The Reliant Regal came to market in the early 50s, but by 1969 when this particular car was sold, they’d really worked to move things forward and this was known on paper as the MK7 - but most just refer to it as the Regal.
Later cars like this you’ll note have received a bit of a face lift from the earlier Reliants, this job was undertaken by the late, great Tom Karen; a name you might’ve heard before because he was the genius behind the design of many iconic 20th century designs like the Raleigh Chopper, Bond Bug and Reliant Scimitar GTE; amongst many other things.
This particular car started life as a 3/30 - the 3/30 model is named as such because the 3 represents the 3 wheels and the 30 represents the 30bhp available to the discerning Regal driver. Although the brochure does only promise 29bhp - but we’ll overlook that.
It’s now badged as a 21E - a special edition introduced for both saloon and van in 1967. The owner has really put so much love and time into making this an absolute treat with all the accessories and these special 21 extras are as follows:
Metallic paint finish in three glamour tones, although this one has been repainted to match a B&Q shade chart; which I love. Carpet covered heelboards, carpeted footwell surrounds, interior paintwork matched to exterior, for reference, this basically meant internal bits were painted in the grey primer colour which sat under the paint. Luxury interior trim fittings, ammeter in chrome bezel, chrome plated boot hinges and an oil pressure gauge; once again sitting in the chrome bezel.
Padded sun visors which swivel for both driver and passenger, chromed over riders to front and rear, Lucas spot and Lucas fog. You’ll note the spots on the front are both spots and not a fog - this is a deliberate choice to keep it looking symmetrical and smart. Chromed hubcaps, decorative full circle wheel trims for rear wheels and a locking petrol cap.
And in addition to this, a whole host of other extras including a spare wheel with a cover, a faux leather steering wheel glove, chrome plated bonnet hinges to match the glamorous ones on the boot and chrome filler strip in all window surrounds.
Actually when you look at the list, it not only shows you how many delicate extra touches you got, but also how much effort the owner has gone to to find everything on the list! If you’re wondering how much this cost as an upgrade when buying your car, it was an additional £60, but to buy it all seperately was £100 according to the Reliant brochure.
Engine wise, you got the 700cc four cylinder high efficiency overhead value, water cooled engine. I mention the engine being aluminium later on, but to clarify, the car was fitted with a die cast alunimum head and a die cast aluminium block with removable wet liners - which as a huge selling point.
The transmission was 4 forward speeds and reverse, with synchro on top, second and third.
Brakes are hydraulically operated internal expanding to all wheels and the steering is Burman Douglas type.
Whilst we talk about wheels, let’s talk turning circle too - it’s 24ft or just over 7.3 metres for those who don’t think in feet and inches like me!
For my lovely viewers overseas who have never seen one of these before, to give you some perspective on size, they’re 135 inches/3.43 metres long and 58.5 inches/1.48 metres.
And look, , I know you’re going to mention Del Boy’s van in the comments, but my favourite little fact on this one is that the Regal van was actually just called the Supervan. They used both a Supervan II and Supervan III in filming.
Another interesting statistic is that the Regal is probably one of the only cars in the world where the saloon variant is rarer than the van - which is due in part to the popularity of only fools and horses and the saloons being broken to keep these valuable vans on the road.
If you want to see more of this cool little car’s resto and how it came to be, I’ve popped a link in the description below. But now, let’s hop inside and look at that dash!
Owner's RU-vid channel: www.youtube.com/@Darwinion/vi...
25 авг 2023
