Reliant Kitten

Reliant Kitten Estate

The Reliant Kitten is a small car that was produced from 1975 to 1982 by the Reliant Motor Company in Tamworth (England). It has a fiberglass body and a four-cylinder in-line engine with 848 cc displacement, the 40.5 bhp (30 kW) gave power. Chassis and drivetrain were with small changes for the Fox used vans / pickup.

The rear part of the chassis corresponds essentially to those of tricycle models Robin and Rialto, from the middle to the front but it differs from that of the sister models. The engine was moved forward to where the front wheel is the Robin. The built by Reliant (but inspired by Triumph) double wishbone located on the front axle. The bringing forward of the engine compared to the three- wheeled vehicles created much more space for driver and passenger.

The production of the kittens was set in 1982, because he could not compete in price with the Mini and similar cars due to its elaborate GRP bodywork. The corrosion problems of self-supporting steel structures that had been so great (and also a strong selling point for the kitten) among its competitors in the 1970s, have been associated with the progress of rust protection is increasingly under control. Also came the rear-wheel drive, as it had the kittens in the small car class increasingly in favor of the front drive out of fashion. Because of the kittens had four wheels, he did not enjoy the low tax for tricycles in the UK, as was true of its sister model, Robin. A total of 4,074 kittens were produced in 8 years.

There is a " conservation organization" for small Reliant with four wheels, which is called Reliant Kitten Register.

The Indian auto manufacturer Sipani produced from 1983 three - and five-door versions of the kittens under license. The car was there Sipani Dolphin.