Three wheels on my wagon
So many people seemed to enjoy our recent recollections of threewheelers, that we thought we would bring you another article on the tri-legged beasties, this time from Colyn Thomas.
Besides an Isetta bubble car (30 ECV) which I owned during my apprenticeship, I have owned two Reliant vans, a sidevalve one bought from Cann and Meddlen of Bude and the other a 600cc ohv 325 from Pikes of Plymouth, as well as a Reliant saloon purchased from Phil Blonden at Pikes. The Isetta was a good little vehicle and the cheapest car in the world to buy (£292 4s 10d on the road) and run. It would cruise happily at 50mph, fit snugly into the smallest parking space, had a robust and smooth running four-stroke aircooled 295cc BMW engine, 7-inch headlight, a built-in heater, gave up to 70mpg and had £5 road tax. Pat Wilson of Colebrook Plympton was an agent for them.
I also bought but never used a red 204cc Heinkel/Trojan bubble car which I sold to Mr Watkins of Millbrook. Mr brother Adrian had a Messerschmitt three-wheeler – one hell of a little car, fitted with a 200cc Sachs two-stroke engine – but he blew the gearbox up and I had to tow him back from St Austell with my Austin A30, strip the engine out and rebuild the gearbox for him.
The Messerschmitt KR200 was developed from the Fend Flitzer, a single seater machine designed by former German aeronautical engineer Fritz Fend for disabled German servicemen following the Second World War and that was propelled by a tiny 38cc engine.
With further development, a two-seater version was built using a 150cc Fichtel and Sachs twostroke motor and was known as the FK150. Unfortunately, Fend Automobiles got into financial trouble, but Professor Willy Messerschmitt saw the potential of this three-wheeled car and it went into production at a former aircraft factory in Regensburg in 1953 as the Messerschmitt KR175. With further refinement and development, in 1955 the KR200 was born which was then in production until 1964.
This car sold extremely well due to the fuel shortages and petrol rationing resulting from the Suez crisis and some 40,000 were produced. It had a 191cc Fichtel and Sachs single cylinder air-cooled two-stroke engine producing 10bhp, a tubular steel monocoque chassis, pressed steel body and a hinged plexiglass domed canopy (or there was the cabriolet model). The transmission was from a four-speed sequential shift gearbox with final drive from an enclosed chain. No reverse gear was fitted but, being a two-stroke engine, it was fitted with two sets of points so the engine could be started and run in either direction, achieving reverse. Steering was by handlebar, brakes were cable operated drums and the car had a top speed of 65mph and returned a fuel consumption of 87mpg.
Reunited with an old friend
Now, just a few days ago, we were out on the moors with friends and stopped for coffee in Princetown. While there I noticed a little 1948
Reliant three-wheeled van, complete with girder forks. I was allowed to climb in to have my photo taken. These little vans were designed by Mr TL Williams of Tamworth and had an alloy body fixed to an ash frame – he originally built the first one in his garden shed.
It used an Austin 7 747cc sv engine and a three-speed gearbox with a propshaft to the back axle and developed about 16bhp. Eventually Mr Williams bought the tooling rights from Austin and built his own engine but it was closely based on the Austin 7 power unit. These little vans struggled to make 55mph. eventually Mr Williams removed the van body and replaced it with a car body with convertible hood; the Reliant Regal Mk1 was born.
That little van in Princetown brought back many happy hours of my childhood days when Uncle Tom Pearce and Auntie Connie used to travel down to Cornwell in their little Reliant van and camp. They used to come all the way from Coventry in this little car and tour Cornwell each day, taking Adrian and me with me, sat in the back on some cushions.
Uncle Tom only had one arm; the other was a very poor artificial one so Dad used to help him put up his tent. They were friends of Bill and Ada Mickelwright who also used to come and camp on our farm each year, first with a 600cc Panther motorcycle and sidecar and then in a Morris 8 Series 1. Bill always carried a gas mask bag but we never knew what was in it until one year he asked Dad to look after it for him. It contained £10,000 in £1 and £5 notes! He carried it around with him rather than declare it to the taxman. It was money made from his fish and chip shop during the war; apparently, his shop was situated outside an American Army/Airforce camp and he made a fortune from it.
Another couple who visited were Eileen and Colin from Manchester, first with a Bond minicar and then with an Austin 7 tourer. They were friends with a chap called Bruno Brown who used to stay at the YMCA and keep his Bond minicar van in the layby at Knatterberry. Bonds were fitted with Villiers two-stroke engines and, at this time, were advertising how a model mark F was driving from Land’s End to John O’Groats in less than twenty-four hours. Driven by Douglas Ferreira, it covered the distance of 873 miles at an average speed of 36.89mph and 60mph, or a penny a mile, emphasising the comfort, reliability and economy of this little car which would carry two adults and two children.
I buy a Reliant Regal van
When my wife Marilyn and I got married we didn’t have much money and I was riding my trusty Bantam back and fro to work. I noticed that a friend had bought himself a new Reliant Mark VI saloon which was cheap to run and insure so, on seeing an advert for a blue Reliant Regal van at Cann and Meddlens of Bude, I went up and bought it. The engine was burning a lot of oil, although running well, and it had only done 36,000 miles.
I stripped the engine down and had it rebored at Ray Brown’s and fitted it with new pistons which cured the problem. It was an ideal vehicle for me because at that time I was repairing motorcycles, servicing cars, etc, so I could fetch and carry parts and store our camping gear in it on trips. Marilyn and I used to go all over the country in it with trips to Weymouth, camping in Wales, over to the Isle of Man to watch the TT – you name it, we did it. I even drove the Reliant van up the mountain path to near the top of Snowdonia where only Land Rovers had been before. I remember on one trip we knocked the silencer off on the Severn ferry and had to drive all the way to Newport to get one fitted. Most weekends we would go down the Great Tree Holiday Camp near
Looe for a drink and to watch the floor show.
Marilyn’s Dad was so impressed with the fun that we were having with our little car that he went out and bought a white Reliant MK VI saloon from Pikes in Union Street, Plymouth. The problem was that he had never driven a car before, so, after a few lessons with the BSM in a Morris Minor, I taught him to drive the Reliant. Marilyn, Mum, Dad and I used to go all over the country in this little car. Holidays in Weymouth, Bournemouth, trips to Penzance and Torquay were not uncommon with me driving most of the time and the cases stacked in the boot.
Marilyn’s uncle, Bert Barns, was the next family member to purchase a three-wheeler after getting wet through each winter riding his Honda 50 to work and he bought an older saloon. I had to teach him to drive as well! More and more threewheelers were coming into the area and people were coming to me as the expert which led to my servicing and repairing of three-wheeled cars. Nobody else wanted to do it because, with only three wheels, they wouldn’t fit onto a garage car ramp, so even the local garages sent customers over to me.
Bert’s Rialto was a very nice little car and, whilst it had similarities to the Reliant Robin, it was really a completely new vehicle with a new wedge-shaped body and an 850cc water-cooled aluminium engine. Three types of bodies were made; the saloon, the van and an estate which added aerodynamics to the vehicle’s shape and much improved stability, although access to the luggage compartment was poor.
What with servicing and repairing three-wheelers I was making some pocket money, so my next step was to purchase a new 1965 325 600cc Reliant van from Pikes. It was £338 brand new on the road and they took my Mk VI back in part exchange. She was a lovely little vehicle but her seating capacity was limited to Marilyn and me, although I did bolt an old bus seat to the floor to enable us to take my mother over to the Isle of Man. It was good fun loading the van onto the Isle of Man ferry at Liverpool docks. They just put three planks down and I had to drive across them. It was so steep that all I could see was the sky and I had to rely on the guidance of the ship’s cargo officer!
Anearmisswitha brand new 325
Because of the lack of seating, I next part-exchanged the 325 van for a 325 saloon. I collected it from Pikes after it had been registered and given a PDI (Pre-Delivery Inspection) but, on driving it home, I noticed the brakes were a bit spongy. I got under the vehicle only to find that there was no front brake drum fitted but merely a steel box tape securing the brake shoes in position. Pikes were contacted who in turn got in touch with Reliant and all hell broke loose. This could have led to a fatal accident.
Reliant collected the vehicle and lent me an old model which it had used for the Monte Carlo Rally. It was a bit of a wreck but it served its purpose. Apparently, Reliant had changed the front brake drum size from seven to eight inch and was having new drums manufactured at the Qualcast foundry. But there was a delay and many vehicles were put aside awaiting the new drums; the one I had purchased had escaped detection.
Reliant even invited us to its factory at Tamworth and we saw first hand how these little cars were made. The engines and gearboxes were manufactured and assembled onto the chassis in its engineering workshops on one side of the road, then pushed across a major road to where the fibre glass bodies were made. Here the body shell and interior trim was fitted. It was amazing to see the conditions under which it worked.
A new drum was fitted to my car and it was returned to me. All was well, but I had lost confidence in it. Finance deals were getting better and I wanted something a bit faster, so she was part exchanged for a Singer Hartwell Imp Sports from Georges Garage on the corner of Bath Street, Stonehouse, marking the end of my Reliant ownership. But I still have lasting memories of the fun we had in these wonderful little three wheeled machines.