The chassis design of the Kitten from mid section backwards is essentially the same as that of the three-wheeled Reliant Robin using leaf springs and a solid rear axle, from the middle forwards the car is significantly different, with the engine moved forward and instead of using suspension from another manufacture Reliant-designed (but Lotus-inspired) double wishbone front suspension.

Prototypes of the Kitten were shown to the public in 1974 with some criticism that the Kitten looked like a "4 wheeled Robin" and because of this the car had a quick front end redesign with the round headlights replaced with the square lucas headlamps shared with the Austin Allegro and a black light panel and black bumpers front and rear.

This earlier front end design would be used later on for Van models as the 7" round headlamps were significantly cheaper than the square lucas lamps.

The Kitten launched in 1975 as a Saloon and Estate model with a large range of optional extras and a choice of black or tan interiors, it was also one of the first small UK cars to be sold as standard with radial tyres.

The Fox had similar mechanicals to the Kitten, but was a four-wheeled pickup with hard tops available to also make it into an estate or van type vehicle.

[6] In a letter to the editor of Motorsport magazine in 1976, a Dr Robert Elliot-Porter wrote that he had driven his Kitten on a 80 mi (130 km) round-trip on a motorway and averaged 81.5 mph (131.2 km/h).

He called it "a car of which the British can be proud," adding that he had driven his Kitten more than 25,000 mi (40,000 km) in 10 months of ownership.

[7] Automotive writer Craig Cheetham opined that Reliants in general appealed to "the older generations among Britain's population" because of the car's durability and that "the average buyers" of the Kitten "were well into their sixties".