A Reliant Robin doesn’t typically top anyone’s list of reliable vehicles for obvious reasons. Most of us have seen that infamous “Top Gear” episode where Jeremy Clarkson rolled the Reliant Robin several times, and if you happen to have not now’s the time. It takes a special sensible idiot, or possibly two on this case, to contemplate taking one on a 14,000 mile journey. That and a hankering for a world record. Introducing fellow automotive nerds and the protagonists of this insane story: Ollie Jenks and Seth Scott, the duo behind Hold My Gear.
The entire thing was Scott’s hair-brained idea. The Canadian pitched it to his UK friend (Jenks) as a option to set the record for the longest trip ever made in a three-wheeled vehicle. That record, up until these two had accomplished their journey, had been held by an Anton Gonnissen who traveled via a three-wheeled motorcycle retracing the Peking to Paris racing route in a 1907 Contral Mototri in 2019. The thought was to make their Reliant Robin, dubbed “Shelia the Three-Wheeler,” right into a pseudo-overlander vehicle. Then they’d pack it up with what they need, and pursue a route from London traversing 22 countries to Cape Town, and convey everyone along for the journey.
When a reporter in considered one of their videos asked Jenks why they were doing all of…this, he replied, “I’m not likely sure.” The excellent news is, it went mildly higher than anyone would have expected.
How reliant is the world’s first Reliant Robin overlander?
The majority of the work required to get this 2000s-built Robin cross-country ready a number of easy maintenance replacing rusty or broken parts. Newer headlights were really the addition of 4 LED light clusters adhered to the front bumper, and a real overlander light bar affixed to an also recent roof rack. They replaced the golf cart-like seats with used Mazda MX-5 MkII seats, “Tombstone style” Ollie quipped, complete with more modern seatbelts. Within the rear they installed a giant “van life” battery and inverter setup to plug in electrical devices, plus a large steel guard to cover the tiny 30-liter fuel tank. And since aesthetics, they replaced the 1992 Ford Fiesta mirrors with classic Seventies Robin mirrors.
In only the primary week the Reliant Robin’s planned progress was quick to fall into jeopardy. On the primary day they stopped to upgrade the suspension since the poor thing was nearly sagged to the bottom from all of the gear packed within the rear. The following day, the rear window began to fall out. Departing Le Mans mid-week, the engine began to misfire.
They ended the week in Morocco nearly having been deported resulting from something with obtaining automotive insurance, one other setback in trying to achieve the Sahara on their planned timeline. So as to add to the stress, they’d 24 days to get to Ghana before their visas there expired, and about 5,000 miles separating the 2.
Breakdowns, War Zones, Pain and Pleasure: A Snapshot
At in regards to the two month mark they entered war-torn Cameroon (the Anglophone Crisis or Ambazonia War) where the Robin joined a military convoy to be escorted through 300 miles of war zone. The war could be the least of their worries on the country’s wavy roads.
And the list of problems this little Reliant faced compounded throughout the trip: a grenaded gearbox, multiple deaths/resurrections of the engine, various parts rattled nearly or completely off as well. At one point, a person with a shotgun strapped at his side helped push a dead Sheila back to their hotel. One other breakdown, they got help loading the Robin onto a cattle truck to move it for more repairs.
On the flip side, there have been moments like Jenks getting recruited to assist fishermen on the Ghana coast. Within the last leg of the trip the Robin became a safari vehicle, cruising among the many elephants, mongooses, giraffes and a rhinoceros. By the top Shelia had literally gone places a Reliant Robin had never been, which nobody, not even even the designer could have imagined it going.
Asked in the event that they’d ever do it again, Jenks replied in a video, “Absolutely f***ing not.”
Sheila’s journey is not yet finished though. In keeping with the AP, after a brief leg from South Africa to Kenya, she’ll be loaded onto a ship to Turkey before she’s returned to the UK where her journey may be celebrated on the London Transport Museum.
This Article First Appeared At www.jalopnik.com
