1969 Reliant Regal 3/30 saloon

[Eddie Honda]

I'd imagine its hard to find a Supervan thats not been trotterised these days.

Hard enough, but I did spot this Supervan III ten years ago in Dundalk (73-LH-505)

4780874101_5bc23e44db_o.jpg (4.79 MiB) Viewed 2909 times

I think I'm right in saying the final Mk type Reliants had the vestige of a reverse moulding above the back window, they were obviously dipping a toe in the water.

Yeah, more of a brow than a full-on reverse rake glass.



https://www.reliant.website/regal_hist.shtml

[fried onions]

They are funny looking things but not disagreeable in the slightest.

[cros]

My brother had a 3/25 and then moved 'up' to a supervan because you only needed a bike licence to drive them and he wasn't bothered about having lots of wheels. The car was in appalling condition but continued to be driven until it started to loose its gears, reverse being first to go. His last journey to work was undertaken with only second and top remaining. The car was then dropped in a hole and buried. I've just looked on Google earth and theres nothing to suggest its not still there.

[mercrocker]

My dad's brother was a trike-licker. He took his bike test back in the Sixties and when the time came for a sidecar for the kids he bypassed the combo route and bought a 3/25. A series of vans and Supervans followed until he finally managed a 4-wheel test and entered the world of mediocrity with one of those Kei-sized Vauxhalls whose identity I prefer to forget.....

As he was (and remains) a Lincolnshire man it wasn't unusual to see a goat peering through the rear window or an upturned dolly tub strapped to the roof.....

[Cruiser45]

It's no secret I've owned around 30 examples of Staffordshire Engineering,from a 57 soft top to a 1998 Hatchback,several kittens,foxes,a rebel van and every tripod in between.My last one came to an untimely end following an altercation with a Volvo,did make it in the local paper though! I haven't had one since then and to be honest don't think I will again.

[AMCrebel]

One of my childhood memories is of one of these barrelling towards us on its side - throwing up road dust. It came to rest and my Mum and Dad jumped out of our Hillman GT to investigate. A few other folk did the same and the car was soon upright and on its way - fella and his wife and child unhurt and the car with only minor damage.

[fried onions]

It's no secret I've owned around 30 examples of Staffordshire Engineering,from a 57 soft top to a 1998 Hatchback,several kittens,foxes,a rebel van and every tripod in between.My last one came to an untimely end following an altercation with a Volvo,did make it in the local paper though! I haven't had one since then and to be honest don't think I will again.

Now there speaks a man from experience!

[Eddie Honda]

and to be honest don't think I will again.

Watch Dan buy one next week.

[Eddie Honda]

In other Reliant economy bothering: I've had three Kitten estates, one Kitten saloon, two Rebel 700 saloons and also have a Rialto 2 estate.

Not helped by the fact I've been friends with the RKR registrar since 1992.

I like the simple honesty of a vehicle with basic mechanicals, separate chassis and a rot-free body.

[mercrocker]

My favourite tale of a Reliant is the unfortunate Regal van that was backed into by a TIR artic at a transport depot where my mate worked in the late 70s. The trailer was a 40ft tilt with steel dropsides and the froggy driver hit the back of the trike full-on with the corner post of the rear gate - directly into the middle of the roof. The poor van split open virtually all the way along the centre of the roofline - the transport manager was watching, open-mouthed, from his office and apparently expected to see the whole thing drop into two halves with the engine resting on the front wheel. It didn't quite happen that way but it was a proper mess.

I've mentioned my mad mate Ditcher before with his Regal 3/30 - 7 up on the beach road near our house - the road with a right-angle bend halfway down. I did think I was going to die that afternoon but I outlived the bastard thing. Two weeks later he was welding it - some stupid non-essential repair like an exhaust bracket or summat and the inevitable sparkler tickle against the underside of the bodywork did it in almost immediately. His mum was screaming down the phone at the fire brigade but couldn't remember the address they'd lived in for 46 years.....Nothing anyone could have done, it was like a melted red toffee in less than 90 seconds.....

My last recountable tale involves the establishment of Lawton & Wilson - a well known motorcycle (and hence 3 wheeler in those days) dealer in Southampton. At the time they had a long, narrow workshop on one of the arterial roads out of the city, bordered by a brick dwarf wall. There were usually a dozen or so Reliants for sale, plus the occasional Bond 875 or Bug, lined in echelon behind the wall. One morning as I returned blearily home from some bird's house back to mine I saw that somebody had lifted every single front wheel up onto the wall, lining each car up from the diagonal as they did so. Whoever did it must have been bloody knackered at the end.