Reliant
Three wheel cars had the double attraction of cheap road tax and being able to drive with only a motorcycle licence, and with this in mind Reliant was formed in 1935 to make delivery vehicles. In 1952 Reliant built a car on one of their delivery chassis and that is how the 4 seater Reliant Regal was born which was in production to 1972, when it was replaced by the Reliant Robin.
In 1961 Reliant introduced the Ford Consul engined Sabre, available also in kit form to avoid the purchase tax. For 1962 a Sabre Six had the Ford Zephyr / Zodiac engine. Then came the Scimitar SE4 range, which had been designed previously by David Ogle for Daimler, but with the Scimitar 2+2 it had the same Zodiac engine but then Ford V6 powered as Ford stopped building the straight 6 and went to a V6. In 1968 a new "SE5" Reliant Scimitar GTE was shown at the London Motor Show, which was a smash, a true sporting 2 door estate concept that got copied by Volvo and Lancia. That Princess Anne had one, and when she was prosecuted for speeding it gave the Scimitar GTE the publicity the company could only have dreamed of! At the same time the Robin got given 4 wheels and called the Kitten, now with a 848cc Mini engine - there was also an Estate car version.
