What people forget, is they were aimed at people coming from motorbike and side cars (outfits) Normally with a small family or fed up with getting cold and wet. With that in mind they felt luxurious. My dad did just that. Had an outfit. got fed up with travelling to London and having to stop in cafe's to thaw out. Bought a Robin and thought it great. As did us young kids.

"Well .....that's the Reliant answer anyway" - Tony Bastable doesn't sound convinced!!

I love the idea that you buy a Reliant Robin and then keep “valuable objects” in the boot.

Always laughed at those cars in the eighties but when I see them today, I really like them. Folks that own them certainly love them. 👍

oh look, it must be the 70's as everything is filmed in glowing "Beige-O-Vision" !!!!!!

For once, a sensible and practical test and comprehensive report on these iconic and fun little cars.

Been there done that back in the 70's. They used to say that if you could drive a reliant robin you drive anything. Had loads of fun 2 wheeling round roundabouts and even got stopped by police on the A1 in Yorkshire who said "I didn' t know they went that fast" and then let me off and told me to be careful 😁

Wow synchros on all 4 gears, getting treated like royalty.

My Grandad had a two tone light blue over dark blue Reliant Regal Supervan III. As a kid I used to ride in the back with the dog! No seatbelts. One time he had to do an emergency stop and I ended up in the front cabin nudging the gear lever! I LOVED that van! It was a 1969 model on a 'G' plate if I remember correctly.

His roll neck is the same shade as the car. Brown pants-another 70's essential.

Can't wait for brown and mustard to be back in vogue. Remember the 4 wheeled 'Kitten' model

People sneer at these cars but I have had immense fun in the 7 years I had my MK2 Robin. Its quick off the lights, can do the national speed limit with ease, 70+mpg and cheap tax/insurance and many parts from the humble Lucas/BL bins means keeping it running ain't savage either. Its 1950's British car tech having a last gasp before surrendering to modernity and designed flaws of todays joyless tin boxes, you can carry the engine and gearbox yourself and yet it can carry four adults and still have room in the boot.

I've got a 1981 Super Robin 850 estate and I bloody love it! So does everyone walking or driving along! Petite & cosy little things, the windscreen wash is a manual pump in the dashboard, amazing!

Was mot'd till 2009 so 37 years is definitely value for money!

"the glamorous new body shape" Sorry, what?!?

Good old Shaw Taylor,,as a youngster saw him at Brands Hatch in the 70s,,my friend's father had a Reliant Regal then a Robin in Kermit Green, he could drive them really well and was a military despatch rider years back,,no joke in the right hands it was sprightly,,Thanx for a great upload and trip down memory lane,,

Seeing four robins driving down the track brought tears to my eyes 😂

8am on Sunday morning is a great time with this channel.

I owned 2 of these, the 750cc car and the 850 cc estate. also had the wobble steering problem which required a factory 'fix' got stopped at 96 mph going downhill on the M1 outside of London, didn't get booked the copper said no-one would believe him, got a very severe warning though.

I had one between passing my motorcycle test and passing my car test, I drove it through the winter in 1981/1982 and it was reliable and economical, also it was warm and dry. Of course they seem stupid now, but they filled a gap in the market and had quite a following. You have to compare it other cheap early 1970’s cars.

back in the day I had an Austin 1300 gt and my mate had a Robin ( 850 i think ) . I could not keep up with him round the country lanes 🤷🏼 I can tell you from experience they will go round corners without turning over .

Great seeing footage from when they were new.

5:38 You can tell the guy wasn't even there when he thanked him in the next shot lol

This was the real heyday of Reliant - the Regal had been selling very fast indeed in the preceding year.

It took me ages to spot Bastable with that camouflage jumper in front of the Robin

Ray Wiggins .... a man who thought 3 wheels were better than 4 . Apparently died in a wheelbarrow.

I was between Saabs, and bought a Reliant Robin from a guy who didn't know he was selling it (he was going to do it up as a project, but his wife hated it and stuck it in the Freeads paper). I loved that Reliant, although it had a tendency to overheat. I got another Saab shortly after, but kept the Robin running for five years. The Saab was comfort, but the Robin was fun!

It's the film work I like. So watchable. You may not know but they gave a brown leather jacket to the first 100 buyers of the Robin. And the 1000th sold was personally delivered by Tony Bastable. He loved his cars didn't he. He'd be well into electric vehicles I'm sure. Lady driver car market anyone!

Tony bastable and his very expensive squeaking leather jacket

Interesting to see a serious review of the Robin for once, even if they did get it up on two wheels. It was actually a pretty popular car despite its many shortcomings.

I reckon Bastable got it up to 80, I love how he almost rolled it! I was -1 in 1973, however Tony's voice was sort of childhood soundtrack, super TV presenter.

We drove to Wales in one of these..Four of us and a tent .How we all managed to fit in is now a mystery..😂😂

I had the preceding Regal Reliant. It was old when I bought it, and the one eyed mechanic who kept it alive for me used to curse and tell me to get something else when I brought it in for repair. I think it was 750cc, but it flew down the motorway. It was a pleasure to have owned the pinnacle of British automotive engineering. Strange that I never pulled any birds though.

Unless you've owed one of these you can't criticise .they are brilliant fun, economical and quiet fast for a 850cc engine

I remember driving down Twickenham high street in the early eighties and witnessing a Robin embarking on a emergency stop and it spun like a weeble

I had one for 18 months loved it but it was shunted from behind, twice. Well fit for lane 3 on the motorway, cheap Vehicle Excise Duty, and very good on fuel.

Collapsable steering column must make it one of the safest cars on the road.

Keep them peeled said Shaw Taylor

73mph in that thing, sod that for a game is soldiers

Why , for some inexplicable reason I want one......?

robin also made a luxury version of this automobile called the robin regal which is one of the favourite cars of the queens sister , princess Ann :-O

I used to visit & tour the Reliant factories in the late 1980's. There was a shrine to Princess Anne in the offices on Watling Street, now its a housing estate :(

I love the fact Tony had a matching jumper to hand for this review

I have just discovered this channel (or, rather, video time capsule) and I have to say that the gentleman testing the Robin is the most suave and classy car show presenter... ever! Hallowed be the Gods of youtube algorhythms, for they have presented me with a treasure of TV history!

Notice how the interview went from country lane to runway

I nearly spat my tea across the room with laughter when i witnessed the Robin at the end, rear wheels off the ground and frankly looking very unstable! That would never pass the "elk' test! How the comentator at the end wasnt laughing his head off ill never know!!!😂😂😂😂😂 the elephant in the room question, i guess when it snows you leave the Robin at home as i cant see how it would cope with snow on the middle of a road!???😂😂😂😂😂

Some things really were best consigned to history.

2:55 literally everything in this still is beige

Omf I was marveling at the incredulity of Ray Wiggin lying through his teeth about the 'features' of this shitty car and their insane and inane design decisions, not even Tony Bastable the most 70s man ever born was fooled by that but the cut straight after where Tony appears to have been talking to a plane the whole time blew me away completely. They don't make tv like this anymore. Very enjoyable vid.

Nice to be reminded of time when motoring programmes showed ordinary cars that people could afford, and didn't indulge in the wanton destruction of vehicles thought to be beneath the presenters. I don't think any production staff ever got assaulted by the presenters either.

"At least that's the Reliant's answer" This man...

Love the shape of these little cars

I'm in love with these videos .

Missed one of the best things about these Reliants back in the day, incredibly high residuals.

Not so good if you’re a hedgehog positioning yourself in between the headlights to avoid getting squashed.

I saw one of these last week here in Canada, he was just rolling along in traffic surrounded by v8 pick up trucks. Brave man indeed.

AWESOME....I sold my beautiful ....BSA Bantam FEK939F ...so I could buy a VAN !! I was given a quick lesson before driving it from Leyland to Freckleton. That evening I went for a run...and stalled on tiny ....repeat tiny...incline. I kept stalling trying to pull away....and in my rear view mirror , in a JAG !!.....was an absolutely drop dead gorgeous young woman.....POLITELY smiling !! Still....it enabled me to take EVERY stitch of clothing I possessed to last out each 10 weeks term at Lugaboro, for my final year, and make up with study ( no washing ) for the fun I'd had in my previous 3 years. And I passed with a respectable engineering degree, infinitely better than the doss subject studied by our about to be Prime Minister, Boris, and I didn't cheat. ( sorry to bring politics into my story ) Edit: I discovered the fuel tank was leaking. I was at Warton , on the Provost production line, ( undergraduate apprentice ) and when I mentioned this to the technician I was working with....he wrote out a "chitty" to get what turned out to be a tin of sealant from the stores. He gave it to me saying ...if it fixes leaks in Lightning wings, it will fix your Reliant !!! And it did....so I reckon I had the most expensive Reliant ever

So much fun to drive.

I seem to remember Reliant done a 4 wheel version called the Kitten

Tony Bastible’s creaky heavy leather jacket making the interior sound more expensive there 😂

I had a neighbour who had a Reliant Regal, and before that a BMW Isetta .

Kind of crazy how humble people were(or maybe still are) in England, to buy something like the Reliant Robin. I was car shopping a year ago, could afford something like a brand new Mazda 3(kind of an upscale compact in the US market). Test drove one, liked the way it drove, just could not pull the trigger. Didn't even bother to shop less expensive alternatives like cheap brand new Fords, Chevys, Hyundias/Kias, those really scream "I'm poor" here in America. Ended up buying what I really wanted all along, a huge pickup truck(7 year old Toyota Tundra, same price as a modestly equipped new Mazda 3 lol)

I'd always assumed they had two wheels at the back to allow some luggage space. Nice to see a proper report rather than a comedy sketch.

You can see where VW got it's styling cues for the mk1 Golf.

I saw one last night on the road in Gorbals Glasgow was a funny sight not seen one for decades almost shouted out in excitement 😂

I remember hitting 80 on the mad mile near Sutton with a friend in a Robin.

my grandad had 1 of these,i was passenger once,what a horrible,uncomfortable noisy place to be.I rather go with my dads Austin maxi 1750 at the time-1975.Grandad upgraded to Skoda estelle in bright yellow,what an improvement

Love that they state the price including the exact penny amount!

£801.39? That extra 39p was a bit cheeky! And that cut away when he thanked Ray Wiggins... who clearly wasn't there anymore... plus the car had miraculously switch from a lane to an airfield... pure Alan Partridge!

Lovely Jubbley!!!

I guess that would be as good a way as any to die - 70mph in a Robin Reliant. I saw one which crashed into an ambulance near Woodville road in Cardiff in 1974. The bodywork just crumbled and fell to the road. Luckily no one was hurt, the ambulance continued on to deal with its callout - no real damage there.

And thus a generation of stand up comedians were given priceless material to keep punters rocking in the aisles 😅

73mph and synchromesh on all four forward gears. Reliant, you're spoiling us.

Jeremy Clarkson was a 13 year old boy when Reliant replaced the Regal with the Robin. I have never been in a Robin, but could tell by the sound of the engine a Robin was going past my bedroom or indeed many other cars such as Beetle, Minor, Mini, Fords etc. The Robin had Mini wheels, the previous Regal had Austin A40 wheels.

I can't put aside how much this car resembles a wheelbarrow with doors.

Notice the seat belt getting stuck in the door at 4:25, the insane edit at 5:38 when we go from an interview around some trees in the "countryside" to an aircraft in the background and the pretence that the interviewer is still talking to Ray from Reliant. The nonsensical discussion about the positive aspects of a car being designed around 3 wheels at 4:44 is so 1970's. You've got to love all of this!

I was in one that was being towed too fast around a round a bout & ended on my side on the grass! Im glad it wasn't rolled on to the roof as I am not sure the car structure would have taken it

Wow I really love that "glamorous new body shape" ... especially in that flat bogie beige colour! Very suave. Bet that car must have been a real fanny magnet back in its day. NOT. The really crazy bit is that health and safety laws allowed this highly unstable death trap to remain in production for nearly 30 year! You certainly wouldn't want to be hit by a proper car in one, and as we can see it's accident avoidance abilities are minimal at best..

I owned a Robin as a young fellow. I got it as a wreck and fixed it. The engine was a joy to work on - when removed from the car. A very easy engine to rebuild. The car was actually impressive, it had surprisingly sprightly performance and excellent economy , but was a bumpy and noisy ride. I found that it didn’t do my street cred any favours at all however. People were horribly bigoted against it . I even got accosted by Reliant hating morons in a street just after parking it . There came a time when I could take the abuse it accrued no longer, sold it and went back to riding motorbikes. In recent times , I saw what appeared to be a brand new one , in China . Unless the Chinese have copied the Robin surreptitiously, I assume that the jugs and the design have been sold off to them.

Keep em peeled, Shaw 👀

73mph in a wheel barrow. Jees thats hardcore.

My first job was body repairs on these cars, 50% of the damage was caused by them flipping over at high speed or wind! And god help anyone who had a head on crash in one of them 😔

Went in one owned by a colleague in 1984 in Malvern as a passenger. An unnerving lurching 4 mile journey at whiteknuckle speeds touching 30mph was enough to convince me perhaps walking might be safer.

Its reliant robin not robin reliant......

6:10, driving this car would be more practical than driving a motorcycle!

I've had Loads of Plastic Pigs over the Years and Great Fun they have been to. Then I went back to motorcycles for awhile. I hurt My leg and could not do the Gears properly anymore. So I thought I would get another Robin. So I went on line looking for one for sale. I came across Loads of them, The owners claiming they had used It to pass the CRT so now selling for a Motorbike. So I found a real beauty all re-done everything there and was only a bus ride away. So I went Into the local Insurance Office to get some on It. And they wanted twice what the Robin was worth. The Girl doing It didn't understand why this was because Her Boyfriend had one the Year before and It was Pennies to Insure. So with a little more digging We found that the Government had change the Tax rating on the Robin In April 2017 and Now classed It as a Car. So Now If You want one You have to have a Full Car License. Who the hell would want one of these when You could have Four Wheels on the ground for half the price. They were designed to get the Miners off of Bikes and Into Cars that was there whole Idea of them. Just another Government scam to get every penny from the Poor.

Let’s shine a light directly into the face so he squints. Great lighting!

my granddad had a fuscia pink one, loved it

When your most attractive feature is the rear glass.......

Lovely hangover viewing

RMC 1L Registration now on a Scimitar GTC September 1981

Tony was a superb television presenter

£801.39p! 😃

Absolutely flat out - a whopping 3 mph higher 😂 its cool though

This is why the Sinclair C4 was called a 'car', there was a precedent.

That entire engine compartment doesn’t even contain the engine...

All I remember about this is the Top Gear episode where Clarkson couldn’t keep it from tipping lol. Hysterical 😭

I can almost hear Mr Bean chuckling from the safety of his yellow Mini off camera. I'm surprized this car didn't have orange racing stripes.!

“The glamorous new body shape”. Haha ! And the price rise at the end included pennies.

Love the floppy rear tonneau cover 😂