According to Wikipedia, the Reliant Regal was a small three-wheeled car manufactured by the Reliant Motor Company in Tamworth (come on, would you actually want anyone to know you were interested in this car? Better to just stick to the Internet in this instance...).

As it was a three-wheeler, and it was fairly lightweight, the vehicle could be driven on a motorcycle licence.

A light-commercial version with a side-hinged rear door was marketed as the Reliant Supervan III.

There were many forms of Reliant Regal from the Mk I in 1953 followed by the Mk II, Mk III, Mk IV, Mk V, Mk VI.

The Mk VII was code named the TW7 (Three Wheeler 7) and badged as the 3/25 and 3/30 according to engine size.

A 21E version was available offering 21 extras, otherwise available as optional extras, including spot light, fog light, over riders and metallic paint.

In 1973, the Regal was replaced by the less successful Reliant Robin (TW8).

The early Regals had aluminium bodies, but during the 1950s the price of aluminium increased markedly across Europe, and Reliant developed an expertise in making panels of glass fibre which piece by piece replaced the aluminium panels until the 1956 Mark 3 Regal featured a glass fibre body.

Sales levels were never high. The Regal 3/25 version was introduced in October 1962: on April 25, 1968, a year before BMC celebrated their 2,000,000th Mini, the 50,000th Regal 3/25 was driven off the assembly line at Reliant’s Tamworth plant.

Reliant Regals and Robins enjoy something of a special place in British culture as symbols of British eccentricity.

In the iconic Only Fools and Horses, the van is frequently, and incorrectly, referred to as a Robin, but is actually a Regal Supervan.

The Trotters’ original van is now on display in the “Cars of the Stars” motor museum in Keswick.

In another TV comedy, Mr Bean, Rowan Atkinson’s titular character frequently comes into conflict with a light blue Reliant Regal Supervan III, which gets tipped over, crashed into, or bumped out of its parking space.

Yet despite its lack of ‘pulling ‘stature’, the Reliant retains a warm place in all our hearts (but admit it, you still wouldn’t want to have caller ID when ringing to inquire about its charms...).