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Ironically as soon as we arrived at the NEC the rain stopped and out came glorious sun shine. I got out of my car and was Lucie was a fraction cleaner in places, the rain only served to give the dirt a more even finish and actually made it look better in some ways. Thankfully the sign writing must be made out of much tougher stuff than I imagined as it was still perfectly in tact with one small corner on the left hand side that had lifted slightly.
At the NEC I was amazed at how well organised everything was. I had images of waiting in a queue of cars waiting to get in and to be honest pure chaos but everything seemed to be planned with military precision and I was allowed to park my car and trailer next to the hall long enough to unload Lucie, drive her to the stand and then move the car and trailer to a near by car park.
Lucie was being displayed with the Reliant Owners Club and was on stand 4C165 along with six other Reliant 3-wheelers that also included my brother’s 1935 Reliant “35”. It was thanks to Mark and Sue Cropper that we got the stand as this was the first time the Reliant Owners Club have exhibited at the Classic Motor Show. Once inside every one was busy polishing their cars and getting the chrome to gleam. I had another plan. I had come equipped with a tub of brown show polish, water and brushes and so set about making the new chrome bumpers look rusty and covering the headlamps over with dirt to help hide the fact the have modern halogen bulbs inside them. Lucie’s arsenal was fully complemented by fellow Reliant Owner, Kerry Croxton. He had brought along not only a 1974 Reliant Robin but also a host of old wooden handled gardening tools to put in the back of Lucie.
The first day (Friday 12th) was the main press day and the Reliant stand got a great deal of interest as did Lucie with lots of people taking her photograph and asking questions about her. One chap told me he used to have one in the late 1960s for his window cleaning business with a ladder on top. He wanted a newer Reliant Regal 3/25 van but could not afford one at the time. On the Friday I was interviewed by Classic Car Weekly which made me happier more as they knew my name and knew about this web site ( 3-wheelers.com ).
For the whole weekend Lucie remained on display and one of the perks about exhibiting was that we could also get around the exhibition to see all the other cars and there was some fantastic vehicles and plenty of 3-wheelers. A report on these will appear hopefully next month when I have a bit more time. (We are still surrounded by boxes from moving house at the moment).
One fascinating chap I did meet was Dave Harper who was one of the people who built the new Reliant factory. He told me that a long trench was dug about 30 feet deep and numerous equipment for building the side-valve Regal along with numerous spare parts was all chucked into it. There is actually an housing estate on that land now so maybe this trench full of old Reliant parts still exist?
Lucie also got to meet James Bond, or at least his stunt double. One of the visitors to the stand was Douglas James who was Pierce Brosnan’s body double in films like “Tomorrow Never Dies” and “Die Another Day”. It turned out that along with numerous exotic cars that Douglas James owned, he also had a Reliant Regal Supervan III with the infamous “Trotters Independent Trading” livery from the BBC TV-Series “Only Fools and Horses”. It would have been a shame to pass up a photo opportunity with James Bond and Lucie and so James Bond met Lucie.
The whole weekend at the NEC was fascinating and the amount of conversations I had with people who used to own a Mk VI or their parents did was superb. They all mentioned that they have not seen a Mk VI van for absolutely years to which I would say that Lucie is possibly the only Mk VI van still pottering about on the roads.
Perhaps the best surprise came on the Sunday after the final visitor had left the halls and it was announced that we could start to take down the stands and leave. A few cars started up after their owners had turned the key a couple of times though my girlfriend Caroline told me that everyone’s face was a pure shock when I got inside Lucie, turned the key and she started instantly first time. I have to admit I was actually shocked to ut very happy. Lucie had been the dirty old gardener’s van all weekend so to start instantly the way she did was superb. After checking there was no oil below, we then queued up to again what seemed an extremely well organised exit out of the halls and back to the car pack where my trailer was.
Elvis Payne.
November 2010
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