Reliant Scimitar SST

Above: William Towns with the SST

Reliant approached the British designer William Towns to re-style the SS1 for a possible launch into the American market.  This resulted in the superb looking SS2, but sadly the design was not used; however some of the features of the SS2 were used to re-design the SS1 bodywork, therefore losing its numerous joins.  

The re-designed SS1 was now called the SST (the "T" indicated William Towns work).  The bodywork was made entirely from fibreglass instead of the numerous injection moulding, this meant that Reliant could again make their own shells, which made the cockpit more water tight and quieter.  Although the design was much better than the SS1 body work the early SST's were still criticised for the use of fitted black bumpers.  The black bumpers made the rear of the car look very droopy; however the car was later fitted with colour coded bumpers as in the above photo.  Despite it's looks, the media praised the SST for its road holding and performance.