The RELIANT TW9
or the story of three different identities!
 By Mick  Leak

 Part 1

Click to access part 2
The three-wheeler commercial that I am currently “restoring” – and I use the word restoring lightly because, when finished it will be as a Pick-up truck and not as a Road Sweeper (similar to the one pictured) as it started out life or, indeed, as an articulated lorry as it became in the 1980’s. I received it as a tractor unit late in 2007 and I had high hopes of building a trailer to house the G Scale model railway I bring to our Heritage Day each year.

These hopes were dashed when, despite the UK registration documents describing it as an articulated tractor unit, the powers that be could not deal with it in that form and suggested I register it as a pick-up. Even then the idea of a semi-trailer didn’t go away but the cost of coupled brakes did put an end to those thoughts! In the end, I built a low floor trailer for the railway but that’s another story.

Three wheelers are a fairly rare type in the Republic and for that reason they never had (as far as I know) the same type classification they enjoyed in the UK. Here a three-wheel car is classed the same as a four wheel type and similarly the commercial variant. In  Britain, you could drive such vehicles on a motorcycle license (provided the car was less than 8 cwt and had no reverse gear!). When Euro-style licenses were introduced, the three wheeler was classified ‘B1’ and only those holding a full motorcycle license – or had applied for a bike test before the new classification - could continue to drive on their (now) category A Motorbike license.

Perhaps one disadvantage of the three-wheeler (particularly in Mayo) is the 50% extra chance of hitting one or more of the many potholes that seem to be the norm these days. However, that little spine-juddering fact aside, one might ask why three wheelers came about. Apart from the bike licence bit (which was incidental really), there were also the taxation benefits and the ability to provide a vehicle at a price below their four wheel counterparts. Also, three wheelers were first in the field of self-propelled vehicles (Nicolas Cugnot’s Steam Tractor of 1770 or Karl Benz’s internal combustion engined vehicle of 1885). Three wheelers are still produced in great numbers but not in UK but rather in India and the Far East.

So, the main driving force was cost. Motorcycles were fitted with sidecars and this enabled whole families to be mobile. The trouble with sidecars is that passengers are often isolated from the motorcyclist and one Yorkshire-based manufacturer, Angus Scott, introduced the “Sociable” where passenger and “driver” sat side by side whilst the vehicle had the same wheel arrangement as sidecar outfit! Other manufacturers returned to more fundamental basics and designed cars with either a conventional (car type) front axle and single rear wheel – the likes of Morgan and B.S.A – or a single front wheel (steered and sometimes powered) with either a plain or driven back axle – like Raleigh the bicycle manufacturer. It was this last manufacturer which, indirectly, gave Reliant its start in life.

Whilst nearly everybody is familiar with the Reliant Regal Supervan of Only Fools & Horses fame – even if people call it the Robin Reliant (which never existed – it’s like saying a Granada Ford) – it might be worthwhile to look at Reliant’s history and see the predecessors of the TW9 and Regal.

Reliant was formed in 1935 by Tom Williams who had previously worked for Raleigh. Tom set up the Reliant Engineering Company – the name coming (so the story goes) from the need to find something beginning with ‘R’ as many of the parts purchased from Raleigh had the letter R stamped on them! Raleigh had a small range of three wheelers in production like the Safety Seven (left) and the 5cwt Van below.

Reliant’s first van was identical to the Raleigh 8cwt and had a V Twin engine with motorcycle steering. The Road Tax was £4.00 and Insurance could be obtained from £3.10.00. A deal was negotiated with Austin Motors for the supply of a four-cylinder engine (as fitted to the Austin Seven) and this became the motive power of all Reliant three-wheelers until 1960 when Reliant produced the UK’s first crossflow 4 cylinder aluminium production engine. Also around this time, glass fibre resin bonded- construction of bodies began.


Reliant’s first van which was soon uprated to a 10cwt capacity whilst the Austin 7hp engine replaced the ‘V’ twin motorcycle type. The concept was perpetuated for over two decades before car-type wheels were fitted and a different steering mechanism (swinging arm with stub axle swivelling on a king pin).

An early 1950’s offering was this mobile shop! One wonders how accurate the scales were on a steep slope!

In September 1954, Reliant introduced a ‘modern’ three-wheeled commercial, again rated at 10cwt carrying capacity and again bearing the Regent name. It had quiet a stylish body (hardwood frame with aluminium panels) and provided fairly good vision for a van of that period. It was also available as a truck. I am not sure how long this model was perpetuated but Reliant went on to make a lighter van or pick-up based on their car chassis. Of course whilst everybody associates Reliant with the three-wheeler, this wasn’t the only horse in the stable. Four-wheelers like the Kitten or the Fox became available and the superb Sabre and Scimitar (the latter favoured by Princess Anne) - so you can see they were not a latter day music hall joke really.


Left: The 1954 Regent 10cwt Van and, below, the 1960’s Regal Pick-up which was also available as a van. The Regal was also manufactured in Greece under license.

By the middle of the 1960’s, Reliant began to develop the TW9. By this time, the ubiquitous Austin 7 engine had been replaced by Reliant’s 600cc version which was superior in design and performance. This had been uprated to 700cc and was fitted to the new commercial for its debut in 1967.

Strangely (or maybe not) the new cab & chassis was rated as a 16cwt for the UK market but only 10cwt for overseas. They were also built in Greece after the Regal was discontinued in 1974. Of course, off of that quite massive 800kg (16cwt) had to be deducted the weight of the body but this could be built quite lightly for the pick-up version. The chassis and cab, complete with spare wheel weighed in at 550kg (11cwt) giving a gross weight of 1350kg or one ton, seven hundredweight! The new vehicle offered a great potential both in running cost savings (like reduced road tax) and its adaptability and carrying capacity. The main market that Reliant was aiming for was the Municipal Authorities and County Councils - which is why so many road sweepers were built.
I refer to the vehicle, correctly as the TW9 - which was Reliant’s designation of the vehicle type (Three-wheeler number nine). Enthusiasts call them Ants but again this should only apply to vehicles built from 1975 as the manufacture was thenceforth undertaken by BTB Engineering of Blackburn under license from Reliant Engineering. I cannot understand why such an appropriate name like the Ant was not used by the Reliant for such a diminutive vehicle that became a successful workhorse (particularly as ANT formed the last three letters of Reliant).

Both Commercial Motor and Motor Transport road tested the TW9 in 1967 and reported quite favourably overall. The lack of space in the cab which arose from the mid-mounted engine raised a few eyebrows (and banged a few elbows and knees - as it does to this day!) Reliant had arrangements with other manufacturers for equipment such as the road sweeper and marketed the latter as the Reliant–Melford. It had a second Reliant 700cc engine mounted in the body to power the brushes and vacuum gear.

By 1974 Reliant ceased production of the TW9 in the UK and handed over to BTB Engineering who continued to build the truck, in all its various guises until 1987. I do not know when the Greek manufacturer (Mebea) ceased production. A factor influencing the general demise of three-wheelers can be pinpointed to legislation. Whilst the heavier commercial three wheelers needed a normal full driving licence, the lighter cars and car derived vans (under 8cwt) could be driven on a motorcycle license. The only original anomaly was that the reverse gear was blocked off and you had to have a full license to have reverse gear! This restriction was removed in the 1960’s and all seemed well for Reliant three wheel car production.
The TW9 as presented to the technical press
Further changes in Driver Licensing put the three wheeler into a separate category – no longer could new motorcyclists move on to the Reliant without taking a car test. To those drivers who had held a license - Provisional or Full - prior to the date of the new laws’ introduction, were extended “Grandfather Rights”. Production of Reliant three-wheelers ceased in 2001 but was licensed to another company who failed in 2002! So that’s the potted history.

Right: BTB’s imaginative logo for the Ant (the TW9). It was to all intents and purposes a Reliant with parts supplied by that company but assembled by BTB Engineering. BTB made full use of the possible variants of the Ant and tried to interest the Americans! Lest you think that the U.S. was a stranger to three wheelers – think again! 

Next, I will look at my TW9 and its return to the road!

Read Part 2 of this article