{"id":31710,"date":"2024-10-04T08:00:18","date_gmt":"2024-10-04T07:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/?p=31710"},"modified":"2024-10-01T11:45:33","modified_gmt":"2024-10-01T10:45:33","slug":"guilty-pleasures-the-reliant-robin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/guilty-pleasures-the-reliant-robin\/","title":{"rendered":"Guilty Pleasures – The Reliant Robin"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 1981, British Railways introduced a new type of train now synonymous with austerity – the Pacer. Often dubbed \u2018Nodding Donkeys\u2019, these stiff-chassised, bogie-less trains were as stripped back as a passenger conveyance could get, with bare-bones interiors, barely any sort of innovation in their mechanics and the cheapest, most easily-adapted bus body that money could buy. While they were universally reviled and undeniably rather rubbish, they achieved their purpose. They were cheap-as-chips, worked (most of the time) and got people on the rails when trains were scarce and expensive for the ailing economy to buoy. For absolutely no reason at all, we now move onto the Reliant Robin\u2026<\/p>\n

Often dubbed \u2018Plastic Pigs\u2019, these cars were as stripped back as a car of the era could get, with bare-bones interiors, engines that looked like they\u2019d come off a lawnmower, and were built so cheap that they only had three wheels – bizarrely, the single tyre was stuck in front. Cheaper? Yes. Utterly nonsensical? Absolutely. It seems that the British talent for extreme minimalism has always been alive and well.<\/p>\n

\"Reliant,<\/a><\/p>\n

Introduced in 1973, the Robins really were the definition of an austere car, innovative in ways the modern motorist might not expect, and crucially? Really cheap. They were undeniably a rather crap car on paper – but when it comes down to it, that Reliant engine had very little to cart around. The fibreglass car weighed about 450kg, and when it was put to its paces alongside an 850cc Mini, it usually ended up overtaking.<\/p>\n

All the same, with its somewhat bonkers single front wheel and terrible weight distribution, cornering was an art form. For decades, it seemed Reliant must have had an agreement with the lads at Halfords for fibreglass repair kits, as the Robin undoubtedly snapped up the lion\u2019s share of them.<\/p>\n