Reliant Kitten - The Groovy Baby
Restoring a Reliant Kitten for a discerning customer - Part 1.
The Kitten Body looking sad and forlorn between a customer’s beautiful Mercedes and my old Subaru.
The Reliant Motor Company was an oddity even in its own time. Between 1935 and 2001 it produced the strangest selection of vehicles. From the Tuk-Tuk-like Regent, the ridiculous Reliant Robin, the outwardly crazy Bond Bug to the sublime Scimitar GT. and innovative Scimitar GTE. Yet, in spite of its eclecticism and seemingly random choice of products, Reliant was in many ways ahead of its time until time caught up and over-took it.
In the 1950s and 60s, a light-weight fibre-glass composite body, a dainty and very light aluminium engine, amazing fuel economy and low running costs were all very modern ideas. Post-war Britain needed affordable transport as well as technological innovation. 3-wheelers, with one wheel at the front were not meant to be driven fast (unlike 3-wheelers with one wheel at the back and two at the front that can handle very well) they were designed to provide cheap A-to-B transport for drivers who had previously only had a motor-cycle license; an oddity of UK law being that light 3-wheeled cars were, and still are, classed as motor-cycles.
Parts of the chassis had rusted away or were missing.
My customer’s car is a Reliant Kitten, essentially a 4-wheeled version of the Robin. With the ‘right’ number of wheels the much maligned, and frankly unsafe, Robin becomes a thoroughly charming little car. The Kitten came to me already dismantled because a previous restorer had fallen ill and was unable to continue working.
The body and chassis had been separated and the engine and all the running gear, suspension and so-on had been removed. My task was to restore, rebuild and reassemble.
The Engine was seized and in a very poor state.
Chassis
The first job was to repair the chassis: it had already been shot-blasted to remove all the loose rust and flaky metal and had been painted with primer which made my job a lot easier. Then it was a case of marking out the areas to be repaired, making cardboard templates of the repair panels required, making the repair panels, cutting out the bad sections and welding in the new. I had some 1.8 mm sheet steel in stock which is very close to the original.
With the major chassis repairs done and many small brackets repaired and replaced it was time for some paint and the first part of the restoration was complete.
With all the repairs done, the painted chassis awaits suspension, brakes and rear axle.
Part Two coming soon - Stay Tuned!