Reliant Regal Mk I

The Regal Mk I was first exhibited at Earls Court, London (UK) in November 1952 (although an earlier prototype of the vehicle had been shown at the Cycle and Motor show in 1951).The Mk I however was not manufactured until 1953 as Reliant made many modifications to the production vehicle shaving off both weight and price for it to qualify for a reduced road tax. Many features that were present on the prototype like wind down glass windows and external door handles vanished and as can be seen below the production vehicle was also smaller.

A 1954 Regal Mk I. (The vehicle above was presented to the National Motor Museum, Beulieu (UK) in 1973 by the Raleigh Saftey Seven and Early Reliant Owners club. It is one of only four Regal Mark I's known to have survived.).

Reliant Regal Mk II

The Regal Mk II first appeared in 1954 and was the first Reliant in which it was claimed would seat four adults. Like the Mk I the Mk II had a 747cc engine and was an aluminium body fixed onto an Ash frame though in 1955 a hardtop version was offered which featured a glass fibre top, bonnet lid and rear end.

The 1954 Regal Mk II. (This particular car is owned by Mike Redwick Jones.)

Reliant Regal Mk III

The Regal Mk III arrived in 1956 and was the first all glass fibre Reliant. Like previous models it still had a steel frame with an Ash frame to which the glass fibre body was attached. The Mk III featured sliding door windows and flashing indicators.

Reliant Regal Mk IV

The Regal Mk IV was introduced in November 1958 and was the last Reliant Model to feature a soft top option. The electric's on the Mk IV had been increased to 12 volts with separate amber flashes on the front balance.Changes were also made under the car that saw both the suspension and steering linkage had been replaced. This model also now included an air cleaner. The Mk IV only had a short production run before it was replaced in June 1959 by the Mk V. Today it is perhaps the rarest side-valve Regal with only two vehicles known to survive.

Reliant Regal Mk V

The 1956 Regal Mk III.

The 1958 Regal Mk IV. (My thanks to John Kennedy for this photograph)

Introduced in June 1959 the Regal Mk V was the first Reliant to have a boot at the rear of the car.

The Regal Mk VI was the last of the Regals in this range and was manufactured from November 1960. This Mk featured much larger windows and cluster lights that combined both indicator and running lights in one unit. Internally the dashboard instruments were now all located at the centre of the dashboard. The saloon version was replaced by a totally new design of Regal, the 3/25, in October 1962 whilst the Mk VI van became the Mk VI-A and was powered by the 3/25's OHV engine until it was replaced in 1963 by a 3/25 van . The Mk VI was possibly the last new car in the world to be sold with a side-valve engine.

The 1960 Regal Mk VI. (My thanks to Thomas Touw for this photograph)

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