Reliant · 1964–1974
Reliant Rebel
The Reliant Rebel is a small four-wheeled economy car that was produced by Reliant between the year 1964 and 1974. It was designed by Reliant to be a market test to push Reliant into other parts of the market instead of just 3-wheelers. It was marketed as the smart alternative, because it had a rust-free glass-fibre body, a robust chassis and frugal fuel economy. Many models were produced from 600cc, 700cc, and 750cc with saloon, estate and van variants. It was considered a niche rival to the Austin Mini and Hillman Imp.
Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Successor: Reliant Kitten
All Reliant Rebel data: UK builds, safety, recalls, model years →
Development
The Rebel was the brainchild of Reliant Managing Director Ray Wiggin and was developed after the death of T.L. Williams, the founder of Reliant. Wiggin believed in the future people would be driving small four-wheeled cars in a new car segment as the Austin Mini launch had been so successful and the UK microcar/three-wheeler segment would die off, such as Reliant's Regal, so Reliant engineers, after working on the development of the four-wheeled Sabra Carmel with Autocars of Haifa, Israel decided to modify the then-current Regal 3/25 to create a four-wheel vehicle. They built a rolling chassis using a cut and welded Regal 3/25 chassis and drove it around the Two Gates factory to see if it would work. It was however felt that Reliant's 598cc engine wouldn't pull the weight of a finished car; consequently, Reliant engineers wanted to keep the 600 engine but tuned it by skimmed the cylinder head and fitted larger valves to give better torque to cope with the car's extra weight. The Rebel would get its front suspension from the Triumph Herald, brakes from the Triumph Courier van and the steering box from the Standard 10. Reliant asked Ogle Design to design the Rebel, with the idea that it should look completely different from the Regal, but should save production costs by retaining some of the Regal's parts such as its doors, windscreen and dashboard. The resulting car was 138 ins.(3505 mm) in length, 58 ins. (1473 mm) in width, with a wheelbase of 89 ins. (2261 mm). The kerb weight of the Rebel depending on the model was between 1185 lbs. and 1327 lbs. (539 kg to 603 kg). The Rebel made its public debut at the Earls Court Motor Show in 1964. The show cars were pre-production models, built in Turkey and driven to Earls Court to test their durability. Lots of media attenti
Models
The Rebel launched in October 1964 as a saloon with the same 598cc engine as used in the Reliant Regal 3/25 and only one trim level, but with an accessory list. These vehicles were only produced in two production batches in the Tamworth factory in November/December totaling in only around 100 original Rebel built. These vehicles are mostly seen as pre-production as they were built for dealer demonstrations only and the specification changed between each vehicle as the factory tested different fabrics and materials for the interior. The main differences in these early models were the interior which used the dashboard and steering wheel from the regal 3/25, bonnet hinges hidden in the body work, the spare wheel that was fitted under the bonnet and the interior having minimal carpeting and black gel coat. Rebel prototypes had a larger front grille, after testing it was found to make the cars run too cool so on early cars the grille was not cut out of the molding leaving a "dummy grille" as some people call it.
600
Only 6 months after the Rebel's launch in 1965, it was relaunched as the Rebel Deluxe (but never actually using this name again). The car was updated with a new dashboard design using different instruments, thicker seats for greater comfort and five leaf springs in the rear instead of seven for a softer ride. The top half of the grille was deleted completely and filled in smooth, orange front indicators replaced the original clear units and a unique steering wheel was added. This model in later years was simply named the Rebel 600.
700
The Rebel 700, introduced in October 1967, had several major changes from the 600, including a full chassis redesign using stronger steel and construction, a new engine of 701cc, a move to negative earth and many other specification changes. At the Earl's Court Motor Show the estate model was shown for the first time and also announced it was on sale now. The estate used longer rear windows and a large side hinged rear door. Combined with the new fold-flat rear seat this made the Rebel estate incredibly practical, and within two years it was the best-selling model. Later, side windows that slid open could be ordered. In 1971, a van version of the Rebel was introduced after many Rebel estate buyers' enquiries. The van model was basically the estate but without windows. Rear seats could still be ordered in the van with a rear window DIY kit offered by Reliant dealers - thus meaning you could buy a Rebel van make it into an estate avoiding a large amount of tax. Both the estate and the van offered 46 cu. ft. of load space, which increased in the van to 60 cu. ft. without the optional front passenger seat. Not many Rebel 700 Vans were produced as production was in development for the 750, many more 750 vans were produced.
750
The next evolution of the Rebel was the 750 model, introduced in October 1972. This car gained some parts with the three-wheeled Reliant Robin that was due to be introduced in 1973, parts gained were: The new 748cc engine Rear light clusters Modified version of the 4 speed all sycro gearbox Radiator The Rebel 750 was the most popular Rebel as Reliant gave the Rebel a big marketing push in magazines and newspapers including full-page colour ads, because of this many people were only discovering the Rebel for the first time now with its large range of models. The interior also had a large change, fatter more comfortable front seats were used with a soft touch padded dashboard, all the interiors now used black vinyl seats and black carpets. Van production saw a short-lived effort to produce more as Royal Mail needed a replacement for its fleet of Morris vans, they had already trialed the Reliant Supervan but thought the more conventional Rebel van would be a good replacement, only as little as 10 vans were trialed. In early 1974 with the new Reliant Robin proving to be so popular production on all other models including the Rebel, Bond Bug, Reliant TW9 ended so more Robin models could be made. In 1975 the Rebel would be replaced with the Reliant Kitten.
Estate legacy
The Reliant Rebel estate was the first time Reliant would build a small estate vehicle using a large side hinged door with fold-flat rear seats. Owing to the popularity of this design, Reliant would carry on using this formula for the Regal, Robin and Rialto models until 1998.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); text is shortened. Read the full article for the complete history and citations.
Specifications
- sp
- uk
- name
- Reliant Rebel
- Manufacturer
- Reliant
- Production
- 1964–1974, 2,600 made
- Assembly
- United Kingdom: Tamworth, England
- Body style
- 2-door saloon, 2-door estate, van
- Successor
- Reliant Kitten
- Transmission
- 4 speed manual
- Length
- 138 in
- Width
- 58 in
- Height
- 55.5 in
- Wheelbase
- 89 in
- Related
- Reliant Regal
- Kerb weight
- 538.8–-603.3 kg
- Engine
- 598 cc/700 cc/748 cc Straight-4
Specification summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Measured facts from Wikidata (CC0). Check the linked sources for citations.
More photos
Sources
- Wikidata — https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q972220CC0 1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-01
- Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reliant_RebelCC BY-SA 4.0 · Text © Wikipedia contributors; revision 1375415849 · retrieved 2026-10-01
- Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Reliant_Rebel_700_WPC_92G_-_1969_(5675362439).jpgCC BY-SA 2.0 · Photo: homer----simpson · retrieved 2026-10-01
- Car Model Index — https://models.autoculturesociety.com/Compiled record. Sources that do not permit reuse are not copied; this index is credited instead.