They are rare, but chances are you have encountered a Reliant Scimitar in the wild. Then it was possibly a somewhat ‘younger’ specimen than this one, because you really don’t see them like that anymore.
Reliant will initially be associated with quite a few people with the well-known Robin, the tricycle that has been ridiculed over the years. However, the British brand also made much more memorable cars, of which the Scimitar is the most popular. The model name Scimitar was used by Reliant from 1964, first on a coupé, the GT, then on the shooting brake shown here, which was known as GTE. Later there was also the GTC, a convertible version based on the GTE, and the SS1 separate from those models.
We have already discussed the Scimitar GTC in ‘In the Wild’ and the Scimitar GTE has also appeared once. Still, this yellow GTE from 1974 is definitely worth the attention, as it is one of the SE5A series, older than the previously spotted GTE SE6A. You can see that directly on the chrome bumpers, but also, for example, on the more classic headlights and door handles. Shortly after this copy ran off the line, the newer SE6 series appeared, which was mainly filled with plastic elements and was also a bit longer.
Tastes differ, but according to many this is the most beautiful Reliant Scimitar that ever appeared. If you don’t quite know what you have in front of you, we can imagine that you think you are dealing with a thoroughly renovated Ford Capri. The Scimitar not only resembles that, because there is also a direct link to Ford. The Scimitar has a 3.0 V6 of that brand in the nose; an engine from the Essex family that was also available in the Capri, among others. This Scimitar GTE shifts with a three-speed automatic transmission, although a four-speed manual transmission was also available. The fact that it still looks sleek is undoubtedly due in large part to the fact that the body is made of fiberglass. Incidentally, according to the registration data, this car also likes LPG and it was already brought to the Netherlands in 1986. Since then, the Scimitar has gone through three owners; he has been with the current one since March last year.
D. Elzinga made these photos public through the Techzle Forum, where the what-did-you-saw-for-special-today topic forms an almost constant stream of special spots. We thank him very much for the images and invite everyone – who has not yet done so – to take a look around the forum.