The Reliant Robin received some time in the spotlight recently when Top Gear superstar Jeremy Clarkson took the three-wheeled French auto on a precarious 14-mile journey through the laws of physics. Clarkson managed to roll the tipsy tricycle a bunch of times during the hilarious bit, reminding us again that the instability of three-wheeled vehicles probably isn't worth the improved fuel economy - at least for those trikes with the single wheel leading the way. The stunt may have captured the attention of some bird-brained pranksters over in the UK, as Barry Cloughton can attest.

The BBC reports that Cloughton's Reliant Robin was overturned twice in one weekend in what the retired plumber calls a "copy-cat attack." The motorized trike was first tipped one Friday night as it sat outside Cloughton's house. After the Robin was returned to its proper upright stance, the vehicle was overturned a second time the following night, this time damaging the side mirror and spilling gasoline all over the driveway and into the man's garden. Sargent Steve Reid of St. Austell Police stresses that this situation could have become deadly if the petrol were to somehow ignite, adding that pranksters have been tipping vehicles since long before Clarkson first went topsy turvy in June.

On a somewhat odd side note, Cloughton calls his Robin a "good car," adding that he only turned over a Robin one time after hitting a slippery patch. That's it, just the one time? Call us crazy, but even flipping one time is probably one time too many. Click past the break to watch Clarkson's travails with the Robin.


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