Editing Reliant Motors (section)

=== First vehicles ===
When the [[Raleigh Bicycle Company]] decided to discontinue the manufacture of their three-wheeled vehicles in 1934, their works manager, T. L. Williams, and a colleague, E. S. Thompson, felt that the days of lightweight three-wheelers were not over. They decided to build their own vehicle in Williams's back garden on Kettlebrook Road in [[Tamworth, Staffordshire|Tamworth]]. Their home-built design closely resembled the Karryall van previously built by Raleigh, and the prototype was licensed in January 1935.<ref name="CAR200012" /> It was a 7 [[Hundredweight|cwt]] (356&nbsp;kg) van with a steel chassis, powered by a 600 cc [[single-cylinder engine]] driving the rear wheels through a three-speed gearbox and [[chain drive]]. The body was a hardwood frame with aluminium panels attached to it, like other cars of the time. With the motorcycle front end, mounted in the open, in front of the bulkhead, it was essentially a motorcycle fitted with a box body. The initial prototype had handlebars for steering,<ref>Payne, Elvis (2016). The Reliant Motor Company. Crecy Publishing. {{ISBN|9781908347367}}</ref> but after several trials with small local companies, it was changed to a steering wheel.

The work moved to a disused bus depot on Watling Street in [[Fazeley]].<ref name="CAR200012">{{cite journal| title =Robin's rest| journal = CAR| pages =106–108|date = December 2000}}</ref> On 3 June 1935, the first Reliant was delivered. Powered by a single-cylinder air-cooled 600 cc [[J. A. Prestwich Industries|J.A.P.]] engine, the driver sat centrally on the vehicle astride the engine, much like a motorcyclist. The single-cylinder engine left the Reliant under-powered. In March 1936, a two-cylinder, water-cooled J.A.P. engine and an increase to 8 cwt (407&nbsp;kg) [[gross vehicle weight]] was released. The driver no longer sat astride the engine and the vehicle gained more conventional forward-facing seats in the front. The first improved eight cwt twin-cylinder model was delivered on 16 March 1936.

In 1938, the Reliant Motor Company started to use the 10.5&nbsp;hp, 747 cc four-cylinder Austin [[Side valve|side-valve]] engine as found in the popular [[Austin 7|Austin Seven]]. The first four-cylinder Reliant was delivered on 12 March 1938. The Austin Car Company then announced its intention to cease production of the 747 cc Austin Seven engine. As Williams was always enthusiastic about making Reliant as independent as possible, he was keen that the company did not buy parts that it could make "in-house". Austin sold all the 747 cc engine tooling and manufacturing rights to Reliant, allowing them to commence manufacturing the engine. Although appearing very similar to the Austin engine, the level of commonality between Reliant and Austin remains unclear; the Reliant side-valve engine was a 747 cc four-cylinder unit built using smaller-scale manufacturing techniques than Austin. The Reliant [[crankcase]] was [[Sand casting|sand-cast]] rather than die-cast.{{Citation needed|date=March 2020}}