RE: SOTW: Reliant Scimitar GTE

[EDLT]

Gixer_fan said:

"This is not a drive-away purchase".

Hey hang on a minute - sorry to be pedantic..... but is the SOTW minimum requirement not that it should have tax & MOT and able to be driven home??
Otherwise we'll have a box of bits next time round.
Let's maintain some standards here!

They've been forgetting that for a couple of weeks now.

[colk2004]

I've got one. Handles fine, brakes fade like a fadey thing on fading day but I'll bang some Princess 4 pots on and that'll be sorted. Mines 3.1 L, s/s tubular exhaust manifolds (s/s full system behind them as well), gas flowed, K&N, fast road cam, electronic ignition and with the overdrive will sit happily at 110mph+ all day. People have shoved in Ford diesels, Chevy V8s and the Rover V8 is a common swap (theres a web site and forum devoted to it). Easy to live with, easy to work on, parts are cheap are the upsides. Lucas prince of darkness electrics with dodgy earths and a weird gear linkage are the downsides (type 9 box fits though). GRP is good - don't forget Reliant made the bodies for Ford for their RS200s as they had the greater skill for it. Couple still being drag raced, and theres a full Hill Climb series for them. Love mine to bits!

Cheers Col

[plasticpig]

Princess Anne still owns a Reliant Scimitar

I am somewhat biased as I have one; albeit the later 2.8 hair dresser version. I did used to own an SE6 though. Seems like a reasonable price for one in that condition as long as the chassis isn't totally rotten.

[gforceg]

mrtwisty said:

Doh! It's the chair in the corner and the pointy hat for me again!
-insert generic friday afternoon excuse here-

ETA please accept this pic as an apology for my dimwittedness :-)

Edited by mrtwisty on Friday 25th March 13:13

No probs. :~}
I did go a little off course for a minute there!

[AcuteViewer]

I have one of the very final SE6a models with a genuine 86k. I'm the third owner. Never mind the Princess Royal, what about David Nixon. Remember him?

Mine handles like a 1970s car, though better than the Capri. I once saw a Scimmy with a 5.8 litre yank lump upfront and the bonnet had been modified like the E Type and Spitf*re.

Scimmys have always been cheap. Unless you want a soft top or the Middlebridge version. They can be made to go well but it's all pretty cramped what with the spare in the wrong place and cooling problems as standard. There are remedies but it's difficult to understand why anyone would have designed in a flaw.

And they were part designed by Tom Karren of Raleigh Chopper and Kenwood Chef fame, so I am lead to believe.

Worth £500 of anyone's cash. Needs to be auto, though.

[Riggers]

EDLT said:

Gixer_fan said:

"This is not a drive-away purchase".

Hey hang on a minute - sorry to be pedantic..... but is the SOTW minimum requirement not that it should have tax & MOT and able to be driven home??
Otherwise we'll have a box of bits next time round.

Let's maintain some standards here!

They've been forgetting that for a couple of weeks now.

I know, but we do make the rules

Promise to find one with both T&T next week....

[anything fast]

Quite a few ppl saying this is a banger? yes its past its prime but its worth a look. Never looked at one before in this way but I wouldnt mind one complete with the alleycat alloys but in yellow!

[B'stard Child]

AcuteViewer said:

Needs to be auto, though.

Good lord no....

[Black S2K]

B'stard Child said:

I'm sure there will always be a place in the world for a pig iron Ford V6 - Only one would be needed to keep a 40 ft boat in it's mooring even in a force 9 so bottom of any river would be great - but I wouldn't mind betting that a more modern all alloy V6 would improve the handling a lot.

I say the same about Opel/Vauxhall Straight sixes BTW - big old lump of pig iron and best suited to a Boat anchor.....

Certainly agree about the 1st; but I remember the days when saying "you can't go wrong with Ford" was Joe Received-Wisdom's answer not realising many of their products were appalling back then & it really used to bug me.

The Buick V8 was quite a popular substitute; you just have to lose the spare wheel & it doesn't mess up the mass distribution too much. Be warned though; it's really tight back there & GRP isn't great at heat insulation. Your legs will boil!

[AdeV]

B'stard Child said:

AcuteViewer said:

Needs to be auto, though.

Good lord no....

Depends what it's for, innit... Daily hack = auto all the way. Fun car = manual.

Personally, I think it's a great SOTW. Get rid of that troublesome 1950s Ford lump & put in a nice alloy V8 - a Lexus, say, or BMW engine - and presto, you've got an instant giant BHP leap, added reliability, and those classic looks...

I'd be tempted, if it weren't for the fact I've already got my project Shed....

[Twoshoe]

Black S2K said:

The Buick V8 was quite a popular substitute; you just have to lose the spare wheel & it doesn't mess up the mass distribution too much. Be warned though; it's really tight back there & GRP isn't great at heat insulation. Your legs will boil!

Actually, you don't need to lose the spare wheel - I've seen it done successfully on an SE5a with the spare wheel still in place (i.e. still horizontally in front of the engine).

[urquattro]

colk2004 said:

I've got one. Handles fine, brakes fade like a fadey thing on fading day but I'll bang some Princess 4 pots on and that'll be sorted. Mines 3.1 L, s/s tubular exhaust manifolds (s/s full system behind them as well), gas flowed, K&N, fast road cam, electronic ignition and with the overdrive will sit happily at 110mph+ all day. People have shoved in Ford diesels, Chevy V8s and the Rover V8 is a common swap (theres a web site and forum devoted to it). Easy to live with, easy to work on, parts are cheap are the upsides. Lucas prince of darkness electrics with dodgy earths and a weird gear linkage are the downsides (type 9 box fits though). GRP is good - don't forget Reliant made the bodies for Ford for their RS200s as they had the greater skill for it. Couple still being drag raced, and theres a full Hill Climb series for them. Love mine to bits!

Cheers Col

I like them too, a fine old car, rust free body and an english quirky car, good luck to all who own and use them.

[VeeFour]

plasticpig said:

Princess Anne still owns a Reliant Scimitar

I am somewhat biased as I have one; albeit the later 2.8 hair dresser version. I did used to own an SE6 though. Seems like a reasonable price for one in that condition as long as the chassis isn't totally rotten.

Surely the 2.8 is the one to have, as it's the Cologne rather than Essex V6?

I'm sure the Cologne is more powerful.

[B'stard Child]

AdeV said:

Depends what it's for, innit... Daily hack = auto all the way. Fun car = manual.

We agree - it'd have to be a fun car for me - now for a wafty barge it's Auto all the way and we've had enough of those in SOTW

AdeV said:

Personally, I think it's a great SOTW. Get rid of that troublesome 1950s Ford lump & put in a nice alloy V8 - a Lexus, say, or BMW engine - and presto, you've got an instant giant BHP leap, added reliability, and those classic looks...

Hmm the 4.4 BMW lump is chuffing huge but you could be onto something with the lexus one - it might be a winner

AdeV said:

I'd be tempted, if it weren't for the fact I've already got my project Shed....

Link to build thread?

I think it's a great SOTW - out of the box thinking and for a little cash splash and a bit of effort it could make a nice little summer car

[dandarez]

AcuteViewer said:

I have one of the very final SE6a models with a genuine 86k. I'm the third owner. Never mind the Princess Royal, what about David Nixon. Remember him?

Jeez, remember David Nixon... most on here wouldn't know who Paul Daniels is.

Anyway, there were loads of so-called celebs and others who owned a GTE, besides the obvious Pr.Anne.
Noel Edmonds for one. Others Stuart Hall, Corries Bill Roach, actress Rita Tushingham (might have got hers before Princess Anne), Earl Alexander of Tunis (remember him!), then there were pop and rock stars: Keith Emerson, Mick McGear Hughie Jones, Roger Glover - any young PHs who don't know who he is, must have heard 'Smoke on the Water'? Yep, Deep Purple. The list goes on...

Me? Never owned one.
But I did have a gold 3-litre V6 Scimitar GT Coupe - the classic of the Scimitars; still is.
I'd driven past a dealer in Oxon in early 1980s and spotted the back roofline and thought 'what's that?'
(I had been looking for another Ginetta G11 coupe (only 2 were built, I have one - blue car in pic, with Scimmi Coupe facing forward - and I'm still looking for the other missing G11 30 years on!)



Although it wasn't a Ginetta of course, I went into the dealer and I bought it (after a quick test) for 700 quid.
I had it for a couple years I think, then sold it for a 1,000 quid

Wonder if SRF 491G is still out there?

[PH lurker]

A great SOTW, I am a fan of shooting brakes in general .
In fact I saw one today before I had read this and was very impressed by how it looked on the road.

[forsure]

VeeFour said:

plasticpig said:

Princess Anne still owns a Reliant Scimitar

I am somewhat biased as I have one; albeit the later 2.8 hair dresser version. I did used to own an SE6 though. Seems like a reasonable price for one in that condition as long as the chassis isn't totally rotten.

Surely the 2.8 is the one to have, as it's the Cologne rather than Essex V6?

I'm sure the Cologne is more powerful.

The 'hairdresser' label refers to his being a convertible (GTC), not the engine.

In standard form the Cologne has higher bhp, but the Essex has more torque and is easier to uprate.

[neil240970]

Right up my street - have always liked these but never gone past browsing the classifieds now and then....

Will probably scratch the itch one day but with an earlier (prettier) car than this.

Great for drifting, apparently.

[ewan221]

My biggest car mistake was swopping a mint TR7 for a complete shed of a Scimitar as I needed something with back seat

[AdeV]

B'stard Child said:

Link to build thread?

No build thread yet, as no building has been done... I have to move out of my luxurious 4000sq/ft unit into a cramped 1500sq/ft first, then I can get started.