Author Topic: Reliant Rialto pick-up  (Read 3598 times)

Rusty Chrome (Malcolm Parker)

  • Global Moderator
  • Prolific Poster
  • *****
  • Posts: 1221
Reliant Rialto pick-up
« on: January 22, 2011, 12:35:17 AM »
Debatable if its a micro or not, but I thought this Reliant pick-up truck conversion looked pretty neat

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1986-RELIANT-RIALTO-GLS-ESTATE-MAROON-/120673892905?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item1c18b97a29

Malcolm
Bond Mk D - "The Bond Minicar solves your problem"
Nobel 200 - "Almost as cheap as breathing!"

Daniel Rodd

  • Quite Chatty
  • ****
  • Posts: 119
Re: Reliant Rialto pick-up
« Reply #1 on: January 22, 2011, 07:28:56 AM »
next time you see a Reliant on the road,compare it to all the mammoth modern cars around it,then debate wether its a micro or not!
Wish there was a more pleasant attitude towards Reliants from some members of the Microcar fraternity,they are survivors,and the only threewheeled relic from the "bubblecar" era to keep going,they are also the most practical as daily transport,long and short journeys,and aside from a silghtly larger engine size(tho 600cc regals are firmily under the regs)meet a lot of the criteria for being a micro.
I wonder if their perceived commoness was their downfall amogst micronaughts?

Latest figures for Reliants left on the road are shocking(for me as a Reliant nut at least)
15 years ago there were 44,000 Reliant 3 wheelers left on the road.As of 2010,that number is now 176 Regals,and 2500 Robins/Rialtos.
Sadly,banger racing and trike building has devoured them all.

Big Al

  • Prolific Poster
  • *****
  • Posts: 4578
  • Ranttweiler, biting the breeze block of banter
Re: Reliant Rialto pick-up
« Reply #2 on: January 22, 2011, 10:15:30 AM »
  I am afraid a Reliant is a light car to me despite having three wheels. It slots in with the stuff that is used at Microcar rallies for the very good reason that they are a little bit bigger, more powerfull and in some cases newer or more reliable. I have no great problem with that as it stands but it does not get away from the fact that they are not Microcars to me. We can get bogged down in all sorts of rules but for me the essence of a Microcar is pretty simple. It was cheap minimalist motoring by something that was not a motorcycle or scooter. This was a product of an age here which is why there was a date limit added. Affluence and law saw to it that Microcars vanished to replaced by more sophisticated vehicles. The Reliant is more sophisticated than the majority of Microcars which was one reason it survived thanks to exploiting a niche market based on, mainly, bikers who did not wish to take a further driving test. Many used the Roly only in the winter.
  Later as localised Microcar enthusiasts realised there was a world of machinery the date bit became a bit irrelevant as the French, for instance, made their fridges from 70's into the 80's in responce to a demand there. So we get left with a grey area. Is a Trabbi or Fiat 500 a microcar? If a Fiat 500 is then so is a 600.....
  I think the telling fact is that on the road the Microcars do not mix to well with the light cars which have so much better performance that unless driven carefully they either disappear ahead or trip up the more demanding to drive Microcars which need a differing driving style to match the minimal power available. The use of bigger cars dilutes the attendance and use of the real Microcars hence the need to promote events like a Scootacar Rally as most Microcar owners have many and varied machines to take to a general event and depending on what they have running and the activities on offer will take a vehicle appropriate to their plans. Just as campervans have taken over the camping area the light cars are taking an ever greater % of the cars attending general events. This is fine for those happy to partake but it is not minimalist motoring is it? The BUMS joke about a Campaign for Real Microcar Rallies. The question is how many people have microcars as they are into minimalist motoring and how many are in it for a far more general set of reasons. I think the minimalist fans have had their scene taken away from them. Probably partly their own fault. What has replaced it is enjoyed by many so it stands up for itself. Where I come from there are not so many Microcar Rallies out there though. Clearly the answer is to organise some and hence the Scootacar Rally gets my support and where we can talk pure and unadulterated Micro hopefully.
Messerschmitt set, Goggo Darts, Heinkel 175, Fiat Jolly, Autobianchi, Fairthorpe Electron Minor, Borgward, Isuzu Trooper
Citroen BX 17TZD & GTI 16v
Held - MG Magnette ZB & 4/44
For sale - Vellam Isetta, Bamby, AC Type 70, Velorex, Church Pod, Reliant Mk5, KR200,  Saab 96, Bellemy Trials, Citroen BXs

richard

  • Rich
  • Prolific Poster
  • *****
  • Posts: 4458
  • Bond ,Gordon,Bruetsch
Re: Reliant Rialto pick-up
« Reply #3 on: January 22, 2011, 10:56:47 AM »
agreed al . cannot see how trikings , morgans, scorpions et al fit in with ours at all - but then again i stopped subscribing to RUMCAR news for the reason that after mike stopped editing it was covering more and more tuk tuks, smarts and K class cars . it still is ! BUT i have seen the error of my ways and returned to the fold .  ;)

MEMO TO SELF : MUST RENEW SUBS ITS THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN
outside of a dog a book is mans best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read .Groucho Marx 1895-1977

Chris Thomas

  • Administrator
  • Prolific Poster
  • *****
  • Posts: 1261
  • old Banana
Re: Reliant Rialto pick-up
« Reply #4 on: January 22, 2011, 11:18:33 AM »
Dear Dickie

Good Man for remembering to subscribe to Rumcar News for another year. Now is the time before the next edition hits the mat. Printing starts on 28 Feb.

Rumcar News is a very broad church covering everything from 1945 to the present day, British, European and world wide makes, Personal vehicles to commercial vehicles, including special uses, like invalid carriages. It covers events to personal histories and everything in between. Having stepped into tony's shoes for a short while I can appreciate that there is a lot of pieces that readers send in to the editor for inclusion, not always an article, sometimes just a photo, or a clipping from a newspaper, and this all gets fed into the final document that you see. It is the synthasis of what readers seem to want, with flavouring added by the editor. A bit like the forum but less instant.

Already I can tell you that there are two articles that you will find fascinationg in the next edition. One about a French Microcar and another more general article from a well known motoring writer.


Sadly there will be nothing about a Rialto, Unless of course you would like to send in an article.


Chris Thomas   Rumcar News Deputy Editor

Bob Purton

  • Prolific Poster
  • *****
  • Posts: 5041
    • Inter microcar
Re: Reliant Rialto pick-up
« Reply #5 on: January 22, 2011, 11:46:30 AM »
Reliants have a strong one make club anyway so no need to cater for them in RCN. I agree with Dickie, RCN contains a load of stuff that is of little interest to the old school microcar enthusiasts but the wider spectrum will assure its survival which is more important that personal specialised preferances.

Rob Dobie

  • Prolific Poster
  • *****
  • Posts: 753
Re: Reliant Rialto pick-up
« Reply #6 on: January 22, 2011, 12:23:31 PM »
RCN contains a load of stuff that is of little interest to the old school microcar enthusiasts

As you know Bob, it's called progress !!  ;D
Ain't got nuffink now except memories.

Big Al

  • Prolific Poster
  • *****
  • Posts: 4578
  • Ranttweiler, biting the breeze block of banter
Re: Reliant Rialto pick-up
« Reply #7 on: January 22, 2011, 12:53:57 PM »
  That is the positive spin.
  You could also, however, say that those interested in the bigger machines have highjacked an existing club to expand for their vehicles which were not catered for elsewhere and subverted it to their interests. However if that is so it has been with little resistance! Certainly RUMcar News performs an educational function as continually stuff turns up that is new, big and small. It is perhaps this that holds the attention of the subscribers as much as anything else. That I have chosen a more restricted view is up to me so I will go with the positive spin as it is far healthier than repeating the same info for ever to a restricted audience. Minimalism is ever a minority interest, it just had a flowering a while ago is all.
Messerschmitt set, Goggo Darts, Heinkel 175, Fiat Jolly, Autobianchi, Fairthorpe Electron Minor, Borgward, Isuzu Trooper
Citroen BX 17TZD & GTI 16v
Held - MG Magnette ZB & 4/44
For sale - Vellam Isetta, Bamby, AC Type 70, Velorex, Church Pod, Reliant Mk5, KR200,  Saab 96, Bellemy Trials, Citroen BXs

Bob Purton

  • Prolific Poster
  • *****
  • Posts: 5041
    • Inter microcar
Re: Reliant Rialto pick-up
« Reply #8 on: January 22, 2011, 01:00:37 PM »
Well this is what was said to me when I used to moan about all the modern and bigger stuff, there is only so much that can be said or published about De Rovins, aviolettes, Inters and the likes.  My interests are firmly stuck in the golden age 1950's but we must not be selfish about these things.

Rob, shhhh about progress ;)