Britain, stop getting the Reliant Robin wrong
With apologies to Steve Coogan for nicking his line, it’s time to stop getting the Reliant Robin wrong. The name’s Robin, Reliant Robin. Not Robin Reliant.
It’s amazing how many people get it wrong. Only yesterday, somebody I know referred to it as the “Robin Reliant”. He’s a well-educated guy. I’d have no hope of beating him in a game of Trivial Pursuit. Yet to him, Tamworth’s finest three-wheeler is a Robin Reliant.
Which is odd, as he doesn’t say One BBC, PlayStation Sony or iPhone Apple.
There are worse things to get wrong. Just ask Matt Hancock. But it’s odd that so many people have a mental block. Google “Reliant Robin”, and you’ll be presented with 375,000 results. Google “Robin Reliant”, and there are 285,000 pages. Isn’t it about time Google asked: “Did you mean Reliant Robin?”
How and when did the incorrect name pass into popular culture? Soon after the car’s launch in 1973? Is, as Elvis Payne claims, Jasper Carrot to blame? Does anybody care?
Swipe right for Robin Reliant
Mr Payne makes some good points – many of which would have formed the basis of this throwaway article. Is the use of Robin as a forename to blame? Robin Reliant rolls off the tongue like Gina Colangelo (just ask Matt Hancock), so perhaps the inaccuracy is understandable.
Ask somebody to name five famous Robins, and the three-wheeler would be fifth in line after Hood, Batman &, Red Breast and Williams.
Is it understandable? It’s not like people say Zoe Renault, Dyane Citroën or Sienna Toyota. That said, they all sound like girls you’d swipe right for.
On the other hand, Robin Reliant has the whiff of a studious prefect. Or maybe a kitchen cleaner. “For the toughest stains, you need Robin Reliant. It wipes away the biggest mess.” Send a crate to Matt Hancock, etc.
Having noticed that the excellent 3-Wheelers website has stolen PetrolBlog’s thunder on this subject, there’s no need to labour the point. Just remember that it’s Reliant Robin. And no, Del Boy didn’t drive one.
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