Elvis Payne

Elvis' interest in both the Reliant Motor Company and 3-wheelers began in 1990 when, prior to going to university, his motorcycle was stolen and he purchased his first Reliant Robin. At the time Reliant 3-wheelers could be driven on a motorcycle license and so the Robin became the perfect vehicle for carrying luggage to and from university.

In 2000, Elvis set up www.3-wheelers.com which was possibly the largest web site on 3-wheeled cars on the Internet. Elvis sold the website in 2022 after it had amassed almost 3 million hits.

Elvis started writing in 2005 with his first book being, How to restore Reliant Regal that was heavily based upon a Reliant Supervan III that he was restoring at the time. An updated/ revised edition of this book was released in November 2017. In addition to these, Elvis has written eight other books with two of them featuring a foreword by HRH The Princess Royal. Elvis' latest book is A Reliant Robin called Gwen and is a memoir of his first car.

In 2016, Elvis co-founded the Reliant Motor Club at www.reliant.website with fellow Reliant enthusiast Mark Cropper. Elvis is the Chairman, Webmaster and Club Historian whilst also writing articles for the club's magazines.

Elvis has also assisted numerous TV programs and films with information on Reliant or located various vehicles for them. This also includes the infamous Top Gear episode with the Reliant Robin constantly being rolled by Jeremy Clarkson. Along with TV he has also helped numerous newspapers, magazines and radio stations worldwide with either Reliant related information or photographs. Elvis states one of the more memorable request was from BBC America to write a biography of the Reliant van for the extras section for a DVD of the TV series, Only Fools and Horses. In addition to the biography he also took photographs that were used on the packaging and the cover of one of the DVDs.

From 2006 to 2014, he also organised the Reliant Gathering in Tamworth, Staffordshire on which, once a year, Reliant vehicles would assemble as part of the town’s Heritage day, an event that continues to be run to this day. In 2015 he received a "BE Tamworth” award from the Mayor of Tamworth, Cllr Richard Kingstone for his interest in all things Reliant and for promoting his home town.

Whilst Elvis' daily runner these days is a "modern" 4-wheeler, there have also been a number of 3-wheelers as well although Elvis' main aim is building a comprehensive Reliant archive (for which he currently has over 1,500 items) and recording all aspects of the Reliant Motor Company for future generations.

Elvis works in the IT sector and lives in Tamworth (UK) the former home of the Reliant Motor Company. He is married with a son.