In my youth a friend bought a Reliant Supervan in the belief that it would improve his chances in getting a girlfriend and it would be much warmer and comfortable than his BSA Bantam motorcycleNereus wrote:Yes, that is a big part of it. But the centre of gravity in the vertical plane is also affected by the position of the weight above or below the pivot point. If a large part of the weight can be kept low down, coupled with a relatively wide wheelbase, then it will require a high angle of tilt before the centre of gravity passes the point where the car will tip over, 3 wheels or 4.
After a few weeks he decided to take a group of us to Brean Sands, near Weston Super Mare, for a day out!!
With five of us sitting in the back it was difficult to keep the front wheel on the road and every time we pulled away from a stationary position the front wheel would lift which must have looked very strange to anyone watching.
Eventually we reached the beach, which is, as anyone knows that has visited Brean Down, a long stretch of hard compressed sand with a good measure of river silt (mud) binding the sand together.
The young owner decided to drive it along the empty beach to see what speed he could achieve. Whilst the speed was hardly impressive, he did manage to find, with his front wheel, the only hole, on the whole beach and achieved an impressive series of rolls!!
Fortunately no one was hurt but the Reliant took quite a beating and the fibreglass roof had a crack running from back to front. After patching up the Reliant he sold it and reverted to two wheel transport!
