It might not be as flashy as Magnum PI’s Ferrari or as classy as Morse’s Jag, and it certainly wouldn’t outrun Michael Knight’s KITT, but almost 20 years after the last episode of Only Fools and Horses aired, Del Trotter’s three-wheeler remains one of TV’s best loved cars.
And now one of the original Reliant Regal Supervans from the show is up for sale. It goes under the hammer at Silverstone Auctions Race Retro Live online event in March, alongside a host of more glamorous classics from Ferrari, Porsche, Bentley and Jaguar.
The grubby yellow 1972 van is believed to be one of half a dozen Reliants used during the 22-year run of the BBC sitcom about wheeler-dealing market trader Derek ‘Del Boy’ Trotter and his hapless brother Rodney.
Del drove various other cars in the show, including a Ford Capp-ree, and even a Rolls Royce bought for him by his brother Rodney when the pair became millionaires in 1996 after finding a valuable watch in their garage. But the Reliant is the best remembered of the lot.
This particular van was built in 1972, and while most of the battle scars provided by the BBC’s props department mean it looks in worse condition that it is, the owner decided to have it gently recommissioned for sale, adding new tyres – only three, of course – and refreshing the brakes and fuel system.
A roof rack, 'tax in post' note on the windscreen, furry dice hanging from the mirror, and the legend ‘Trotters Independent Trading Co: New York, Paris, Peckham’ complete the look, but of more importance to the serious collector, the van also comes with BBC paperwork and a BBC key tag suggesting it was one of the TV show cars. It's from the collection of ex-BBC man John Mansfield, who auctioned a similar van in 2017.
That van made £42k, and if this one makes anything close, well, lovely jubbly, as Del would say, and the pints will be on John Mansfield down at the Nag’s Head.
Keyword: Del Boy’s Reliant van hits the market