A car less safe than a Model T.
http://www.wimp.com/reliantrobin/
Neil
A yugo with three wheels.
Boy, that was funny.
That was hilarious!
The Yugo was a good car. It was actually a FIAT 127. Italy deeded the tooling to what was then still Yugoslavia in the 1970's and let them build a car for their own country. This was before they split it up into the previous eight or so Kingdoms.
The car was a good one but could not stand the rigorous safety "please mother may I" protectionistic United States regulations. The FIAT 127 was a good car but it could not compete with the safety and environmental regulations imposed on it and died.
There are a lot of three wheel cars in England and they were all built in order to be able to be registered and insured as a motorcycle for cheaper fees and a regular drivers license was not required.
My son told me a story about a Yugo owner that went to Autozone and said,
"Can I get a gas cap for my Yugo?"
The reply was-
"That sounds like a fair trade."
He had a Yugo with all the options including a hand warmer -
the heated rear window that would keep your hands warm when you were pushing it in the winter.
After seeing the film clip I can sure enjoy my two Model T's. He was luck on the last roll over.
Bill d
At least our 1958 Messerschmidt had 2 wheels at the front and the single at the rear. Powered by a 200cc Sach 2-stroke engine and 4 gears it went remarkably well. Reverse was novel, you started the 2-stroke backwards and it gave you 4 reverse gears too. Trust the Germans to get out of trouble as quickly as you get into it! Dave C.
A Yugo was one of only two vehicles to go off the Mackinac Bridge. (The third longest suspension bridge in the world connecting the two peninsulas of Michigan) The speeding, light weight Yugo hit the curb and was blown over the three foot high railing by high winds. The other car was a Bronco but that was intentional.
I remember there being one these in a couple of Mr. Bean episodes and it never failed the car got turned over every time.
Speaking of Top Gear, there are two episodes that feature Model T's.
One from the old Top Gear
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKNBY3Vo1jA
And one from the new one where Jeremy Clarkson nearly kills himself
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKYh_8sRGbg
they also made a space shuttle out of a robin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b4WzWFKQ20
Nothing is sacred here. Not even the Robin.
Pensioners and learners loved the Robin as I remember it.
I am glad some one pointed out that the Reliant Robin is one of the few cars that can fly, and just because Jerimy can not drive it with out it turnig over, is not a bad mark for the car, how many cars can be rolled so many times and still keep on going, better than a Timex watch.
Best
Gus
i wanted one when i was 15 (when i also wanted a ford "T") so they cannot be all that bad
ive seen some pretty decent, and stable 3 wheeled vehicles before, but those with the single wheel in the front do have a tendancy to do that.. id never drive one
But Frank, The Yugo was a FIAT 127 but it had a Fiat 128 engine and transaxle. The early 128 1500cc emgine.
The dealers want $400 for a clutch kit but the Fiat parts were the same and only list for $104 in those days.
There are a few still running without much trouble. They got a bad rap because they were built by communists and sold here to help out the GDP of a communist country.
I had a friend in Holland who used to say that the advantage of a Daf is that you're always the front car in a traffic jam.
Speaking of Top Gear, I noticed the other day on the History Channel that they have made an American version. I didn't like it as well, but then it was the 1st episode.
The problem with an American Top Gear is that it would not have Jezzer, the Hampster and Captian Slow, they make the show Oh and the Stig too and his German cousin Sabina
An American Top Gear would not work because it has to be politically correct
They made an Austrailan top gear too
The Aussie one was crap...Dave C.