£1000 Challenge
Our Robin’s been invited to a party, but can we head off a heated debate first?
Reliant Robin
1990 RELIANT ROBIN THE STORY SO FAR
Miles driven 13 Total mileage 64,368 What’s gone wrong Nothing, for a change It could have been an ugly scene at the CCW offices. Having already filched our intergalactic-mileage Mitsubishi Galant for a 500-mile shopping trip ( CCW, 1 May), I really did need to prise the Robin’s keys out of managing editor James Sadlier’s iron grip.
Many people will happily poke fun at the little Reliant, but anyone who’s actually driven one tends to declare it ‘a right laugh’ almost immediately afterwards. His findings, particularly on the fuel economy front, match up with my own experiences with CBA out on the open road, but the ultimate barometers for me of whether he actually enjoyed it where the unmistakable grin on his face every time he returned to our offices after another stint, and how tricky getting the keys off him has been. Including the afternoon when I finally got them back into my hand – only to be asked about 15 minutes later whether he could re-borrow it for ‘a quick trip into town’. Which ended up lasting four days.
I was fully prepared for a fully-fledged round of classic car fisticuffs to regain the Robin’s keys, but after reminding him that his Ford Puma and Peugeot 406 Coupé were sulking barely a few yards away, I was at last reunited with the Robin. Which was probably a good thing, because we were only a couple of days away from a spring rally organised by the Reliant Owners’ Club.
I went to the event last year and thoroughly enjoyed the assembled mass of Rialtos, Regal 3/25s, and Fox pick-up trucks converted into miniaturised motorhomes, but this time last year our Robin was still in bits and I had to turn up in something considerably duller with four wheels. This time around I was determined that our Robin would make it there – and under its own power to boot.
The good news is that the replacement radiator and freshlyfettled heater motor fitted a few weeks back seem to have worked wonders with our car – James had been keeping an eye on its running and not once reported back any signs of misbehaviour or overheating, and a quick under-bonnet inspection revealed that it’s kept hold of its most recent tank of coolant.
The temperature gauge is still up to its old tricks of suggesting that it’s running on the warm side – which I reckon could be down to an iffy temperature sender unit – but the club’s advice is that with the heater motor running to deflect any build-up of hot air, things should be fine. It’s behaved impeccably since, even if it does mean that most journeys are done windows-down.
So most of our attention has been ironing out a couple of annoying niggles that’ve developed over the last few weeks, including reattaching the driver’s door card, which has worked itself loose, and reattaching the Tom Karen-signed passenger sun visor (I still can’t remember why we took it off in the first place). With staff writer Charlie Calderwood helping to hold everything firmly in place, neither job was particularly time-consuming, but sorting out a rip in the headlining is going to be a bit more involved. I reckon it’s too pronounced to patch or tape up, so I’m looking into whether there are any other repair techniques that won’t involve replacing the headlining. Other than that – and there is no wood anywhere in this Reliant’s construction to touch – it’s fair to say that it’s running rather nicely at the moment.
Oh, and one other thing – as the Reliant rally is being held on a Lincolnshire campsite, I’ve bought a £10 tent as accommodation. I suspect that the car will hold up rather better than the owner…