Reliant Regal History
Catalog record
This is a brief catalog introduction with limited source documentation. A licensed, identity-checked lead photograph has not yet been added for this page. Detailed year, configuration and ownership coverage must be identified separately; this page is not a complete vehicle catalog.
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Model history available. Detailed year guides are not published for this model.
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The Regal launched in 1953 as Reliant's three-wheeled economy car, taxed and driven as a motorcycle under British law (so it could be used on a motorcycle licence). The 1956 Regal Mk III adopted a wholly glass-fibre body, cutting weight and the cost of increasingly expensive aluminium, and set the lightweight fibreglass template Reliant kept for decades.
The definitive cars were the Regal 3/25 (from 1962), powered by Reliant's own new all-aluminium 600 cc OHV four producing about 25 bhp, and the 3/30 (from 1969) with a 701 cc version. The van derivative — the Supervan — became a cultural icon as Del Boy and Rodney's three-wheeled trade van in the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses.
The Regal ran through 1973, when it was replaced by the restyled Reliant Robin. Across its life it cemented Reliant's position as the world's largest producer of three-wheeled vehicles.
Body styles
- Saloon
- Coupe
- Estate
- Van
Notable special editions & performance variants
Regal 3/25
The first Regal with Reliant's own 600 cc all-aluminium OHV four (about 25 bhp), replacing the earlier Austin-derived side-valve engine.
Regal 3/30
Final Regal with the larger 701 cc all-aluminium engine (about 30 bhp); the basis of the Trotters' Supervan in Only Fools and Horses.
Related models
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