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Reliant gets a Blue Plaque and the Quarrymen play the NEC Classic show.

Ablue plaque has been unveiled in Tamworth following a campaign supported by the Reliant Motor Club and its Honorary Member HRH The Princess Royal.

The plaque is attached to the house on Kettlebrook Road where resident Tom L Williams and his colleague Ewart S Thompson built their first car in 1934. The brick shed where it was constructed still exists at the bottom of the garden.

Elvis Payne, Chairman and Historian of the Reliant Motor Club, says not many people knew about the house. ‘We are delighted we have been able to highlight the significance of the property. Not even locals were aware of the historical connection to Reliant and so it’s great to not only mark Reliant’s birthplace but also to pay tribute to its founders.’

On finishing the vehicle – a 356kg van powered by a 750cc V-twin – Williams and Thompson realised it was too wide to fit through the gap at the side of the house, so

they dismantled and reassembled the three-wheeler at a nearby garage where it was registered, on January 1, 1935. Later that year Williams transferred development work to a disused bus depot and formed the Reliant Engineering Company. The blue plaque project was funded jointly by the Reliant Motor Club and Tamworth Heritage Trust.