John Collins

 I left school at 15 Tamworth Mercia boys school left Friday started reliant Monday 1951 I are now 83 and still work full time
The first stage was the two side members with up sweeps were drilled at the bolls of the mill by Freddy Bryant was  also the welding shop for cross members
We picked them up and bolted the cross members to side frames we Mr Cyril Thompson and my self fitted rear springs and axle dropped in the engine  prop shaft peddles and the rod brakes and wheels with tyres next stage
Eric Mattison and Brian Waight  fitted the front forks the wheel and tyre  steering column etc all that was done on two frames
Then on to a raised Track where the body was put on made of wood and thin sheet streel des booth fitted body and others
We had a body shop and a machine shop the axle engine and gear box were done in the same shop as us also the stores
It was small in them days the car came later and they built a wooden shed for development they built two mr Ken wood in charge then Tomo (Mr Thompson) the works manager took them out to air fields etc over rough ground to demo then bring them back for us to repair Mr Lory Williams works director always walked through every morning pinch my bum and said pick them washers and nots up your not paying for them I am
I was there 28 years mostly on maintenance and was supervisor the last 14years

I also ran the film club at reliant and made films for Mr ray Wigan director to take around the world on video so people could see we had three factories and what we did also filmed princess Anne when she came to visit.

Here is a lovely account by John Collins who worked at Reliant for 28 years starting there in 1951. Thank you John for writing this lovely memory for www.35reliant.co.uk it’s lovely to hear about the early years of Reliant Motors.

If you find any missing or broken links please let me know at geoff@35reliant.co.uk. And if you have any information on Reliant pre 1952 please get in touch at the above e-mail address as I would love to hear from you.

1935 Reliant

Jan 2024

Last Update