Nowhere for the pedals on my new trike

Joined
Feb 10, 2022
Messages
159
Location
Norfolk UK
I have bought myself a new trike. Well not exactly new. In fact it's old. In fact it's nearly four years older than me and that's really old!

I have decided to sell my trusty Peugeot Expert van which I've had for eight years and which has never let me down or cost me more than a few pounds in repairs and MOT's a year. Since I retired two years ago it has done less than 1,000 miles a year and those miles were mostly just runs out to blow the cobwebs away. The old girl was obviously going to slowly rot away so it needs a new home. Ebay here we come.

Glancing through the classic cars on ebay I found a little gem of a machine and drooled for a while but thought no more about it. I mentioned it to Joan that evening and recounted tales of when I had a similar 'first car' in my teens. She said 'well why not treat yourself then?'

Long story short it is being delivered on Wednesday!

It's a 1949 Reliant Regent 10cwt van. Originally these were made with a single cylinder JAP 600cc motorbike engine having a HP rating just into double figures. It was later souped up with the fitting of a 750cc sidevalve Austin 7 engine which gave it an almost car-like power boost and made it a pretty useable little load carrier of the early 1950's. It actually sold in small but steady numbers before Reliant ditched it and created the Regal car and van trikes. The van shrunk to an almost useless size and carrying capacity shrunk to 5cwt.

My second vehicle at age 16 was a 1954 (IIRC) Reliant soft top Regal with a aluminium body on a wooden frame bolted to a steel girder chassis and I loved it. It's little side valve engine took me on a holiday to Wales from Hertfordshire with the motorway miles simply a question of keeping right foot to the floorboards and watching the speedo creep between 50mph and 55mph depending on road gradient and wind direction. It never faltered and never let me down. If memory serves that little thing cost me £25 and sold for £2 more when I moved on to another car.

This Regent has had a Robin 850cc OHV engine fitted which should make it more capable of keeping pace with modern traffic and at least capable of overtaking cyclists and little old ladies in Morris Minors. It will never be a road burner- but then neither am I.
It has cost me more than I have ever paid for a car before and I still shiver at the thought but as Joan points out I could pop my clogs tomorrow (she always looks on the bright side) and it will not likely lose any value as time passes so long as it stays in one piece. Meanwhile it will be a hoot to play with and she already has trips out with the dogs and a picnic planned.
I'm hoping it will be reliable but at least I can work on it without needing a degree in computer science if the necessity arises. The only drawback is that there are no pedals but then I have other options there in my workshop.

John
 
Joined
May 31, 2013
Messages
3,980
Location
South Benfleet, Essex, England, UK
I have bought myself a new trike. Well not exactly new. In fact it's old. In fact it's nearly four years older than me and that's really old!

I have decided to sell my trusty Peugeot Expert van which I've had for eight years and which has never let me down or cost me more than a few pounds in repairs and MOT's a year. Since I retired two years ago it has done less than 1,000 miles a year and those miles were mostly just runs out to blow the cobwebs away. The old girl was obviously going to slowly rot away so it needs a new home. Ebay here we come.

Glancing through the classic cars on ebay I found a little gem of a machine and drooled for a while but thought no more about it. I mentioned it to Joan that evening and recounted tales of when I had a similar 'first car' in my teens. She said 'well why not treat yourself then?'

Long story short it is being delivered on Wednesday!

It's a 1949 Reliant Regent 10cwt van. Originally these were made with a single cylinder JAP 600cc motorbike engine having a HP rating just into double figures. It was later souped up with the fitting of a 750cc sidevalve Austin 7 engine which gave it an almost car-like power boost and made it a pretty useable little load carrier of the early 1950's. It actually sold in small but steady numbers before Reliant ditched it and created the Regal car and van trikes. The van shrunk to an almost useless size and carrying capacity shrunk to 5cwt.

My second vehicle at age 16 was a 1954 (IIRC) Reliant soft top Regal with a aluminium body on a wooden frame bolted to a steel girder chassis and I loved it. It's little side valve engine took me on a holiday to Wales from Hertfordshire with the motorway miles simply a question of keeping right foot to the floorboards and watching the speedo creep between 50mph and 55mph depending on road gradient and wind direction. It never faltered and never let me down. If memory serves that little thing cost me £25 and sold for £2 more when I moved on to another car.

This Regent has had a Robin 850cc OHV engine fitted which should make it more capable of keeping pace with modern traffic and at least capable of overtaking cyclists and little old ladies in Morris Minors. It will never be a road burner- but then neither am I.
It has cost me more than I have ever paid for a car before and I still shiver at the thought but as Joan points out I could pop my clogs tomorrow (she always looks on the bright side) and it will not likely lose any value as time passes so long as it stays in one piece. Meanwhile it will be a hoot to play with and she already has trips out with the dogs and a picnic planned.
I'm hoping it will be reliable but at least I can work on it without needing a degree in computer science if the necessity arises. The only drawback is that there are no pedals but then I have other options there in my workshop.

John
Congrats and why the heck not? :)
 
Joined
Feb 10, 2022
Messages
159
Location
Norfolk UK
Thanks guys and yes- I won't say I deserve it but Joan is right about enjoying yourself while you're still able to and not waiting till it's too late.
Had a mad thought this afternoon. I've been thinking about a body for my delta and haven't been able to find one I feel is 'right'. It would be really fun to make one along the lines of the Regent but about half scale. I can imagine turning up at a classic car show, opening the rear door and pulling out a baby Regent in the same colour and cycling off round the showground................ Well I thought it would be fun :)

John
 
Joined
Feb 7, 2008
Messages
4,573
Location
Nottinghamshire England
This Regent has had a Robin 850cc OHV engine fitted which should make it more capable of keeping pace with modern traffic and at least capable of overtaking cyclists and little old ladies in Morris Minors. It will never be a road burner- but then neither am I.
John
Wash your mouth out !!!
Burning MM's off , in your dreams ......
The problem with the MM's was once the motorways came along you had a car with 70mph potential and 50mph brakes !

Looks a great beast and as you say very useful.
I assume from the looks wooden frames clad in aluminium ?

My past involved Citroen Dyane's [ funnily never owned a 2CV ] great fun and very practical easy to work on and very reliable , however I have looked at a couple and decided without a roll cage inside I had no confidence in driving one in the SUV/4x4 madness of the modern roads.

Paul
 
Joined
Apr 16, 2017
Messages
424
Location
Winnipeg, Manitoba
That is so very cool, I love it but then I like oddball vehicles. There is nothing like that here in the province of Manitoba or prob anywhere in Canada as far as I know.
 
Joined
Feb 10, 2022
Messages
159
Location
Norfolk UK
Hi Hugh. I think last I read there appeared to be somewhere around 30 still thought to exist but certainly not a regular sighting on GB roads. Like you I love quirky vehicles especially now when you can't tell one car from the next without looking at the badge.

Paul, personally I love the old MM and they can still pretty much keep pace with todays cars. It was more the little old lady types I was thinking of. If I close up behind a car and see the driver peering forward from down behind the wheel and wearing a hat I assume I'll be poodling along for a while- the more so in the Regent I suspect?

I built a Lomax trike kit a long time ago from a 2CV using it's chassis/floorpan and one of the rear suspension arm units moved to the opposite side so the wheel ended up central at the rear. The body unbolted from the floorpan and I thought I remembered it had a pretty substantial tube running from front over the doors to the rear. I may be imagining that but I seem to remember thinking it looked pretty strong. I actually got rid of the body by tipping it upside down into a skip (almost perfect fit) and filling it up with the other leftover bits. When you think back most cars with soft tops had little or no rollover protection and almost none would likely pass ncap testing these days. Times change eh!

I must agree though about fearing todays cars/drivers in a thing like the Regent. I suspect a heavy collision would not go well for a Regent or it's pilot. Assuming 'every road user is out to get you' is a maxim I live by as I drive!

PS I hope you'll get back to your quad soon as I'm really looking forward to seeing what you eventually build.

John
 
Joined
Feb 7, 2008
Messages
4,573
Location
Nottinghamshire England
Paul, personally I love the old MM and they can still pretty much keep pace with todays cars. It was more the little old lady types I was thinking of. If I close up behind a car and see the driver peering forward from down behind the wheel and wearing a hat I assume I'll be poodling along for a while- the more so in the Regent I suspect?
Ah the type looking between the dashboard top and the underside of the steering wheel , much much to busy now where I live [ traffic speeds increasing year on year ] for those type to dare venture out.

I built a Lomax trike kit a long time ago from a 2CV using it's chassis/floorpan and one of the rear suspension arm units moved to the opposite side so the wheel ended up central at the rear. The body unbolted from the floorpan and I thought I remembered it had a pretty substantial tube running from front over the doors to the rear. I may be imagining that but I seem to remember thinking it looked pretty strong. I actually got rid of the body by tipping it upside down into a skip (almost perfect fit) and filling it up with the other leftover bits. When you think back most cars with soft tops had little or no rollover protection and almost none would likely pass ncap testing these days. Times change eh!
Yikes I looked at those and whilst they look like cars on the outside looking at the unmounted body I though I was just bolting my bath tub to a sheet of plywood !
There was a largish diameter tube across the car between the door pillars to stop it collapsing when you slammed the doors , however if you opened the drivers door you could put one hand completely around the B post ! The steel was so thin a mechanic of mine refused to try and weld it and I had to weld mine up myself with O/A a 1/2" at a time ! The factory in a cost cutting measure omitted a brace under the battery tray and in some cars the battery tore the tray from the bulkhead !

I must agree though about fearing todays cars/drivers in a thing like the Regent. I suspect a heavy collision would not go well for a Regent or it's pilot. Assuming 'every road user is out to get you' is a maxim I live by as I drive!
Yes like cycling you must assume you are invisible and ride/drive accordingly :)

PS I hope you'll get back to your quad soon as I'm really looking forward to seeing what you eventually build.
Hoping to get to the Netherlands this year so priority currently is remover tilt from Tilt#6 and give it some much needed maintenance before hitting the ferry possible late June ...

Paul
 
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