My Car

My Car

This page is all about my 1969 Reliant Scimitar GTE - SE5:

MANUFACTURER: RELIANT MOTOR COMPANY (Tamworth, England)

MAKE: RELIANT

MODEL: SCIMITAR GTE 'SE5'

REGISTRATION: WRK 99G

DATE OF REGISTRATION: 27/06/1969

CHASSIS NUMBER: ***295

DATE OF PURCHASE: MAY 1998

Q: Why did I choose a Reliant Scimitar?

A: After owning many weird and wonderful cars, I decided I wanted another classic car. Most of my previous cars had suffered badly with rust.

Click to see my "Previous Cars" page which includes a Mk1 Ford Escort, a Mk1 Fiesta, a Fiat Strada, a Fiat X19, a Vauxhall Chevette, a Ford Orion and a Reliant Kitten.

The last car I had before the Scimitar was a MK5 Ford Escort Van. It was practical for me at the time as I could fit camping equipment and my mountain bike in the back of it. It was fairly reliable, but very sluggish and extremely boring to drive! At that time my father owned a 1967 Lotus Elan and a MK2 Lotus Cortina, of which I was quite jealous! I started to look around for a classic car for myself. I knew that I couldn't afford a Lotus Cortina or a Lotus Elan and besides I wouldn't have been able to get my bike and camping equipment in either of the cars! I came to the conclusion I needed a saloon car and a sports car......and a convertible! I had looked at various other marques including Triumph Spitfires and MK1 Escorts, but I really struggled to find one which met all my requirements.

While I was at work one afternoon, I heard a car pull up outside of our office. When I looked out of the window I saw a superb looking Reliant Scimitar. I didn't really know much about them, so I nipped outside to chat to the owner. The owner was very helpful and was happy to show me around the car. I liked what I saw and asked him if it was practical to use as a daily car. The owner said they were very practical and great fun to drive.

I logged onto the Reliant Sabre and Scimitar Owners Club website for some much needed information about Scimitar and printed off a list of things to look for when buying one. Within one week I was on my way to Worcester to road test my first Scimitar. When I got there, I was really excited to see a 1969 Scimitar GTE parked, ready for me to take for a spin. The owner showed me around the car and then started it up for me. I examined the engine bay to check for signs any bad oil leaks or water leaks, but everything was fine. I checked the chassis, all the suspension and once the engine had warmed up, I checked it had been running at the correct temperature, there was no sign of overheating.

It was now time for me to drive the car and I climbed/fell into the drivers seat. The instrumentation and the switches on the dashboard reminded me of an airplane cockpit. I pulled away and I was navigated around some great country lanes. Although at first I thought the steering was heavy, once I got used to the seating position I was soon at home chucking the car around tight corners. I was really impressed with the cars performance and handling. When we got back we agreed a price for the car and I was then the new owner!

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