There are few more characteristically English sights on our roads than a Reliant Robin breezing majestically over the prow of a hill in all it’s free wheeling, three wheeled glory. Put simply: poetry in motion!

The Reliant Motor Company was founded in 1935 at Tamworth in Staffordshire by T L Williams. Williams had formerly worked for Raleigh (known now as a bike manufacturer but formerly also a maker of motorcycles). When Williams set about building up his own business he cannabilized Raleigh parts, some of which were still stamped with the letter “R”. In order to conceal this, Williams decided to christen his company with a name beginning with an “R” as well. But Reliant was an unfortunate choice: the three wheelers would always be notorious for breaking down (as viewers of Only Fools and Horses will know) and in the early years this was an especially acute problem.

From 1952, after an overhaul of the design, the Robin was able to accommodate four passengers for the first time. In fact the Robin was probably the only vehicle in the history of the motor industry were the ratio of wheels to passengers was weighted in favour of the former. In 1956 the Mark III Robin began to be produced with a synthetic fibre glass body. It is easy to mock the appearance of the Robin (it was recently voted the ugliest car of all time by some German auto club or other) but with regard to this detail of its construction it was years ahead of its time. The innovation continued under the bonnet too: its 600 cc unit was Britain’s first flowline production light alloy engine.

In the 1970s engine capacity continued to be upgraded and it was at this time that the Robin enjoyed its period of fame and popularity. 1981 saw the introduction of the Rialto model and further variants of the Robin followed in the 90s. After this came that period of turbulence that often signals real trouble in the life-cycle of a company. For starters the image of the car was increasingly negative amongst the public and sales figures dipped accordingly. Low price cars offering good fuel economy were just becoming increasingly competitive.

In 1990 Beans Engineering (no relation to Mr Bean, whose nemesis drove a Reliant Robin in one of the episodes) bought out Reliant for £1.5 million. The firm subsequently changed hands several times, in a manner reminiscent of the death throws of other once familiar British manufacturers in their declining days, before the last Robin rolled off the line in 2001. Unlike other English marques, the Robin never acquired a cult following in Germany and it remains largely unknown there. Of course they can be acquired second hand and, despite their wheel deficit, they would require Autoversicherung, or car insurance, just like any other car (easily looked into through the medium of an online Preisvergleich).