Ken Dodd in his 1962 Reliant Sabre
Discussion
dandarez said:
RedWhiteMonkey said:
You know how dogs often look like their owners, well.....
You what?
The original Sabre was an interesting bit of kit. Designed & developed by Autocars in Israel - to become the nation's first car manufacturer. However it was very-much a UK sourced car. Chassis by Leslie Ballamy, shells from Ashley Bodies, a Ford Consul engine, plenty of Austin bits thrown in and the first 100 being assembled by Reliant in Tamworth. Officially badged as the "Autocars Sabra" but having bolted them together Reliant fancied a bit of 4 wheel action themselves so marketed a UK version which, with a minor vowel shift, became the "Sabre".
There was also a GT version which, as the six pot Sabre 6, was planned with a Le Mans entry in mind. It was a prettier car and has proved the basis for a reasonably useful historic race/rally weapon.
Edited by moffspeed on Thursday 26th February 15:37
Tbirdpete said:
Adding a bit more Moffspeed's bit above.Ken Dodd didn't actually own the car.
It was one of the show cars at the 61 Earls Court Motor Show, registered 7946 WD and used as a press car for journalist reports at the time and it was loaned to Ken Dodd to use. No publicity is bad!
And also loaned to Donald Gray, also known as Mark Saber who was well-known for playing one-armed detective Saber in a 50's tv series, and voicing characters in the late 60s series Captain Scarlet & The Mysterons.
Below pic shows the factory in Israel with lhd Sabra's.
and US ad below.
Edited by dandarez on Thursday 26th February 22:56
The second Sabre.
20 years later Reliant were at it again with the unloved & unlovely Scimitar SS.
Ultimately it evolved into the Scimitar Sabre which, particularly in 1.8 Nissan turbo spec, was (whisper it) a rather good and very fast car.
.
Scimitar Sabre, a peculiar branding pitch. Anyone for a Triumph Spitfire Hurricane or a Ford Escort Call Girl ?
(Coming to think of it Ford were guilty of infelicity - they did stick the “Mexico” badge on a boggo 1.8 Escort Mk6 - I think the only mod over standard was white instrument dials and a lurid decal set).
20 years later Reliant were at it again with the unloved & unlovely Scimitar SS.
Ultimately it evolved into the Scimitar Sabre which, particularly in 1.8 Nissan turbo spec, was (whisper it) a rather good and very fast car.
Scimitar Sabre, a peculiar branding pitch. Anyone for a Triumph Spitfire Hurricane or a Ford Escort Call Girl ?
(Coming to think of it Ford were guilty of infelicity - they did stick the “Mexico” badge on a boggo 1.8 Escort Mk6 - I think the only mod over standard was white instrument dials and a lurid decal set).
Edited by moffspeed on Friday 27th February 09:40
dandarez said:
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And also loaned to Donald Gray, also known as Mark Saber who was well-known for playing one-armed detective Saber in a 50's tv series, and voicing characters in the late 60s series Captain Scarlet & The Mysterons.
And IIRC he drove a rhd (and surely manual) Porsche 356 in that series; pretty impressive for someone who lost his left arm in WW2! >
And also loaned to Donald Gray, also known as Mark Saber who was well-known for playing one-armed detective Saber in a 50's tv series, and voicing characters in the late 60s series Captain Scarlet & The Mysterons.
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