Car Talk

[FairTmiddlin]

1 minute ago, SPEEDTRIPLE said:

That`s what i said to someone a while ago. It`s surprising how many people called it a "Robin Reliant", when in fact it was a "Reliant Regal Supervan". The  Robin of course being the "Reliant Robin" and not the other way around.   Here`s a question for you, what was the 4 wheeled version of the Robin called?.

 

The Reliant Kitten

Absolutely awful thing yawed like a boat

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

4 minutes ago, FairTmiddlin said:

The Reliant Kitten

Absolutely awful thing yawed like a boat

Well done,

What other 3 wheeler also had a 4 wheeled version made, but i`m not sure if it ever went into production?.  I`ve seen one in the flesh, or should that be "in the grp?.

 

[FairTmiddlin]

Just now, SPEEDTRIPLE said:

Well done,

What other 3 wheeler also had a 4 wheeled version made, but i`m not sure if it ever went into production?.  I`ve seen one in the flesh, or should that be "in the grp?.

 

The bloomin awful bond bug 4 wheel, the three wheel was bad enough but the four wheel tramped on corners something terrible

[MauriceMynah]

If I remember correctly, the Kitten wasn't the only 4 wheeler Reliant made, but there you go.

Did Bond (as in "Bond Bug") ever make a 4 wheeler?

[MauriceMynah]

Sorry FTM, our posts crossed.

[BroadAmbition]

The ‘Bond Bug’ ?

my late Dads mate died in one

Griff

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

2 minutes ago, FairTmiddlin said:

The bloomin awful bond bug 4 wheel, the three wheel was bad enough but the four wheel tramped on corners something terrible

I absolutely loved the Bond Bug, and always wanted one, because you could drive them on a full bike license. However, when i passed my car test, that became irrelavent.

[FairTmiddlin]

Griff lots of people did the front of them had little protection either side of the engine and if you got sideswiped no chance

 

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

3 minutes ago, FairTmiddlin said:

The bloomin awful bond bug 4 wheel, the three wheel was bad enough but the four wheel tramped on corners something terrible

There`s a green 4 wheeled version the Bubble Car Museum in Lincolnshire. They also have not one, but two Charger kit car bodies in their grounds.

[FairTmiddlin]

Charger the poor mans Countach, without the power or the handling with VW underpinnings.

[oldgregg]

14 hours ago, HEM said:

 It was what they call a "Tageszulassung" - I don't know if the equivalent happens in the UK but some dealerships who are just short of some sales target buy the cars themselves & register them for one day.  They then sell the cars at significantly reduced prices but have collected the bonus for meeting the target thus making a profit overall.  The cars are technically 2nd hand but have never been driven and usually only a couple of months old. 

In the UK they're known as pre-registered, and yeah it's very much a thing.

[grendel]

didnt morgans run a 4 wheeler as well as a three wheeler, though of course in the case of the morgan the single wheel was the driving one at the back, plus I think there was a 4 wheel version of the bubble car too (for the American Market?)

[Paul]

1 hour ago, MauriceMynah said:

If I remember correctly, the Kitten wasn't the only 4 wheeler Reliant made,

Indeed it wasn't.They built the Scimitar GTE and GTC, much beloved of Princess Anne and then the SS1 and it's predecessor the Sabre. Sabre was a name reused from a car they built in the 60's, very desirable and sought after nowadays. 

There were other small four wheel cars too, I remember the Kitten's predecessor which I think was called the Fox, plus they made a four wheel pick up, the Rebel was it? Which replaced the ill fated 3 wheel pick up which I think was the Ant. 

I had a GTC, it was OK, Ford engine was pretty reliable but the thing squeaked, rattled and shook like crazy and only slightly less rain came in with the roof up than it did with it down. 

[petersjoy]

16 minutes ago, Paul said:

Indeed it wasn't.They built the Scimitar GTE and GTC, much beloved of Princess Anne and then the SS1 and it's predecessor the Sabre. Sabre was a name reused from a car they built in the 60's, very desirable and sought after nowadays. 

There were other small four wheel cars too, I remember the Kitten's predecessor which I think was called the Fox, plus they made a four wheel pick up, the Rebel was it? Which replaced the ill fated 3 wheel pick up which I think was the Ant. 

I had a GTC, it was OK, Ford engine was pretty reliable but the thing squeaked, rattled and shook like crazy and only slightly less rain came in with the roof up than it did with it down. 

Just bet me to it, i remember the Reliant Fox too. I'm sure i remember one being built as a mini motorhome too.

http://www.flickriver.com/photos/7430965@N05/8040704628/

found it.

Edited March 1, 2019 by petersjoy
added link.

[stumpy]

Back in the day I had a Bond Bug 700, it was even more lethal if you swapped the head for one off an 850 Robin which gave you an SU carb instead of a Solex downdraught and binned the silencer for one off a BSA Rocket 111 you just happened to have lying around. Seen a couple of the 4 wheelers on a Kitten chassis in the flesh at owners club meets. I sold it for a ton and a Tiger Cub - now changing hands for 4k upwards!

[oldgregg]

Believe it or not, Reliant also built the bodyshell for the Ford RS200

[FairTmiddlin]

yeah knew about the reliant bit of the RS200, as I worked delivering for Fords at the time and saw the lorries full of them being downloaded at Frog island Dagenham .

Fords also donated one for long term testing to Essex police. remember being overtaken by it on the M11 early one morning. Felt like I was standing still.

Yeah remember the fox and the rebel, as the garage just along the road was a reliant franchise. with quite a few scimitar owners nearby

[LondonRascal]

For those who like old Fords, Rovers and Vauxhall's among others, search You Tube for ROVR (Retro OEM Video Repository) and has videos from adverts, reviews to many staff only training or behind the scene development stuff.

Here is a classic comparing the Sierra facelift to previous models, how simple cars were then:

 

 

[FairTmiddlin]

R&D now that one takes me back to Fords at Dunton in Essex. One day per fortnight we were tasked to meet at frog island and armed with a sheet full of chassis numbers, a gang of about eight of us would congregate at the gate hut and said vehicles on the list were brought to us. Thus we drove these the 27 miles through Orsett to the not so top secret facility that was Ford Research and Development Dunton (pictured below) just off the A 127. This was repeated four times in a day.  One each of all cars produced at Dagenham or imported through there.

These pristine new cars picked at random were then, either stipped to the last nut, bolt and weld, to check that it was built right. It's engine removed and either soak tested, with all fluids and checked for wear and tear. Or all fluids removed and run at screaming revs until something gave way. Then disected to find out what went wrong.

Some were ragged around the test track at the front. Done that in a few 2.9 and Cosworth Sierras, XR3's, 1600 turbo's Granada's of all shapes. Also had a few goes at the standing quarter (half way down on the left on the picture) that's fun especially as you know what's going to happen to the car  

[grendel]

35 minutes ago, FairTmiddlin said:

R&D now that one takes me back to Fords at Dunton in Essex. One day per fortnight we were tasked to meet at frog island and armed with a sheet full of chassis numbers, a gang of about eight of us would congregate at the gate hut and said vehicles on the list were brought to us. Thus we drove these the 27 miles through Orsett to the not so top secret facility that was Ford Research and Development Dunton (pictured below) just off the A 127. This was repeated four times in a day.  One each of all cars produced at Dagenham or imported through there.

These pristine new cars picked at random were then, either stipped to the last nut, bolt and weld, to check that it was built right. It's engine removed and either soak tested, with all fluids and checked for wear and tear. Or all fluids removed and run at screaming revs until something gave way. Then disected to find out what went wrong.

Some were ragged around the test track at the front. Done that in a few 2.9 and Cosworth Sierras, XR3's, 1600 turbo's Granada's of all shapes. Also had a few goes at the standing quarter (half way down on the left on the picture) that's fun especially as you know what's going to happen to the car  

just a couple of miles further down the 127 from where I work

[dnks34]

12 hours ago, SPEEDTRIPLE said:

Hi Paul, cheers mate, you`ve said the name of the budget brand i first used, but could`nt bring to mind ..... KUMHO.  They were brilliant, held the road extremely well (i was always very throttle happy in my young days) even in the wet,  but the trade of was longevity, and they would need replacing after about 20,000 miles, and they were WELL AND TRULY warn out. 

Ive had Conti Sports fitted on the front wear out in about 18k!

[twowrights]

On ‎27‎/‎02‎/‎2019 at 22:02, JanetAnne said:

Some interesting points above regarding tyres. 

I went to budget radials some years ago mainly because I didn't like losing quality tyres with loads of life in them to the various nails screws and lumps of sharp bits left around places I regularly visit. 

My Mondeo (mobile skip) is now over six years old and has been with me for four of them. Mileage is now just under 190k. I drive 35 to 40k a year and normally fit new tyres around mot time. I always buy budget from eBay and the set of four will be about £150 delivered. I fit them myself. I use standard 4 ply on the front with 6 ply rears ( I tow a lot, mainly car transporters ).

 

The thought of £100's per tyre would keep me awake at night!

The mondeo spent about six months in limp mode when it decided the dpf was  blocked. Supermarket fuel was blamed of course. Three regens later, each one only lasting about a 1000 miles I just put up with it. Then it cured itself. Seems a sensor fault was the cause though we never did properly get to the bottom of it. 

My last Mondeo estate came at 3 years old and I had it 15 years until it collapsed on the drive exhausted with close to 400k on it. I doubt this one will last as long. It's a stunningly good engine and box wrapped in a load of crap and gimmicks you don't need and rarely ever use but they are all linked to each other and very very fragile. I do like the stereo though 

This will be my last diesel as well.

The Mondeo may be, as you put it, a mobile skip, but that on the trailer looks like a very rare and very desirable Ford Corsair estate. :-)

[Siddy]

What can I say about Morrisons diesel but this week in a 1300d van I got down to the red section so checked and had done 580 miles, knowing I still had 60 miles in the tank carried on when I got near home it said 615 and checked distant to garage and it gave me a row of ...... think that means your on your own from here. Filled up 55ltrs so still had 40 miles left.

Need to sort my option out this month to either get another van to save paying tax or get a car vectra estate size. I'm not up on company car tax these days and only pay £60 for private fuel now so use the van all the time.

Last week Kaz had her i20 in the garage and they gave us another i20 and I drove off thinking it sounds like a bag of spanners then thought it's 3 cyl but the 1ltr turbo knew how to go when asked, Don't know what mpg it would give only having it a few days.

[Matt]

What can I say about Morrisons diesel but this week in a 1300d van I got down to the red section so checked and had done 580 miles, knowing I still had 60 miles in the tank carried on when I got near home it said 615 and checked distant to garage and it gave me a row of ...... think that means your on your own from here. Filled up 55ltrs so still had 40 miles left.
Need to sort my option out this month to either get another van to save paying tax or get a car vectra estate size. I'm not up on company car tax these days and only pay £60 for private fuel now so use the van all the time.
Last week Kaz had her i20 in the garage and they gave us another i20 and I drove off thinking it sounds like a bag of spanners then thought it's 3 cyl but the 1ltr turbo knew how to go when asked, Don't know what mpg it would give only having it a few days.

Well..... we liked the Tucson so much When the 15 year old Corsa needed replacing we bought an i20 Active, 18 months old and with the 3 cyl turbo and you soon get used to the different vibrations and noise when stationery. Only had it a few weeks and all 300 miles have been town driving and when I filled up it was near enough 35mpg.

M



Sent from my iPhone using Norfolk Broads Network

[LondonRascal]

Duly saved over £300.00 by not going to the main dealer for the next service and to have the pads done. So all booked in for next week with STR in Norwich.