BOOKS, GEAR, MODELS Page
ANDY PLUMB, Andy Plumb & Lead-In Design Ltd, £44.99, ISBN 978 1 5272 5619 4
Time to batter that credit card again
This is probably not the most obvious candidate for Octane’s Book of the Month, whether in terms of format, subject matter or style. But the team collectively reckoned it deserved the accolade and when that opinion was verified by our tame specialist Ben Horton it was a done deal.
So, what’s so special about it and, equally, what is it that makes this such a non-traditional choice? Let’s deal with the subject matter first. The plastic three-wheelers that became stock-in-trade for Tamworth’s finest tend to be more derided than adored, and even this book has plentiful ‘Del-Boy’ references. But it is about so much more than that, the Regal and Robin being merely the prism through which this period of Reliant’s history is viewed. And, obviously, the book does not shy away from the more – ahem – stable eras when Scimitars and Kittens and the like contributed to the small but perfectly formed range. Or the wonderful Bond Bug.
The appeal is artfully analysed and explained, as are many of the bigger and more obvious questions. Number one among them is – obviously – why is the single wheel at the front instead of the back, à la Morgan? Well, that’s fairly simple actually, as author Plumb demonstrates through a series of drawings: a single wheel at the back and four seated adults simply do not mix. I imagine that like me, you are currently visualising a pensionerfilled jelly wobbling dangerously down the road. Shudder.
The other big thing to remember is that the reason the three-wheelers were such a success was actually down to the other end of the demographic, where teenagers (including friends of mine) snapped up a Reliant three-wheeler to drive on their ’bike licence.
Where this book really differs from the norm is that it is presented as much as a dissertation as a history. This is down to Plumb’s involvement in this subject – he designed the final iteration of the Robin – meaning that he need not fill his book with quotes from other ‘experts’ to validate his opinions.
This book really scores for us, however, thanks to the insight that Plumb’s status accords to it. All manufacturers have drawers full of designs that never came to be, but somehow the ones here are more interesting because of the light that Plumb sheds on them. Equally, it is wonderfully illustrated and, even if this book doesn’t really put you in the driving seat (a good thing?), it does make you feel like you are sitting in the design studio with its oddly enthralling guide to hand lay-up of GRP, sales stats and more.
With Plumb having also designed and published this book, you get the feeling that if books had theme tunes, he would have written that, too… and made a damned fine fist of it. Great value fun.