During World War II, Reliant manufactured over half a million parts for the war effort and whilst it was generally known that Reliant made parts for various air craft and tanks, what was not know was the actual parts they made.  The archive includes drawings made by Colin in April 1997 that cover in detail numerous parts that Reliant made during the War and what each part was used for (where known)  The two diagrams to the left are just a small example of some of the parts Reliant made that has been detailed by Colin and now sit in the RMC Archive.  Colin also details in the document that the parts were made 55 years ago (as of 1997) and so there are many parts he has forgotten and indeed details that as it was so long ago the sketches may not be that accurate. 

One letter in particular was sent from Ray Wiggin at Reliant to Colin at Autocars Co. Ltd., in Israel and 23rd March 1962 and details the new FW3 export model that was set to become the Carmel. The letter states:

“Dear Col, We have now had an opportunity to take a few photographs of the F.W.3 without the undue haste applied to car number one, and a set is enclosed. We hope you like them.” 

Along with the letter are a series of photographs of the FW3 that were taken at Drayton Manor Park and Zoo in Tamworth.

Another letter from the same year is also addressed to Colin from Sabra Motors Corporation of America based in New York,   The letter is rather an excitable one that informs Colin that for the first time a Sabra not only finished a race but it also won it as well beating 18 other cars that included 9 Porsches and MGAs, Sunbeam Alpines and a Mercedes Benz 190 SL. One of the Porsches was, at that time, known to be the fastest on the East Coast.  That was unable to catch the Sabra as it would always pull away on the corners and so widened the gap all the time.  The Porsche came in second place.

Up until now Sabras, according to the letter, always overheated badly and had to quit the race and so this was the first race that a Sabra had finished.  The Sabra was owned by a 47 year old dentist called Ben Poster who wanted to prove that the car was a winner in its class.  He also did not push the car over 5,500 rpm as the day before oil gauge pipe had “popped out” just before the race and disposed of the connecting-rod bearings.

The archive also contains a number of photos that belonged to Colin that show the development of the Sabra Sport Prototype many of which have not been seen before.

The correspondence between Colin and Tom Scott is also most enlightening as in one letter they discuss the very first Reliant and Tom Scott confirms that the photograph of the Reliant in the Commercial Motor magazine in 1935 actually showed the prototype Reliant.

Along with these are letters to and from author Dan Lockton in 1997 when Colin assisted him with his book, “Rebel without Applause”. Dan has also notes in his letters that the photo of the pickup Reliant detailed as the prototype is actually a converted Reliant powered by a BSA Bantum engine as this is mentioned in Reliant Review no 48 (August 1971).

It seemed at the time that Colin had made contact with a Reliant Club hoping to get information from their archives.  He reports to Dan however that he was not too successful.

Another item of interest in the collection is a small car dated 6th March 1964, the day after Reliant ‘s founder Tom Williams died and releases news of his death with details on where the funeral is to be held.

The items mentioned on this page are just a small part of the items that have been provided by Pat Afford that were once part of her father and brother’s collection of Reliant memorabilia.