A good number of years ago I came to a sobering realization about a car I really loved: I wasn’t the best caretaker for that car. And this was a car that absolutely deserved a good caretaker. So I made the hard decision to sell the car to someone who could likely take better care of it than I could. And I’m glad I did! I think it was the right call. But now, interestingly, that next owner is at the point of making the same decision, so I want to try and see if I can help guide this wonderful car – a 1974 Reliant Scimitar GTE – to a good new home.
Yes, my old Reliant is up for sale again. I let it go during the pandemic back in 2020, after owning it for… damn, I guess about 15 years or so? I used to drive that thing as my daily driver, all over Los Angeles. It was my first British car, my first right-hand-drive car, my first fiberglass car, my first shooting brake, my first V6, my first Laycock de Normanville overdrive, my first car that actually could be considered quick, at least by my absurd standards. It was crucial in kickstarting my career in writing about cars. I loved that thing, and drove the hell out of it, delightedly.
It was also the first car I owned that made a shocking number of people bring up the British Royal Family and one horse-happy member of that well-to-do crew.
Once, while driving it around, a photographer noticed it and yelled at me through her car window to see if I wanted to make $100. As you likely have guessed, people yelling to me in traffic about making $100 was pretty commonplace for me, so as usual I said yes. It turned out that the $100 was for my Scimitar, which was used in a photo shoot for the musician Evan Dando of the band the Lemonheads:
I wrote about this here before, and I bring it up because it’s a fun event in the life of the car, and it’s noted prominently in the ad selling the car now.
I took the Scimitar with me when I moved from LA to North Carolina, and while I made some attempts to get it going again, including dragging David out to help me:
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…I never was able to find the time or resources to finish and actually get it driving regularly again. I mean, look at that face young David is making there.
The car isn’t in bad shape at all, really, it’s more that it’s so rare here it takes so much effort to get parts that I just didn’t have what it took to keep it going. A car like my 2CV is actually a lot easier – it’s orders of magnitude simpler, and has a much larger base of owners and parts.
But that rarity is part of what makes the Scimitar so appealing! When it is running and driving, it’s sublime. But I personally couldn’t manage it. Of course, it’s worth remembering that I’m a bit of an idiot, so factor that in.
I sold the car to my friend and incredible car collector Myron Vernis, and I have no regrets about that at all; Myron has a huge and impressive collection of cars, and the Scimitar was in good company. But Myron came to the same realization as I did – he just has too many projects already going, and realistically, he can’t get to this one. His mechanic got it running again a bit after he got the car, but he hasn’t really had the time to spend on it after that.
I do know that it has at least been stored well, and if someone has the time and inclination, I think it could be made fantastic with a bit of work. The interior is actually in great shape – the seats are all in excellent condition, the headliner is great, carpets are dusty but good, and the biggest issue is the cracked dash cover.
The fiberglass body is in good shape, too – the hood needs to be re-attached, but everything else is solid. I’m biased, of course, but I think $3,500 is a great deal for this car. I’d love to see someone from the Autopian family get it!
It does need tires, it looks like.
The Scimitar remains the Platonic ideal of a shooting brake in my mind – drives like a sports car, but has a surprising amount of room for stuff. This was the first production car with split folding rear seats! The overdrive setup was great, active on both third and fourth gears, so it was like having a six speed, with an instant turbo boost lever. You’d be in third high, for example, and could instantly kick it down to just third if you needed a burst of extra torque. It was a great highway cruiser in 4th and a half, too!
I’ve been thinking if I could buy it back ever since I heard it was for sale, but I have to be realistic: I have no room – spatially or temporally – for another project car. And I’d feel terrible if I just let it sit again. No, it deserves someone who will appreciate it. Anyone have a nice V6 or V8 they’re looking for a good home for? This could make a great project for that. I bet the Essex V6 in there could be made reliable enough, but I get the appeal of an engine swap.
Point is, I’m very much hoping someone will get this who I have some contact with, so I can appreciate this stylish old Brit’s resurrection. And maybe they’ll do all the hard work and let me take it for a spin when they’re done? A boy, like a princess, can dream, after all.
Aw man I really don’t have time/space for a project right now but boy I wish I did!
I have always, always wanted a Scimitar. I’m on the wrong side of the pond for yours, sadly, as well as being Too Poor, which is a shame, as parts would be easier. I have always been intrigued as to whether the IRS from a Sierra would bolt on at the back. That, plus the 24 valve V6 from a fast Mondeo would be quite the sight…
There is a possibilty we are related. My surname is Gilbert.
I’ve met Torch. I’ve met Evan Dando. Somehow I think I’m in a pretty small group.
Would love the Scimitar but I still have Saab parts to buy. Dammit.
It’s a shame about the Scimitar. In driveway spelled in oil it’s name is still engraved.
(Best I could come up with on the spot. Apologies.)
Oh!
I’ve never been to good with names but I remember tail lights.
In that vein. I lied about being the outdoor wrenching type.
The Reliant seems to have held up better than old mate Evan.
That thing has a great look to it! The right hand drive really pushes it from “cool looking 70’s era car” to a real conversation piece that makes you stop and look twice
You’ve gotta do a story on Myron at some point. He’s got a great collection of vehicles that are right up the Autopian alley.
Seems to be gone already. Too bad, as I’d have strongly considered it. My British friends would have beenall over it.
Sadly I have no actual garage and I’m notoriously fiscally responsible. I want, but doubt I’m the proper caregiver.
Never seen one of these in person. Read a lot about them. Cool UK product.
The Lemonheads! Great band!!
I wouldn’t engine swap it, I’d lean into the British Essex community and build something like this for it.
Yes!!!
Same here, even though that’s easily a fair price for a car I wouldn’t mind having.
This is one of those times I’m simultaneously happy and sad about my lack of extra garage space.
$3500 is actually kinda worth it to get to hang with Torch
Sell Tioga RV for scrap, buy back Scimitar, cover and store until you’ve got more free time to wrench, profit
Man, I’ve had my eye on a late ’70s Scimitar that’s been for sale in Pennsylvania for quite some time, they keep dropping the price, but, it would never pass emissions where I live due to no catalytic converter. I think a ’74 would be OK, it predates that mandate, so would only need to pass the basic curb idle test
But, this is about a month too late, the last empty garage bay I had just got filled with a 1950 Chrysler, which I’m hoping to get through safety inspection tomorrow after 3 failed attempts
I already have one broken car previously owned by Torch, I don’t think I need another, especially since I don’t even have time to work on the 8(?) cars I already have that aren’t currently driveable.
It would be kind of funny though, since I actually met Myron a couple years ago through the guy that owned my Alto Works when it was still in Japan.
Hope it finds a good home!
I saw a green Scimitar last week, in a very remote location, on the Isle of Mull in Scotland. First thought, “Oh, wow, that’s a Reliant Scimitar!” Second thought, “Didn’t Torch own one of these?” I think it’s the only one I’ve ever seen in the flesh.
I was on the Isle of Mull about 2 years ago. Saw a green Scimitar and a yellow one to boot. Also lusted over any number of cars we could not get here in the U.S. such as the prior generation CTR and Accord, VW Scirocco R, and Audi RS3 Sportback.
Neat little wagon!
I had never heard of a Scimitar before today.
Have you ever done an article on the Scimitar’s tail lights? Pretty sure the same lights were also used on Jensen Healeys, 70’s Aston Martins, and maybe some other British cars of the day.
Huh, TIL you had the Scimitar that long, for some reason I’d thought you sold it to buy the xB when you needed something that would baby with a capital B.
That’s the one it’s a shame you didn’t keep since an xB1 would also teenager well; reasonably modern passive safety features, good sightlines, not an overabundance of power…
The owner of the xB is in here, but Otto might need to learn how to rebuild a transmission if he wanted to drive it
The universe is telling you to buy it back.
Hey Mercedes, is Sheryl still looking for a car to impress people with?
We need SWG to rescue it!!
Come on SWG, it right up your alley!
“As you likely have guessed, people yelling
toat me in trafficabout making $100was pretty commonplace”This seems more correct considering this and the other cars that you drive.
This is so tempting….if only…
I don’t currently have the financial resources for a project car, but I’ve really been daydreaming of getting a cool old hatch or wagon of some sort for less than $5k. Man, is this one tempting.
Unfortunately, for it to work out I think I need a “project” that can run double duty as a mostly-reliable daily driver, and this needs more investment in time and money to get to that point than I can swing right now.