Reliant Scimitar Coupe.

J

john56

Member
 Middlewich, Cheshire
Thought the title would get your attention.
Have been a fan of the Reliant Coupe for may years and often visit the forum where i came across this guy who's rebuilding one.
Most will find this boring and probably hate the car but for those with an interest in engineering like myself take a look at this link, what he has achieved and his attention to detail is mind boggling.
It takes some getting through so stick with it, some great pics.

http://www.scimitarweb.co.uk/sgwrs/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=10292
 
Love it and pretty unusual, I got close to buying a very clean convertible about 10 years ago, again quite rare but it had been badly restored and needed the same sort of treatment as this one had under the 'gloss'.
 
i would love 1, i had the SE5A years ago, i parked it up with the intension of restoring it, never got round to it and eventually scrapped it

i was a member of the owners club for 2 or 3 years

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That's amazing, I work for a Precision Engineering Company who customers include Aston Martin, AMG Mercedes, Lotus, Bentley etc.

I've just forwarded on to my director as he will love it being both an engineer and a car nut (drive a Jag XFR) :thumbsup:
 
Taz x said:
i would love 1, i had the SE5A years ago, i parked it up with the intension of restoring it, never got round to it and eventually scrapped it

i was a member of the owners club for 2 or 3 years

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Had one as well and was in the owners club.
Had to get rid of it when my daughter was born 26 years ago as a pram wouldn't fit in through the glass hatch. :-(
 
jimbo1958 said:
Had one as well and was in the owners club.
Had to get rid of it when my daughter was born 26 years ago as a pram wouldn't fit in through the glass hatch. :-(
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give or take a year or 2 we were probably members of the club at about the same time, i had my car when i was 21, which er is 27 years ago

i used to have a stack of owners club magazines, i think they got lost when i moved house urghhhhhhhhhhh :headbang:
 
Taz x said:
jimbo1958 said:
Had one as well and was in the owners club.
Had to get rid of it when my daughter was born 26 years ago as a pram wouldn't fit in through the glass hatch. :-(
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give or take a year or 2 we were probably members of the club at about the same time, i had my car when i was 21, which er is 27 years ago

i used to have a stack of owners club magazines, i think they got lost when i moved house urghhhhhhhhhhh :headbang:
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I dumped the mags years ago but may have a couple of books in the loft. :-)
 
I've just stumbled across this thread relating to a marque that I was quite involved with during the 1980's. I first purchased a Scimitar GTE around 1984 with the intention of restoring it, but gave up after six months having realised that I had bitten off a lot more than I could chew! This did, however, introduce me to the RSSOC (Reliant Sabre and Scimitar Owners Club) and this set me off in the direction of looking for an early Scimitar Coupe, only this time an easily improveable car, rather than one needing a complete rebuild. I found what I was after at The Lenham Motor Company in Kent and I spent the next six months getting the car up to club concours standard. This included a complete respray in the original colour, some rechroming, new wire wheels/tyres, cleaning off the underside, a bit of welding and repainting. Most of this was farmed out to specialists, although I spent many evenings under the car repainting the chassis. Over the next couple of years the car became very well known in RSSOC circles, winning many club concours events, appearing in a Classis and Sportscar Magazine feature and with the photograph below being used on the cover of the 100th edition of Slice, the RSSOC magazine.

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Membership of the RSSOC lead to autotests, hill climbs and sprints. The photograph below is Gurston Down near Salisbury.

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Below is a shot taken at Valence School Hillclimb in Kent.

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As lots of club members were telling me that I should not be competing with such a nice car, I purchased a competition ready V6 version of the same model, pictured below, this time at a Curborough Sprint. The basic difference being the early straight six had the old Ford Zodiac engine with triple SU carbs and the V6 was the ubiquitous Ford Essex engine with a single Weber.

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Running two cars as a hobby (my daily driver was a company car) was becoming a bit too much, both financially and in terms of time, so I decided to get rid of both coupes and buy a Scimitar SS1 :!: I sold the straight six for 4 x what I'd paid for it but I was sad to see it go :cry: having invested a lot of time and money in it (the selling price didn't cover what I'd spent). After the V6 had gone as well, I purchased a 1.6 SS1 and set about the competition preparation. This included, roll over protection, plumbed in fire extinguisher, racing seat, Wolfrace alloys and Bridgestone rubber, rear valance and aerofoil, Piper camshaft, gas flowed head, swapping the single Weber for twin 40DCNF's, Pipercross air filter, oil cooler, Janspeed custom built exhaust, Spax adjustable's etc. I had a lot of fun with the car, although it was somewhat underpowered and the pick up out of slow corners was hopeless. I visited many UK circuits/hillclimbs/sprint venues with it and won my class in the 1989 BARC Sprint Championship. The photograph below was taken at Goodwood.

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I had a lot of good times with Scimitars and my days in the RSSOC :D and I hope my reminiscing hasn't bored you to tears. I could go on a hell of a lot more but I won't. Maybe this will evoke a few memories for others who have trodden the Scimitar path. :)
 
Taz x said:
awesome, if i got the chance i would buy 1 tomorrow
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Me too Taz. I had a lot of pleasure owning the coupes and I found the club very friendly. I recently saw a coupe that I new from those days up for sale for £6000. It was a nice straight car, properly sorted and very tempting. If I had the garage space I might have succumbed.

Did you ever get to any of the RSSOC club events?
 
RSSOC had a stand at zedfest last year, i had a chat with a couple of members

although i was in the club years back i only ever got the mags and read stuff
 
I had a SE5a about 5 years ago. Not my favourite classic but it did have some positives. Wouldn't have another but don't regret the one I had. For me the engine was missing 2 cylinders and really needed a V8 and the plastic body was just too creaky
 
bluespit said:
I had a SE5a about 5 years ago. Not my favourite classic but it did have some positives. Wouldn't have another but don't regret the one I had. For me the engine was missing 2 cylinders and really needed a V8 and the plastic body was just too creaky
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In the mid 1980's this SE5a GTE featured a V8 and was used to great effect in various UK Hillclimb Championships by Les Trafford. I believe the engine was a supercharged Rover V8 - he must have had problems meeting the noise regs. At some venues - note the drinks can on the exhaust in the last pic. :!:

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It might not be mine Taz but it's another pic of a GTE. :D
 
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