Design Books available (not A2!)

3wheeler

3wheeler

Member
Hi, I'm not too sure this is allowed, and admin, please delete if not. I thought I'd say for those interested I have written a book about the design of Reliant Robin. No, its not an Audi A2! It maybe of interest to some people though. Its been awarded Octane's Book of the Month, and the Royal Automobile Clubs Motoring Book of the Year 2021 (under £50). I was the designer of the last Robin (and the last Reliant) and this is the book about the entire models design. The Preface is by Patrick le Quement (Vice President of Design for Renault) and there is input from every designer involved including Tom Karen before he passed away. There are secret designs, four wheelers (shock horror!) and lots of illustrations in the 246 page, full colour hardback book. If you are into cars, or classics, or after a gift, it will be of interest.
I also run a Reliant Robin (because of this connection) and still design cars for a living as I have done for 30 years.
So, if this post is allowed, then follow my website link on my profile. The book is called "Tipping Point- Designing a Great British Underdog" and is available universally online. Thanks, and apologies for the indirectly relevant post!
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3wheeler said:
Hi, I'm not too sure this is allowed, and admin, please delete if not. I thought I'd say for those interested I have written a book about the design of Reliant Robin. No, its not an Audi A2! It maybe of interest to some people though. Its been awarded Octane's Book of the Month, and the Royal Automobile Clubs Motoring Book of the Year 2021 (under £50). I was the designer of the last Robin (and the last Reliant) and this is the book about the entire models design. The Preface is by Patrick le Quement (Vice President of Design for Renault) and there is input from every designer involved including Tom Karen before he passed away. There are secret designs, four wheelers (shock horror!) and lots of illustrations in the 246 page, full colour hardback book. If you are into cars, or classics, or after a gift, it will be of interest.
I also run a Reliant Robin (because of this connection) and still design cars for a living as I have done for 30 years.
So, if this post is allowed, then follow my website link on my profile. The book is called "Tipping Point- Designing a Great British Underdog" and is available universally online. Thanks, and apologies for the indirectly relevant post!View attachment 106254
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congratulations. thats some achievement.

your username suddenly makes a lot of sense now!
 
Martin had several reliants and absolutely loved them, he had, Robin, Rialto, Kitten and Fox, but then he likes anything with simple mechanics with wind down windows 😂
 
I've been in a Rialto in the dim and very distant past, but I did own a couple of their mutant cousins - the Bond Bug !
 
My 10 year old was very excited when he saw the wind-down windows on the car last year (It was a fairly new low end VW rental) and now he keeps asking why we can't have them. :)

Edit: we actually do have them in the back on my recently acquired A2, but he hasn't seen it yet.
 
Riba said:
My 10 year old was very excited when he saw the wind-down windows on the car last year (It was a fairly new low end VW rental) and now he keeps asking why we can't have them. :)

Edit: we actually do have them in the back on my recently acquired A2, but he hasn't seen it yet.
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My UP! had them too. In 2016!
 
3wheeler said:
My UP! had them too. In 2016!
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Yes, it was UP! alright. :) Never seen a post-2000 car that was so bare-bone. Didn't even have a proper lining in the trunk, you could see the chassis in there, but I do appreciate the minimalistic approach if accompanied by the right price, and I think it was (?)
 
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Riba said:
Yes, it was UP! alright. :) Never seen a post-2000 car that was so bare-bone. Didn't even have a proper lining in the trunk, you could see the chassis in there, but I do appreciate the minimalistic approach if accompanied by a right price, and I think it was (?)
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I loved mine. A red 3 dr base model. It even went well too!
 
When I saw the photo, the first thing that popped in my mind was 2 a2s:
one with a trailer hook and the other without a front axle, attached as a trailer. :D

I can't find the photo. Lithuanian Pontiac club seems off. Pontiac Trans Sport enthusiasts made actually very nice trailers by chopping the front end just behind the driver/passanger doors and coverring it exactly by following the line the front door makes. The only photo of a trans sport based trailer I googled is a boxy one. Far from the really great job lithuanians have done.
One of my dreams was to make an articulated one but our government would never approve that.
 
Morning,

This idea was tried a few years ago with the A2. Check out the thread the Steve @Birchall started named Project 1/2:

Project A 1/2 (AKA “the trailer.”)

I have been holding off on posting a project thread, but as it is finally coming together I thought it is time to post the thread. I had a bargain A2 that I spotted. It had been laid up for two years, had front end damage and a suspect coolant issue (later confirmed as a head / head gasket...
www.a2oc.net

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Brilliant concept.

Kind regards,

Tom
 
That's a nice one too.
If I did it, I'd cut off just the hood, the front axle and those triangle windows in front of the front doors. In other words, I'd follow the exact line the front door makes. The trailer would be more aerodynamic that way. Now it is quite boxy and tiny, as the car itself is not a yankee brick. :)

The Reliant is lacking stability due to a missing front wheel.
I think a trailer like that should stabilize it a little. :)
It wouldn't let the car's donkey to go up when flipping. :)
 
Found the photo I was talking about.
Year 2007, The First (and only) Minivan Gathering Kaunas district, Lithuania. I was with the Renaults back then.
This one probably made his trailer out of a car with a hook if he could add another trailer. But I remember the moment. He was a celebrity there. :)

I wonder what a Robin would look like with a tail like that. :)
 

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Dogbrain said:
Found the photo I was talking about.
Year 2007, The First (and only) Minivan Gathering Kaunas district, Lithuania. I was with the Renaults back then.
This one probably made his trailer out of a car with a hook if he could add another trailer. But I remember the moment. He was a celebrity there. :)

I wonder what a Robin would look like with a tail like that. :)
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