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The Reliant Rialto succeeded the Reliant Robin in 1981. Whilst there were a few similarities with the Robin the Rialto was in
essence a completely new vehicle.
The new wedge shaped glass-fibre body was now mounted onto a galvanised chassis. Power was delivered by Reliant's 850cc aluminium water cooled engine and with added aerodynamics the Rilato was a much more stable vehicle at speed without the need to fight the steeing wheel. The Rialto came in three body types, the saloon, estate and van and now featured only one windscreen wiper that was centrally located to clear the whole screen. Access to the rear luggage compartment is via a small hatch sitting below the rear window that did prove awkward when trying to place parcels in the rear above the level of the hatch.
In 1984 a Rialto 2 was produced with the same 850cc engine that was "tweaked" to produce a higher compression ratio (10.5.1). The
engine itself featured a yellow rocker cover which was the only visible difference between this and the standard Rialto engine. The vehicle also has a high ratio rear axle that produced lower revs at any
given speed. The Rialto 2 was said to race past 90 mph with ease wuth a top speed in excess of 100 mph.
Whether this proved to be fatal to a few drivers or because the higher compression made head gasket failure a more common problem is not known but the Rialto 2 ceased production soon afterwards returning to the standard 850cc engine after approximately 140 yellow top Rialto 2's being made.
In 1985 a special "Jubilee" edition of the Rialto appeared to commorate Reliant's 50th birthday.
The actual number of Jubliee models is not presently known by this web site but it is believed that this models were only acquired by Reliant Dealers and not the general public.
The Rialto was manufactured along side the new Robin until 1998 when Reliant moved to their new premises at Burntwood where they
continued to just manufacture the Robin.
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