What the heck is this?

Looks like a Robin to me, If I rember right Mr Bean drove one
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Mr Bean drove a Mini.

But his re-appearing nemesis drove a 3-wheeled car, reportedly a Reliant Regal Supervan III like this one:
reliant_robin_restored_203x152.jpg


-Bob
 
Uhmm... roadkill on the hoof? I can see the merits of it for urban dwellers in a fair climate on flat terrain, but if you've got hills, bad weather, or any distance to travel, I can't imagine these things are safe.

Although, I say the same thing about the Mini, mopeds and minibikes, all of which have become somewhat fashionable. :(
 
tonyccw said:
Looks like a Zap Xebra.

http://www.zapworld.com/ZAPWorld.aspx?id=188
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We have a winner! (sorry, you don't actually win anything).

I took the picture with my cell phone (a LG Chocolate, I was surprised at how good the pic turned out). Apparently the car made in China and distributed out of LA. Way too expensive IMO ($10K for that!?!) for what you get in they way of performance and range (it looks as if you stopped and tried to turn, you'd flip), but the advantage is you can plug it into your regular outlet at home rather than needing a special charging station. The owner seemed to be happy with that fact, but didn't seem to think too much of the Chinese construction and the cost of the car.
 
I see a lot of comments questioning stability - but I learned to drive in a '60 VW bus, so it's very relative to me. Cruising 80mph (maxed) on the autobahn with my dad at the wheel while my brother and I played Ben Hur standing between the seats never seemed to be that dangerous.

Try driving the same bus 35 on a snow packed road - swing axles are gravitationally attracted to phone poles . . .
 
Planterz said:
We have a winner! (sorry, you don't actually win anything).
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Yippee... I think.... ;)

I use to follow Zap when they were trying to import the Smart a couple of year ago. The choices now leaves a lot to be desired...
 
ironraven said:
Uhmm... roadkill on the hoof? I can see the merits of it for urban dwellers in a fair climate on flat terrain, but if you've got hills, bad weather, or any distance to travel, I can't imagine these things are safe.

Although, I say the same thing about the Mini, mopeds and minibikes, all of which have become somewhat fashionable. :(
Click to expand...

Well to be fair back in their time the road isn't full of soccer moms in excursions and wannabe cowboys in F350s. Any collision would be cars of similar size, not one that's 4x your weight.
 
I had a friend in the U.K. sent me a Haynes Manual for the Reliant Regal some years back. Swing arm front end with a king pin swivel connected to a steering box. If we had faced the cost of fuel that Europeans have dealt with for a long time now, we'd all be driving tiny, little, 3 wheel, 3 cylinder cars and be damn proud to do so. They have trains and public transport and damn few people can afford to own, licence and operate cars. We've been lucky, gas is(was) cheap. S.M.A.R.T. cars were never designed nor intended to pull a stock trailer, a boat or go four-wheelin'. Our roads and our climate limit their use to a few mild months of commuting short distances. It's climate, legislation, economics and demographics that determine what we drive, otherwise we might all still want 500 cubes and a dual four-barrel. Think of it : 1000 new cars each day added to the traffic in Beijing. That staggers the imagination ! Here, where I live, new laws will soon be passed to REMOVE any vehicles from the road 1994 and older. .............. times, they are a changin'. Anyone know where I can get snow chains for my bicycle or should I go for studded grips instead ?
 
I've seen that around town and even saw the family getting into it at Zach's. I should have asked him about it. It kind of has a homemade look about it up close.

Chad
 
Mr Bean drove both a Robin Reliant and a Mini. In one episode he reversed out of a car park in the Robin three wheeler and turned it on its side. In another espisode he bought a settee and put it on top of the mini and sat on it driving with pieces of string attached to the controls of the car.

The Robin Reliant three wheeler is actually quite stable, but not going backwards. The came out with a car called the Bond Bug, which was a three wheeler, two seater with an opening front. My friend had one, but they weren't popular. In the UK, three wheelers pay the same road tax as a motorcycle.
 
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