in a year with Donut, mad respect for all the segments he’s been in lately.
he really fits into the team, and it feels like he has always been there
It’s only been a year?
@@monkeman7710 the first video he was in (D-List) was released in March or April 2022 I believe.
He's awesome. I love him.
I miss HERT BRO😢 Justin's cool tho
Imagine a High Low series on cars like these
I'd rather not.
Oh no
Yeah just any little 3 cylinder like the Subaru justy or the geo metro or the ford festiva.
We ain’t trying to kill one of the donut hosts
A project on mopeds would probably be more interesting and worthwile than these stupid things, not gonna lie.
The main success of the Reliant, as you mentioned, was the fact you could drive it on a motorcycle licence and did not have to take the more arduous car driving test. Lightweight fibreglass body also meant they were quite economical for its time. My mate had a Reliant Regal, only 700cc I believe and it did about 60mpg (UK gallon mind...) - I remember it taking off on a humpback bridge - one day we parked it up and a van took out the right hand side - we drove it home with no door and the roof hanging down, not a problem as it had a proper chassis. In the wet, you could "power" slide it round roundabouts. We lived to tell the tale....
The clip of Jeremy flipping and then sliding in the Reliant Robin is one of my favourite top gear moments of all time, always makes me smile 😂
For me it's always the Reliant Robin Rocket....
Me and the bois rolling out of town.
Oh dear…..! Jezza is the best.
I actually rolled off my couch laughing, when I saw it.
Does anyone remember which season was it?
Wow what a cool owner. He didn’t seem to be upset that you wrecked his car. I bet these robin cars are pretty rare in the United States. Great video.
He's a local to me. I met him at a Cars and Coffee once. He drives it in autocross. Awesome guy, cute car, very well maintained.
That not wrecked! Bit of sandpaper and some fibreglass and it’ll be good as new. Possibly even stronger.
Honestly, I would think for most Robin owners, the battle scars on the front corners of the body are probably just normal.
@@abattlescar thanks! Yeah, it’s my car, it’s absurd, I may have been telling them to tip it hahahah. Autocrossing I’ve gotten on 2 wheels quite a bit. But I usually have a good counterweight helping me out! And yeah, the damage was just a small little scrape! Stories are better than perfect paint on these cars! People like them because they’re stupid, not because they are restored!!!
@@kennyhrabar1151 Appreciate you lending your car for this! :D
I do like that you were able to appreciate the car for what it was meant to be (a cheap transportation device) and not just make fun of it all along.
For the production numbers, it should be noted that Reliant made several other vehicles beside 3 wheelers and was at some point the second-largest British car manufacturer.
One of their othe famous car was the Reliant Scimitar, a sports (yes) car that came with a 4 banger or a V6.
Because they used fiberglass early for making their cars lighter, they had partnership with Ford of Britain to make fiberglass body parts for Ford.
They also helped design car for an Israeli company and also designed the Anadol, a Turkish car that was produced for 20 years.
The nail in Reilant's three wheelers market was that the specific provision for licence that allowed to drive their 3 wheelers with a motorcycle licence was removed, thus making their 3 wheelers cars requiring a regular driving licence.
Thank you for beating me to the comment about the Scimitar. To say that the 3-wheelers were all that Reliant made is to miss a lot of the things that happened to the company.
I always though the use of the Robin engine in the Quasar motorcycle was an excellent choice for a more sophisticated bike, that managed to be moderately weather protected.
best reply
The Scimitar was and still is one of the best looking cars ever made. Also I had a friend who put a Hillman Imp engine in his Robin. It was seriously fast for a Robin!
the reliant scimitar? princess anne had one, you know.
You guys need to do a challenge road trip. All of you get a certain amount to use on a car of their choice. If you are slowly turning into top gear, might as well do it right
I want to see this so bad!
Please do this. The road trip videos are the best. I was trying to look through Donuts catalogue for videos like the one they did recently, taking that road trip in that little $10,000 little off-roader. Was surprised there wasn't anything else like it really.
Janky road trips make for the best videos. The videos with a script and high production value are appreciated, you guys kill those.
Besides the negative connotation behind "being like someone else" with content, I think there is a HUGE opportunity for them to take a well loved format, and turn it into something that fits Donut's style. I've seen other channels on RUclips (like the one with two guys that went to Alaska I forgot their name.) Imagine with the staff and budget Donut has on hand, whilst not "buy and rebuild a car on the road" money, could still be a very personable and connect with the audience more, something I feel they struggle a bit with occasionally.
Their old gambler 500 video was one of my all time favorites, I hope they go that direction again.
OVERDRIVE does stuff like that and it's very fun.
I believe that the boys at Donut knowing their typical memery would do some funny things with their cars, I am totally all for that
They locked the rear diff. The secret to the robin is the open rear diff. As you start to roll, the inside rear tire comes off the ground and 99% of the time the power loss to the wheel on the ground was enough to slow the car to a safe speed for the corner. If you try REALLY hard, you can roll one with a stock, open rear diff, however once you lock the rear diff, both tires have power all the time so you can maintain corner speed and even accelerate through a corner.
You make it sound as though the Robin has some special diff when it's standard to pretty much all cars. Generally the inside rear wheel never lifts because the single front wheel understeers like crazy. When you watch each role over you see assistance like very adverse cambers or even ramps are used to get the rear wheel to lift. Only then does the locked diff seal the deal.
Makes sense.
Much easier to have a welder install a "Lincoln Locker" than to find a tiny limited slip diff and install it.
@@1978garfield Yep! I've done the same to the epicyclic gears in broken overdrive units.
Fun fact; the Reliant Robin was also used as the chassis for Luke's Landspeeder.
I think it was actually the Bond Bug. Same chassis though so you're right.
@@mrjed6912 Indeed it was the Bond Bug chassis. The Robin/Rialto chassis did have differences to the Bond Bug chassis. The mounting for the front radius arm was different, and the rear end was also different in terms of suspension setup, they were also allot shorter. however overall the main aspect of the chassis were the same. In fact many people who restore Bugs, involving new chassis, will often use Robin/Rialto chassis and make the changes needed.
As a Brit, I really loved this episode. I appreciate the research they did about the car and everything else about Britain. Hope to see more British cars in the future.
With all due respect, seriously, my opinion is Britan should not build cars.
There is the economic perspective where Britan has comparatively less infrastructure to produce its own parts than many European countries. Then you get into the actual nuts and bolts of hiring folks to put a car together, and the base price goes through the roof, reducing the actual capital gains the company will require to survive.
Another perspective is Britan has had a mindset of mend and make do since the late 1890s, and it would seem that the word innovation in Britan means "We've upgraded to what everyone else put out a few years ago."
There is also the perspective of what all car companies inevitably have to do, sell cars. With the population base of Britan seemingly wanting an American Ford or a German Volkswagon over a British car, it's not all that surprising that plants were forced to close left, right and center.
I could go on for an essay here but I won't. I will however put out one good thing about British cars. British cars are designed to be able to be taken apart and repaired, unlike the Germans who seem to feel the need to wrap a pipe around every component of the engine and drive train... Seriously, why does coolant need to be routed under the exhaust manifold again?
@@nunyabidness674 Errrr.... Where is 'Brittan'?....
Oh!!! it borders WhereTheFuckIstan.....
@@nunyabidness674 The fuck is wrong with you xD
@@nunyabidness674 "Brittan" 😂😂😂
@@Danc0088 yeah, sometimes the keys stick. Side effect of dog fur... and one misplaced word in auto-correct.
Edit: We have a tractor dealership here called Brittany Farms. My auto-correct is set to fill in work orders, Brittany gets shortened to Brittan to fit in the box. I type the country Britain and it auto-fills a second T...
The 3 wheelers aren’t all that reliant made, they also made some very sleek sports cars. The reliant scimitar was one of their models that started as a coupe and ended as a gte. Princess Anne went though about 8 of them over time before they went bust and was taken on by middle bridge. I own a 1974 reliant scimitar se5a and it’s truly a fantastic car, the Essex 3.0 v6 pulls really well and the car handles really well for something from 74.
And the kitten
@@ThePapaja1996 And the Rebel before it. They planned on making a lot more Rebels but they could never find enough spare production capacity, because the Regal was selling so well at the time.
scimitars are really timeless, criminally affordable for what they are as well
Fibreglass is a problem though.
princess ann had one of those, you know
Actually the episode where they turned a Reliant robin into a space shuttle was one of the most epic things I've ever seen. I believe at the time if it had sucessfully separated and landed the Robin they would've qualified for the X prize.
My theory for the differential is that they welded it. With an open differential, once your car starts to flip over and one tire gets into the air it will get all the power. Therefore the car will lose speed which often is enough to stop it from flipping over. If it's welded then you can keep adding gas as you're flipping which therefore lets the car keep tipping. I've learnt this from playing around in BeamNG lmao
yh that sounds better , but ya dnt need a trick diff flip one believe me lol
@@Homingjoeyjr Maybe because any car can rollover.
Pretty sure the TG boys already admitted that they welded it
@@Mcowling Yep, their exact gimmicks were that they welded the diff, added unbalanced weights under the car(So it's more likely to follow through on the roll instead of just the usual grinding a front corner before coming back down - that's why it consistently rolls to one side pretty much exclusively, and you can still see the shiny new bolts where they attached them to the frame in the show), and finally, they fitted unequal-sized wheels to just give it the best possible chance of rolling. Even then, Clarkson still had to either aim for situations(like the sloped driveway) where it would roll more easily, or simply aggressively cut the wheel to force it over.
Were you testing it in the pigeon or wigeon?
Respect to the dude who sacrificed his reliant
Nah he got paid for it for sure. That's not a sacrifice lol
@@Nonx47Still sentimental value is probably still quite high
Didn’t get paid! Thanks guys ;) why own a car if you can’t enjoy it!
@@kennyhrabar1151 that was you?
Heck yeah! General rule of thumb, if Donut calls, give them your car…
I'm from Tamworth (Wilnecote actually) originally. Reliants were built in Two Gates just a smidge down the old Roman Road (Watling Street) My dad was a skilled machinist working in aerospace and was lured to Southern California in 1968 as machinists were in short supply. A lot of my relatives worked in the mines. My dad had the choice of being drafted or working in the mines. After 2 weeks in the mines, the Army sounded safer. He also did a similarly short stint at Reliant . . . something about his fist and the boss's chin. Laying up fiberglass will do that to a person. Yep Reliants were pretty common there in the 60's. They were taxed and licensed as motorcycles and you only needed a MC drivers license.
We were an exception. My mother drove, had her own car, an ancient Ford Prefect with the turn indicators that flipped out the sides of the car while "the family car" was an Austin Mini (of course, as you do as a family of 4). You have to try really hard to flip a Mini . . .
There was a documentary of the entire staff doing that bit, and they actually had to do a lot of modifications to make it roll. Since it had a incredible center of mass. This one shown isn't the same model.
True. The Robin mk1 is taller and has a very weak sway bar.
@@mrjed6912 They were designed to hit the front corner first and bounce back. They won't normally tip over. BUT almost every one does have road rash in the front corners and it apparently does feel like it's going to just roll over when it happens.
@@josephoberlander Yes you're right they were designed like that. If you look the front corners of the Regal 3/25 you can see shape of the nose transition getting wider the closer it gets to the front bumper. As someone who has been in one as a child I can tell you the car feels way more in control on 2 wheels than a 4 wheeled car.
link to the video?
Forgot to say during my rant that this is a wonderful, respectful and humorous review of an eccentric but noble little car. Thanks so much lads, I really enjoyed and appreciated that.
A few missteps here. One, the Robin wasn't made specifically for miners, nor was it marketed specifically local to Tamworth. Remember that the UK is about twice the size of Pennsylvania. Most US States are about the size of an entire European COUNTRY. Distances mean something very different here, Stateside, from what they do "across the pond".
The Reliant Robin was built specifically to take advantage of the UK's then-existent loophole in the drivers' licensing laws of their era, which really were created post-WW2 with the idea in mind of a motorcycle with a sidecar. Their main competitor was Bond Cars Ltd which made the (in)famous Bond Minicar for the same purpose. Eventually, Reliant absorbed Bond, which led to the release of the Bond Bug in the mid-1970s, using a Robin chassis but a vastly different body, as a bit of a raspberry to the losing Marque (US: Badge), by way of a send-off. Both companies were suffering at the time, as the loophole they'd built the lucrative side of their business around had closed in the very early 1970s, cutting off their cashflow by essentially cutting the bottom out of the market.
Also worthy of note, the Robin _predated_ the Regal. It was one of those things where the Regal was brought in as the Robin-but-much-better-and-newer, but the Robin name was so well-known, vs the then-unknown Regal, that they brought the Robin back because that's what people actually bought. Remember how Ford, here in the US, tried to replace the Taurus with the Five Hundred, and how _that_ went? Same thing.
FWIW, been to the UK a few times as a tourist and fell in love with the place. My heart will forever pine for a flat in London...
I'm from the UK and the Relient Robin have been the centre motoring jokes for years.
I also love the people that turn them into four wheels now they do look sick asf
You see them racing in the UK round our ovals, that’s even better 😂
@@xhaiilNo one does that. Reliant made 4 wheeled versions of the Robin called the Kitten.
And the best one of all is Mr. Bean hating that car
I love the way they’ve been doing these videos lately, it’s kinda like B2B and Up to Speed all in one
Aw, I grew up with these cars. My dad was an ex-biker who "upgraded" to Reliants when he started a family. They are nippy enough around town, with 848cc and half the weight of a Fiesta. My dad always drove fast but carefully and never lifted a wheel. I vividly remember coming back from holiday up the motorway, family of four and our luggage in the back, 80mph all the way. Exciting, and hilarious seeing the faces of people in the "four-wheelers" we passed... That was a gleaming white one too, but we always had the estate ("wagon") versions. Then there was the day we raced the train... Anyhoo, thank you for bringing back some epic memories!
7:54 actual footage of Thatcher burning in hell right now.
Stoked to hear my hometown Tamworth mentioned on Donut! I grew up 2 minutes drive from the Reliant factory and I can confirm - there were lots of miners around there (my dad was one!) but we had a Mini instead (I still do!). My first word as a baby was ‘Reliant’ though (I heard my older sisters reading the sign every timer we drove by!)
Me as well i lived at Two Gates from 1967 till 1981 then on to Bolehall The name Spragg you wouldn't know of a Jeff Turner my dad ?
@@robertturner8040 I’ll ask my Dad! Our family lived in Two Gates from the early 80s (but I wasn’t born until the late 80s!)
@@TomasSpragg we lived 2 doors away from the primary school no 99 My dad worked with a Spragg at the tech collage Tamworth
I was down the road in Wilnecote and had family that worked at the reliant factory.
It's a bit before my time though I was born in 88.
My grandad worked in the mines after serving in the RAF.
I'm another one from Tamworth. Was less than a mile away from the factory in Fazeley.
My dad (now 62) still has a bond bug which is like the racing version of reliant robins, he’s Rolled it once or twice and it suffered fire damage and we rebuilt it together which gave me my own love of cars. Quirky brightly coloured car that always turns heads and gets people asking questions.
Stoked that you guys are finally able to drive one of these. Even happier that James and JUSTIN are the ones to do it.
Great segment! We want to see more of this content. You guys have really stepped up your game and it is showing in a great way! 👏👏👏
I have a Reliant Rialto, and it's the most fun I've had in a car in a long time. It feels like driving a go-kart, and because it's so small - it can go anywhere. I have to keep a spare car battery on the passenger side to help keep balance, and have had it on two wheels way too many times... Great little drifters in the rain as well!
You must be crazy if you can't go around a turn without keeping the wheel on the ground.
It's not a car, though.
@@Okurka. Lol than what is it
@@mrjed6912 A tricycle that you can drive when you only have a motorcycle licence.
Anyone remember Mr. Bean constantly running a blue Reliant Robin off the road in every episode? That little tune they would play as he did it would always crack me up.
It wasn't a Robin. It was the Regal as said in the video. It was funny until you realise it was just rude.
It's in the very video you're commenting on...
@@mrjed6912 You realise it was a scripted tv show right? No-one was inconvenience or had their property damaged 🙄
@@mrjed6912 Technically it wasn't a Regal, it was a Supervan III. Based on the Regal but never badged as one.
@@kanedaku That's not what I meant. I mean British tv just harms the car's reputation when it didn't need to. There's lots of quirks and fun things about driving a Reliant car but they're never mentioned. The Supervan was also the only 3 wheeler to survive the arrival of the Cooper. When people realised that it was just a modified Robin in Top Gear rather than the real thing, they just see it as a boring car cause yknow... where's the fun in that?
Driving a 3 wheel car on a mountain is outright max confidence
Just a slight correction, Tamworth is actually in the Midlands which isn't really "The North". But these were massively popular further north in mining towns for the reasons noted.
Also the shot of the Utah mountains was hilarious, I was like those are not British mountains!
@@atodaso1668 Yeah, don't think we've got any scenery like that at all. Maybe somewhere in Scotland, but I doubt it would be a pine forest.
Wrong. Everything past the Watford gap is North. Excluding anything East.
@@jackwarren3080 Are you from London?
No East
My Grandad had a brown one and I remember him coming home really happy as he'd been caught speeding in his which was a big achievement. 😂
i'm proud of your grandad 👍🤣🤣
It's a myth that the police will give you a medal of bravery instead of a ticket if you speed in a Reliant 3 wheeler.
@@mrjed6912 haha the brave bit is going around any corner above 30mph.
Sounds like my uncle who was so proud of getting a speeding ticket in his Geo Metro xD
@Mr Jed69 Its no myth
10:15 how when it started leaking they called that segment “WRX”😂
Main selling point was as mentioned, in the uk you could drive one on a bike licence,when a lot of people had bikes as a day to day,all year round transport ...And put a webber carb on the 850 and it was pretty quick. ...(and it had a heater)
To make it eligible to be driven on a bike licence it had to be below certain weight, so everything was as flimsy as possible. The first time I got in one I was less than pleasantly surprised to have the door bend inwards when I pulled it closed.
Excellent Jeremy Clarkson impression 👏
Fun fact: the golden age of motoring came to the UK later than the U.S. Motorbikes were huge and the biker with a kid but not much money could tax a 3 wheeler as a "Tri-cycle" and drive it without a car licence. They were renowned for tipping over. But with a 750cc bike engine they were too slow to be truly scary.
Reliant had a few other hits. Before carbon fibre, fibreglass was the strong, lightweight material and Reliant were the experts. Princess Anne and loads of moustachioed 70s playboys drove a car called the Reliant Scimitar. This was a lightweight, mid-size 3 door coupe with station wagon practicality. Think Volvo P180 wagon styling but a bit bigger. Similar all glass hatch and swoopy lines. With a Ford V6 it was faster than the typical Capri or Granada (UK Fords with the same engine) and had a big following.
no matter what happens top gear wiill always be in my heart
Hi Donut Media, these sort of videos are really well researched and produced. At the same time they are light and fun to watch! I think you got a format here with these two presenters bc now I wonder what they think of other cars aswell and I would watch another episode in a heartbeat. I really liked this and there is huge potential in these two fools especially! Upvoted and subscribed haha
The key reason for the Reliant's popularity in the 1960s and 1970s was the ability to drive it on a motorcycle licence in the UK, effectively being classified as a bike and sidecar. This is the reason the engine was made of aluminium alloy and the body of fibreglass, to keep the weight below the threshold. At the time, a bike licence was easier to pass than a car licence, and many bikers who married and started a family bought a Reliant 3-wheeler rather than taking a car driving test.
Clarkson impression was surprisingly on point lol
Yeah man that was so surprising 😅
POWAHHHHHHHH
I felt the exact opposite
Where my Grandma lived in North West England the issues supposedly with these was getting flipped by the wind getting 'caught' under the sleek flat front/underside. Was every windy there. One of the external cameras must have a polarized lens, it is picking up the in windscreen ''stuff'
I was thinking what that stuff was. Looked like it was cleaned badly.
No they go like that with age, it is the adhesive between the two layers.
Early cars were toughened later cars laminated.
@@prawny12009 our brand new Ford cortina had it when we move to England from the United States and we use polarized glasses
My Maltese great grandfather had a bright yellow one. He was so proud of that thing. He used to say "MY CAR, HE HAVE THREE WHEEL. NO FOUR WHEEL. HE HAVE THREE WHEEL".
He probably only drove it because he only needed a motorbike license to drive it and he couldn't be bothered to take another test for just one more wheel, but he at least pretended that it was the best car in the world.
I used to work with an 80 year old volunteer who'd had a Reliant Robin for 35 years. Every couple of weeks she'd roll it by accident, and usually she'd just get out and push it back over and carry on. She died of old age, bless. Not sure what happened to the car.
The reliant is great, but the location you filmed this at is just gorgeous! Loved the video, keep the great work up!
As someone from Britain I appreciated how you respectful you were towards the Reliant Robin and the manufacturer. It was cars like the Robin which gave British cars their own charm (minus the horrendous reliability of some models).
Tl;dr:
Top Gear got their Robin to easily roll by fitting two different wheels to the rear axle, welded the rear differential and added a lot of extra weight to the driver's side for extra rolling. The Robin can flip, but it's fairly hard to do as its steering is fairly heavy and the live axle has a fairly hefty anti-roll bat given the size of the car. And it has an open differential, meaning all power will be sent to the wheel that's not touching the ground in case it happens, which will slow the car down and put that wheel back on the ground.
Great video. The Robin wasn't the last of course, that was the Rialto. Reliant had some funky 4 wheeled vehicles too. The Reliant Regal was a major prop in the classic BBC comedy show Only Fools and Horses
The Kitten was the 4 wheel version of the Robin.
Yeah, the Rialto came in between the mk1 Robin and mk2 Robin
The only fools reliant was a regal SuperVan whoch was way cooler
@@Boodieman72 fun fact: these were popular rally cars in india in the 80s
@@jameshoath83 same as for mrbean
Brit here. I remember going to our local oval and catching a reliant robin banger race final. It was everything you'd want and could imagine. The guys were running mismatched wheels and im sure all sorts of wonky suspension mods, but these things were fast. And bonkers... About half the grid crossed the finish line, and 2nd place was pushed across it, upside-down, by 3rd place.
My Dad was the warranty manager for Reliant . Thanks for the balanced and entertaining report . I learnt to drive in a robin. Round the field of the annual gathering of the Reliant owners club .
You might enjoy looking at the reliant Scimitar for a real contrast from the same company👍
@officalDonut Dear scammer, no one believes you're the official Donut. Get a job.
You guys should check out a Bond Bug, its a 3 wheeled sports car based on the the Reliant Robin and looks cool AF in it's bright orange paintwork which is the only colour they sold them in
and dont forget it had a single clamshell door 😂
HAYABUSA version, baby! Maybe they should tour the UK and visit a lot of owners of modified cars. We have the ultimate "ricers" here, they are serious!
Oh my days! I'd forgot about the Bond Bug!
Also in yellow and lime green
...and the Bond 875 with the Hillman Imp engine.
Thank's for doing an honest review of the Reliant Robin, I had the Orange Estate version. After riding a Motorcycle it was akin to getting into a Bentley, Jeremy Clarkson actually hates the Robin Reliant as they are all British, as against just assembled from imported parts; nearly every part is British. Jeremy Clarkson for some reason hates British industry. Jeremy Clarkson praised Thatcher who's hatred of anything British was well known,
If you ever get a chance you should check out some of Reliants other cares. The Sabre was a lovely sports car and the Scimitar is a genuinely good car (3 litre ford Essex in the earlier cars).
It’s also worth mentioning that Reliant constructed the fibreglass bodies for the Ford RS200.
Just left a comment saying the very same thing. Easy to take the ..... out of Reliant but the Robin was only one of their cars
Princess Anne owned one...
@@robsmall6466 True. They didn't even mention the Kitten.
Scimitars were ditch finders, power on round corners,in the ditch
@@TheDigger06 I found them to be very controllable and well handling cars to be honest. I even drove one around 15 laps in one around the Nurburgring. I recorded a 10.25 in a completely standard SE5 so we weren’t hanging around.
These were a relatively common sight on British roads when I was a kid. I'd love to see someone releasing a modern version as an EV city car to compete with Twizy and Ami.
Sounds like a good idea. Maybe it could be called the Reliant Recharge in keeping with the prior naming conventions?
Ami roll pretty easily too 😅😅
An EV Robin with battery and motor tucked in front of the rear wheels would be very stable, and with less weight over the front wheel it would tend to slide and understeer rather than tip.
Would still have an NCAP rating of "Fail", though.
Someone converted the Reliant Bond bug
10:06 why would you do this on a mountain pass? 😂😂😂
An old guy near me had the 4 wheeled version, the reliant kitten. It was immaculate. Someone else near me now has the reliant scimitar, strange but beautiful at the same time.
The Reliant Scimitar was Princess Anne's car of choice. I'm glad they found one for an episode of The Crown.
@@MrDunclcame here looking for this comment. Clarkson even made the same comment as a joke on TG
Princess Anne had one of those, you know?
It wasnt Top Gear that killed of the Reliant Robin. You dont say? Since it stopped production 30+ years before that episode
It was only 10 years though.
The Robin in Top Gear was specifically modified to tip over. This was and still is typical of Top Gear and Jeremy Clarkson in particular (when he was on the show). 'If you can't take it on a race track, make the tyres smoke then do 150 it's no good.' Miners are mentioned. For so many ordinary working class people at the time cars like this were the only cars they could afford to buy and run. It's like the Citroen 2cv - designed for French farmers who had the choice of a 2cv or nothing. They would have loved something better but this was out of their reach.
My mate had a canary yellow robin that was surprisingly quick. We had 100mph out of it a few times. Great fun. Really came alive in the wet. You could get ridiculous low speed drifting action going on. If you think they're unstable going forwards, I dare you to get over 5mph going backwards 😂
Another guy we know had a neon orange robin that he put a Ford 2.2 pinto engine in and wheelie bars to stop it eating the back end 😂
If you want a sporty 3 wheeler check out the Bond Bug from the same manufacturer.
Was a rover 3.5ltr one in pontefract...used for drag racing but,road legal
Same bro dad had loads of these I still remember dad doing 100mph on motorway in Newcastle UK and people peeing their pants as we passed. Sadly I was peeing my pants in fear 😮
Seeing Justin on this channel and how much he's grown makes me simultaneously proud and a little jealous because I share the same name. It would be so cool to do what these guys do 🙂
This channel is slowly turning to Top Gear and i'm here for it.
No where close, I'd say Overdrive or AutoAlex are closer. Just a British thing.
James is slowly becoming Jeremy Clarkson. Soon his eyebrows will be scrubbing pads😊
I was thinking the same thing. It’s definitely the best show since Top Gear
Blasphemy!!!
not really but ok
They're super little cars, though they were road taxed as tricycles in the U.K. My first car was a 750 Robin as they could be driven with a motorbike licence. Cheap as beans to buy & great fun to drive. Robin owners love them while non-believers call them 'invalid carriages'. I replaced it with a Rialto 850 (dead posh!). (To be pedantic the vehicle at 7.00 minutes is a Rialto.) Their big downside is driving in snow. I was off to work one day on a snow covered road when, in a moment, I found myself on the other side of the road, up against a hedge facing the way I'd come. That was a hoot. On the second attempt when the snow was deeper the rear wheels were in tire tracks which resulted in no input from the steering wheel. Everybody should try one given a chance!
A very fair video. I glad you mentioned the motorcycle license as that was the key selling point of these. Until 1990 passing the motorcycle test was far easier than the car test. Ride three times around a block on something like a Honda C90 while the examiner walked around the block in the opposite direction watching you. There are stories of people falling off while out of view, hopping back on and passing.
Many motorcyclists bought one of these when a family came along. A colleague bought one to go with his Triumph Trident.
However, in 1990 the motorcycle test became far more difficult with the examiner following you on another bike. With the test now as difficult as that for a car most people concentrated on the car test.
Source. I took my motorcycle and car tests in the early 1980s failing the car test twice. Bizarrely I am still licensed to ride the largest Harley Davidson (heavier than a Reliant) despite having never ridden a |Motorcycle over 100cc !
In my state in the US there are 2 classes of motorcycle license.
149 cc and below is called a motor driven cycle.
You can not drive those on our Interstate Highways.
150 cc and above you get a Class M license and can drive anything with 2 or 3 wheels.
A friend of mine had a Honda scooter with a 150 cc engine. It had a centrifugal clutch. Because it had a 150 cc motor he got the class M license.
He would be legal to ride a Harley, one of those Boss Hoss motorcycles with a V8 engine or a 3 wheeled T bucket with a V8 because those are classed as motorcycles.
For his sake I hope he moved up to an actual motorcycle some time but not a crazy heavy one.
@@1978garfield Things have changed a lot since the early 1980s when I took my Motorcycle test. However, the cut off between Mopeds and Motorcycles has always been 50cc here in the U.K.. It still says "No Motorcycles under 50cc" at the entrance to Motorways (the equivalent of your Interstates). Learners aren't allowed on those but until shortly after the launch of the 100MPH capable Yamaha RD250LC a seventeen year old could pick one of those up on his birthday, stick on some L plates then legally ride it around town without having any training whatsoever.
Part of the U.K. Motorcycle classification involves a maximum weight so the Robin was designed to be under 1000lb using an aluminium engine. While there are a few around I don't know what licence you would need for a heavy V8 three wheeler.
I once saw one of these with a couple of young guys in it cruising at 75mph on the motorway in the UK. You could get them up to a respectable speed as they were all fibreglass body.
It wasn't just miners who brought these, the elderly loved these things. I think Honda stole that market.
You guys were on my old snow plow route in Draper and Lehi for this shoot. Thanks for the memories of Suncrest, Empire Pass, the Alpine Loop and great piece on Luke's Speeder.
You guys are awesome, thank you for doing what you do really well. Love you guys.
You should look for a Reliant Kitten next, it's the 4 wheel version and has to be a contender for cutest car name ever
Glad our website at the Reliant Motor Club was able to help. :)
I'm loving where Donut is going! It'll be the new top gear usa and I'm here for it!
Of course they weren't. They are reliable, a lot of fun to drive and they help you meet interesting people. And nothing corners quite so well at high speeds as a Reliant Robin.
It really was a well done car
My mate had the Regal we had it on Ainsdale beach, it wouldn't flip over under normal driving, the front hits the ground and the diff stops driving, so on Ainsdale beach he rolled it, but it took a lot of effort, another reason they was popular with the working class, same road tax as a motorcycle, my step father had a regal, then the supervan 3, before having a Robin. Reliant made a 4 wheel version called the Kitten, they also made the Scimitar sports car. i'm not sure but i think that had a ford V6 engine.
Those always remind me of a three wheeled Vespa we had as a shop vehicle when I was stationed in Germany. That thing was nuts, but really stable for a three-wheeler. And of course someone eventually rolled it.
you mean a piaggio?
@@Sucybor Look up the PIAGGIO APE PENTARO. It had a 5th wheel hitch and a tiny semi trailer.
The Reliant rear axle is much loved by trike builders in the UK.
Why is it? I hate those trike conversions.
Also, in the 1950s a lot of people in the UK used a motorcycle and sidecar as family transport. Post war few people could afford cars, and most cars were made for export. The switch to a 3 wheel car was not so much of a change. My first car was a Robin driven on a motorcycle licence.
Must've been a hoot to drive. They are limousines compared to what was our Polish "Icon" the Fiat 126
@@mrjed6912 There was a particular bend on a country road where I always lifted a rear wheel in the air. When driving home from the pub on a Saturday night. With 2 passengers on board.
It was the Suzuki Jimny jeep that was notorious for turning over at the time.
Make James drive everything! We love it!
Especially on stuff like Hi Low, I want somebody who drives like me testing those mods, Now I know if I spend too much money on a car I'll crash! Thanks Donut!😎👍
If I had to guess, they probably also increased the steering angles so it can turn harder so it can swing it's weight around much harder.
I live in the UK Midlands, and used to work right near the Reliant factory in the early 90s. They were a common sight on UK roads, and, to be honest, you still see a fair few knocking around. They did have their issues, but I have yet to see one on its roof!
The UK law classing 3-wheel vehicles as motorbikes did make three-wheel cars very popular through the 50s-60s, but Reliant were by far the longest lasting builder of these cars.
Performance was comparable to other economy cars of the time, but the Reliant always struck me as a little expensive for what you got. But then, you were buying a limited run hand made car!
If I was on the look out for a Reliant, I'd probably go for a 4-wheel Kitten, or sporty Scimitar.
Good video, btw👍🏻
Basically will flip the same way you could flip your old ATC. Flipped my 85 250R quite a few times. Especially if you brake into a corner shifting the weight to the front and turning lol
What I'd heard about the Top Gear segment was that they welded the differential and put a larger tire on the passenger side to make it more likely to flip. A lot of stuff like that was actually 'faked' so to speak for Top Gear. There was a bit they did with vans for one of the episodes where Hammond had a little Suzuki Super Carry microvan, and he had to flip it by going into a corner too fast. Apparently it actually took a lot of tries to flip that little thing.
Hammond still gets bad whiplash to this day from that too, crazy how THAT was the accident with the lasting effect on him and not the Rimac or Vampire, both of which nearly killed him (and they made him roll the van twice). Those vans were incredibly stable, according to Hammond it is cause all the weight is at the wheelbase so as a result of that weight if they roll they fall over HARD putting an incredible amount of lateral force on whoever is inside.
@@chdreturns I was actually really disappointed when he rolled it on the show, because I wanted to see that little thing chooching around the track.
Never owned a Robin. But I did own a Bond Bug 700ES, fitted with a Reliant 850cc engine. Probably an even more quirky car than the Robin/Regal. Reliant also made a Sports saloon, called the Scimitar. Princess Anne probably helped sales by being stopped for speeding in one.
James and another 3 wheeled car? This should go well.
love that you are showing off Utah's unique cars and unique scenery :]
Most of that was on the alpine loop behind Timp, right?
@@dudebro7698 just before the loop.
The loop was closed when we filmed this! Thought that this was a good location to display the cars full potential! We were going to hit up down town SLC as well, but ran out of time :)
I was trying to figure out where this was filmed. Figured it was Colorado or Utah. Looks a lot like Guanella pass in Colorado.
Brilliant! I live about 20 minutes from the old Reliant factory. There were loads of them on the roads when I was a kid, but thinking about it, I haven't seen one for years now.
Did you know reliant made a few sports cars as well. There were the sabre, the scimitar and the ss1 (they all had 4 wheels and they had Ford engines too)
But what is the Royal connection 🤔
@@timwood9171 "princess anne had one you know"
@@ben._thrc Still does!
@@a1white indeed
Yes, but which Relient?
Top Gear was like professional wrestling. We all know it's fake, but it's real to me!
About 12 Robin shells with the revamped headlight surrounds turned up at the Auction (not specifically for Cars) in Beccles, Suffolk (200 miles or so from Tamworth) shortly after the Factory shut down. One of their more memorable head turning lots. Think they made about £200 each.
You guys should do more up to speed, you haven’t made one in so long and I miss it and I think a lot of others do to.
I owned several of these before I took my car test (drove them on a bike license) bloody good little motors for what they are and a lot more stable than people think.
Top Gear was a comedy program and you can see the assistance needed every time they rolled one over. Without that you'd never turn one over because they lack the cornering power. Pretty much every roll over was done on very adverse cambers and in some shots you also see the ramp used to give the left wheel lift. You were either brave on that corner of you faked it, they don't generate cornering power because the single front wheel creates massive understeer.
I agree
Reliant didn’t just make 3 wheelers, the Scimitar was a pretty cool shooting brake
yes indeed, well reminded. a lovely car shape that seems to be lost entirely except the ferrari FF and the rather lovely Z3m coupe..... and some volvos from the early 00's. thank you
..and the four wheeled Rebel.
Hope you guys do a roadtrip challange series because all the personal shit the Cartrek guys are going through, I dont think we're getting an other season this year.
What happened the the car trek guys?
@@shainsaw8441 freddy is looking to slow down a bit and Hoovey is selling his collection.
id kill to have a Robin here in the states, idgaf how stable it is that thing is gonna turn heads and its a great laugh all around
True. You don't buy a Robin for racecar stability. You buy it for the sake of having a reliable head turner
Such great content! Laughed at the end!
Really enjoy your fun, informative and goofy videos.... Please keep them coming
I was born, grew up & still live in Tamworth, the village Two gates where these cars were made is now a housing estate. I do wonder if any residence have found any buried Reliants yet? as they buried them to remove "assets" 😁 their nickname "plastic pig" was derived from someone ordering the wrong undercoat, this undercoat just happened to be Carnival pink. The facts are actually spot on and my dad & me worked on a fair few of these cars being a mechanic on the side with himself being a miner the whole industry was wiped out in the mid to late 80's. A very early memory of Reliant was me asking my dad as we passed the yard one day, "what are those cars over there, they look cool" thinking it was a new model Scimitar. My dad replied "its a special car for Ford, I think its called an RS200". zas everyone knows everyone round here, my dad knew a few workers in the Reliant works. Yep, Reliant made the bodyshells for the group B rallycars as they were the best in their field with fibreglass (or glassfibre, whatever your preference). I do have a fondness of the quirky three wheeler, especially with a motorbike engine up front - search for some, there was a local bloke who fitted a Rover V8 in one 😂. The 850cc they later came with was kind of Ford derived from the Anglia, the switchgear and electrical stuff was mostly Lucas, see Leyland, Rover, Landrover, basically any British car manufacture of that time.
Yeah nail em round a corner and youre going over. A few blokes round here who were big of sature lets say had a bag of cement in the passenger footwell to balance the car out 😂 Much like the council paving slab in the back of a Ford Capri, it may as well of been an optional extra. Anyways, lovely to see an old Reliant doing what they used to do best 😂 our house stank of fibreglass and David's P.40 isopon (bondo) when i was a kid. Oh and the Mountainous range clip when on about Tamworth the mining town? thanks for the image but nah it aint that. We do have a Castle though in the centre of Town, as you do. Keep doin what you do y'all. Love your Videos
I love that you guys came to Salt Lake to drive foreign cars.
If you ever get the chance to drive one I'd suggest having a go in a Reliant Kitten. Its a bit like the Robin but it's got another wheel! Yes they made a car with 4 wheels! 😀
The Scimitar and the Kitten really were impressive. It wasn't just miners.
And the sabre
Great video! I've always wanted one of these cars. Reliant also made a 4 wheel version called the Kitten, as well as other 4 wheel vans. They are also well known for its Scimitar sports cars. An interesting video and a local company to me.
I wish I knew the Donut team was in Utah, I would’ve loved to go to a meet up of some kind!
There's a reason they don't disclose location during filming.
You said you would meet up of some kind......if everybody showed up, they would never finish their work.
Stop being a maniac fan boy and give them space to work. 😅
@@jackiechan_wtf4041 Jeez guy - take it easy.
@@jackiechan_wtf4041 let's go Brandon!
@@jackiechan_wtf4041 "maniac fan boy" tf is wrong with you? He just said he'd like to meet them.