Did you know Princess Anne had a Reliant Scimitar GTE? 

Crossflags of Dumfries were the Reliant dealer in Dumfries SW Scotland. My parents regularly reminded me of the fact that Princess Anne had one as we passed the small showroom (She still does I am told). Crossflags was taken over by Arnold Clark and was renamed Harry Fairburn at a more modern premises but became a BMW dealer as Reliant withered on the vine. The old showroom became a used car dealer and only recently closed. I feel sad every time I pass it as I yearn for the late 70’s, simpler times.

It is sad that a whole genre of small niche British manufacturers met their demise by the problems and costs of development, rather than unwanted products. The obvious exceptions are Lotus, which had to be baled out several times and of course Morgan. It is rather ironical that Morgan survived throughout the devastating 70s 80s and 90s despite or maybe because of so little obvious change or development.

Growing up in a Northern town in the ‘80s these were the pub landlord’s transport of choice. Plenty of room for crisps and nuts from the cash and carry, but still a bit flash. Alternative landlord motors were XJ6s/XJ12s, Granadas, SD1s, or down at heel Silver Shadows. But the Scimitar was king of the lot - the one every landlord aspired to own.

I lived next door to the Mitsubishi dealer in Tunbridge Wells in the late eighties who also sold Reliants. As a result, they got to stock the reintroduced "Middlebridge" Scimitar for a while. By then with a 2.9 Sierra engine. They had one in "Metaflake" Pearlescent White in the showroom for a while. They still looked good.

Most definitely the best home for the Essex 3.0 litre V6. Reliant was up there with the best with the Scimitar.

These were very highly thought of back in the day. Just for info, there was a "direct competitor" in the form of the Volvo 1800 ES. That had the same shooting-brake body style, similar performance and was on the market from summer 1971.

Im from germany have a Capri mark2 3.0v6. Still today a powerful engine 138ps 240nm and 200kmh top speed. And under 1200kg. It needs 6sec from 60 to 110kmh in the 3.gear. that Sound of the car! I love it so much..

I real wanted one of these many moons ago but they were hard to find secondhand and held their value and even today they are not many for sale despite in the last 10 years the amount on the road has more than doubled to the point they are not as rare as many cars of that era. It wouldn't surprise me if many of these cars that are being put back on the road are still with their original owners ... The car that should have been a legend

I’ve always loved the Scimitar. My father had one in the late 80s to early 90s, an SE6B, I think, with the 2.8 non fuel injection Cologne V6. He was driving about 1000 miles a week in those days. One of his colleagues had a Ford Capri 280i, which made all the right noises and had more grunt, but the Scimitar was incomparably better as a proper mile eating GT. Sadly, only a few months after selling it on to a friend of mine, it did what a lot of them seemed to and went up in flames. Something to do with the type of carbs and a plastic, rather than metal as used natively on Fords, air filter box. Oh, and Princess Anne drove them, don’t you know. (I have to say that, it is a legal requirement!)

The Princess had several over the years. Still owns the last production from Middlebridge. 120 upgrades including walnut veneers. Trusted club members occasionally get to show it for her at significant motor shows. DW NZ

I know it's the classic Scimitar gag but I feel a lot of people don't know it's not actually true. She didn't own one (as you said she had eight) but the past tense is wrong too. She still owns one to this day!

What a beautiful car, from childhood, I’ve always had a secret passion for Reliant, mainly the three wheelers, Regal, Robin and Rialto, due to their quirkiness. However I also liked the four wheeled Rebel and Kitten, the Scimitar never really appeared on my radar, perhaps because it wasn’t quirky, until now that is. Thank you for sharing this gem with us Matt❤.

Does it come with ear plugs? Wheels off a four bottom plow. Bold choice to have square front wing arches... and round arches in the back. Spark plug replacement procedure: remove engine... Smiths Bounce-O-Matic speedo with a top speed of, let's say ten. I assume the ammeter markings are: 'Discharged', 'Ask Again Later', 'Fire'. Princess Anne must have really enjoyed the sensations of driving a school bus.

Great video other than the strange inverted shot near the end. I did begin to wonder if the overdrive was going to be mentioned at all, now I'm wondering how many viewers understand what an overdrive is. I just love the roar of the Essex engine when it's booted, when I drop a gear to overtake in mine I wish I could see the slower drivers face as I roar past.

Lovely things! My dad always wanted one! Odd though that the dashboard is so reminiscent of a Robin’s! The Sabre, the predecessor to this is an interesting car too. Very rare now, but they have a fanatical following! The styling was by Tom Karen - a bit of a British design legend - also responsible for the Bond Bug and the Raleigh Chopper! As for competitors - how about the Volvo P1800ES and the Lancia Beta HPE? The mk2 Capri, and later the Opel Manta / Vauxhall Cavalier Sportshatch would have also have been close. Only the Capri mk2 would offer a V6 option though.

Scimitar SE 5 for 70,000 miles achieved 28mpg below 90mph on Autobahn with 18 gal fuel tank Regularly covered 180km between signposts every hour. V relaxing drive with high ratio back axle and overdrive 100mph at 3,000 rpm 4 hour , 350 m evening Autobahn trips from Munster towards Bavaria for ski w/e in the mid 70's Rear shocks replaced every 12k due to 4” of travel, 3rd gear every 20k as it would cruise at 100mph in 3rd gear with overdrive, back axle lasted 50k Cooling system & electrics troublesome - reputation for being flammable, fabulous fun. Successor to my Scimitar GT V6 Coupe

The rubber bumper one , mid 1970’s was the best one produced, with the 3.0 Essex V6 and overdrive.

My father still has his old Scimitar, resting on its trailer in the driveway, slowly being reclaimed by nature. I keep trying to convince him to dust it off and hit the hillclimbs again, like he did when I was a lad. Yet to be successful in my efforts

She had more than one and when I worked at Reliant at Tamworth i worked on them. great cars and still very popular.

The original Scimitar coupe was beautiful. You were surprised it had four seats! Wheels more like...

I love the Scimitar. I’ve always wanted one. It’s like a poor man’s Jenson Interceptor.

In the mid seventies I was offered a very nice '66 straight 6 coupe for £450 but I couldn't afford it. Never forgot it and two years ago I finally bought an SE6a. Love it!

A beautifal looking car, I actually went looking on car and classic after the video and found this one for sale, there used to be one near my local Andy's Man Club in a nice shade of green. A car I would add my to dream garage. A excellent review as always Matt.

I spent many an hour in the back of one of these as a child. My father owned one for about 12yrs, which was a love hate relationship. Its nice to see one with the same dash as his, there were several variations between the se5 se5a and se6 i think it was. Ours started out yellow/ mustard but was repainted white after a mishap on a snowy night! They suffered fuel vaporisation which made them hard to start when hot, and i recall the outriggers needed replacing during our ownership, wish he still had it in some ways but a SD1 replaced it. Incidentally my mum owned a relient kitten as well.

It is hard to explain what an odd place Reliant four-wheelers occupied in the market in the 1970s. Their production numbers were VERY low. Their reputation was VERY good. They were well known for a small firm. They advertised in the glossy magazines of the weekend papers. They were considered VERY fast in their day. And they had almost no competitor. It is a fun pub conversation to find competitors, but really there were none. Sadly, there were also few people who wanted one and could afford one. And production was limited by industrial reality for a small firm. But... in its day the Essex V6 was a real turbine of an engine; sitting in a car that didn't weigh much. It was also (and it remains) very attractive in a fairly timeless way. Through the 1970s these things ruled the very small part of the market they lived in. They seemed not to suffer from the reliability issues of many smaller carmakers. They chose their components well. Sadly, many today are languishing on garish period Wolfrace wheels and slowly revealing the cracks and crazing on their GPR bodywork and they burble towards their demise on drainpipe exhausts. But in period, these were quite a thing.

My mates dad abandoned his broken GTE (registration TUT 60H), in his garden in around 1976. I remember that he repaired it in the 1980's, but it broke again not long after. Was on Wolfrace slot alloys, which suited the GTE better than any other car I know.

My mate had an auto one also the convertible oh yes an SS1 oh & various 3 wheeler things Regal & Robins, could say he was a Reliant nut. I myself have a Volvo C30 in homage, the GTE was a beautiful car.

What a beautiful, practical car, it must have seemed like a spaceship in 1968. I think you got just the right exapmple to review here as well, a carbon copy of that famous "Red Arows" advert silver SE5 with those gorgeous 4 spoke fibreglass hub caps, which must be super rare now as most were binned over the years to fit hideous slotmags. A guy a few doors away used to own one in in period, when I was just an impressionable boy. He always had something top notch, like a Volvo P1800E, droop snoot Firenza, and a big-valve fixed head Elan Sprint (which he used to take the body off and leave on the lawn while he worked on the drive, an amazing thing for a 6 year old to behold!). He kept his Scimitar longer than anything else, which is rather telling.

Yes I did know that! There was a shrine to her in one of the dusty rooms at the offices at the front of the Reliant factory on the A5 in Tamworth. Went around the factory(s) a few times & saw the original moulds for this. 😊

I remember seeing these on the road as a kid, my older brother was (still is) a car fanatic and used to point them out at every opportunity when the whole family was in my dads' car during those rare times when he wasn't being car sick. If I recall correctly they were included in the old Top Trumps card pack where it was one of the best cards to have. I've never been in one let alone drive one but I'll have to add this to my bucket list. Many thanks Matt for sharing.

I always liked the look of the Scimitar, but was put off by it's glass fibre body after someone I knew crashed his Lotus Europa on the motorway and the car just disintegrated.

Thats a fantastic example, a great looking car. I always thought the Scimitar was a bit like an affordable Jensen Interceptor. The best thing is that this one even has a wobbly speedo needle, just like any 70's car should. Bliss!!!

The care the Capri wanted to be when it grew up. A genuine cool car. A bit forgotten now which is a shame.

I bet Princess Anne when driving any of her 8 cars told many a driver , pedestrian to naff off out of the way 😂, great looking car Matt 👌🏻.

My father had I think six of these through my childhood. The first I remember was silver, he bought it form an MP and had to go to the house of commons to buy it in 1973. I Love these cars.

They did have a reputation for catching fire back in the day 😮 my brother had one ,it was alarming watching the earth strap glowing red hot when he cranked it over but it was a bit of a niche car amongst the sea of Fords and quite cool.

Volvo were clearly inspired when they made their own version, the P 1800 ES.

At least one of hers are in a Royal collection somewhere, one was in the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace in the late 80's, taxed, so still in use then. She collected most of her speeding tickets in them.

The Reliant Scemitar l have seen on various british car show videos but living in Australia thanks Matt for reviewing this attractive car l know what the interior is like under the bonnet and in the boot anf l know all about the Reliant Scemitar thanks

My dad had one of these and I remember being dragged out of the back seats by my legs as it caught fire on the M1. I was about 4 at the time so it obviously left a lasting impression. 😅

Princess Anne had one of these you know.

I’ve owned 3 Scimitars by the time I was 35, currently own a 1971 early Se5a here in Ireland, have exported the 3 of them from the U.K.

That proper driving experience…with a wonderful sound…love it

Looks epic with those Steelies, equally the last of the line Middlebridge cars had lovely alloys. Funny how the first and last models of most cars look the best?

I miss my SE5a, ahhh the smell of vinyl and glue 😊 The pre facelift dash was much better made. The moulded plastic one became brittle and was rather cheap, but it looked great at night, like an aeroplane cockpit with its many many Smiths dials. My uncle has a Scimitar SE6a GTC, the convertible one. He has owned that car since brand new. It is the Ford V6 with the Ford auto box which suits it's lazy cruising driving style. I drove that car from the UK to the South of France when they emigrated there and have to say it was a pleasure to drive. Your right they are an under rated car and still criminally cheap, Scimitar seem to have the same under valued brand name like Rover.

Living in the Netherlands, I only ever saw these in books and magazines and found them very distinctive and interesting. Thanks for the great video, I really enjoyed it!

Fabulous motors remember my auntie and uncle used to drive them as demonstrators as my uncles family owned Roy Peplow and company reliant dealers in Wednesbury always liked their shape and exhaust sound was a terrible shame what happened to reliant and middlebridge in the end

I do appreciate a sports coupé with an estate car profile. 😍 Ditto the Lotus Elite and Honda Accord Aerodeck. Interesting style of wheels. Can`t recall ever seeing those before.

Funny, I had no idea Princess Anne had one of these, you’d think people would mention that.

I don't think those are capri seats, not that I recognise anyway. Not sure it's a Ford column either, most specialist companies used Triumph parts but not sure in the case of the scimitar.

I believe P Anne owns or owned a Middlebridge Scimitar and not a Reliant one.

Have owned quite a few cars in my life,the scimitar was always my favourit ,looked fantastic,great engine,fun to drive,good handling too,electrics a problem though

core plugs are a bugger to do, chassis tubes in way, had to a set at a ford dealership in the 90s [don't ask], + then the heads off, +then piston rings, +then the triumph based back axle blew up on road-test... classic cars + main dealers never mix, + oh, yes, we have just taken a p1800 shooting brake into our nissan dealership aarrrggghh.... same under-bonnet layout as my dads 72 3litre zephyr [probably same 185 14 tyre as well]

The best thing to come out of Tamworth since King Offa himself

Used to work on them at Derek Warburtons in hazel grove Stockport .part of the sales pater in the sales office was a picture of the princess getting out of one

It looks great, a very cool classic car! And I was a bit shocked when I saw that they're asking only £13k for it, which looks like a crazy bargain compared to other cars from that time. I guess that there isn't much respect for the Reliant name, so that keeps the values down.

One of my all time favourite cars, right through to the final Middlebridge 👌

HubNut needs one on the fleet…an estate…ideal

What a beauty in that silver finish. always a shame that the tail glass is not a full tailgate would have been even more practical but even so what a great unique design. Definitely a practical classic daily driver.

Interesting Jack #27 has turned up with a Rover 75. Grandpa type - diesel in Black with slushbox

I quite fancy finding an SE5 rolling shell and putting in the 2.9 Cologne engine and 4 speed auto in that I have from a late Scorpio 🤔😊

The body is a nice and practical shape. I like it. It seemed to be very noisy inside the car and that would get on my nerves after a while. I wonder why other manufacturers didn't use fibre-glass bodies. No rust but maybe very difficult to repair.

I was reading an old “Custom Car” magazine from 1972 recently and there was an article about turbo charging being the way forward and how, in the future, it was likely that all internal combustion engines would be fitted with one - they got that right - they featured (iirc) Broadspeed, Minnow Fish engineering and Ford as the 3 companies pioneering the technology and described the different methods employed by each of them to make the turbo work. The Ford they featured was a 3.0 Essex V6 like this Scimitar and they made it sound like Ford were planning on selling the 3 litre Granada / Consul with the turbo available as an option. I wonder if this ever happened. The whole point of this story was: seeing the Essex V6 in this car, made me think that a factory turbo charged version available from Ford, for use in the Scimitar would have been quite a weapon, especially in 1972……

Fabulous. Does anyone know what year the galvanised chassis came in, for both GTE and GTC models ? This is a consideration, especially for road tax exemption purchases, which most buyers would naturally prefer.

Reasons for owning a Scimitar - Princess Anne had one... Reasons for not owning one - Princess Anne had one...

Great looking car, like the history behind it. Looks really fun to drive. I remember in our small village there was a GTC in the 80s, but like the GTE more. Great review Matt, enjoyed it!

basically the capri 3.0 running gear in a poor man interceptor lookalike 😂😂😂

MR Lloyd absolutely hates the Princess Anne reference 😅

I guess that the top of the range Ford Capri 3000E and 3000GT /Ghia would be competitors in terms of performance, accommodation and possibly even price. Some of those top Capris were pricey, in their day.

Absolutely love these. Sound great, drive great, surprisingly practical and not bank breaking to get hold of. Definitely need one some day

Oh dear. Missed the fact that the original engine that should've gone into Ogle's design was the Daimler 2.5 and the design was intended as repayment for the Daimler SP250. But was taken up by Reliant.

I have always lusted after the poor mans Interceptor, Unfortunately most of them have real problems with the gelcoat which from owning powerboats in the past I know from experience is prohibitively expensive to put right!

Last I heard, Princess Anne had nine of these rather than eight. Did one get lost somewhere around Sandringham or did Prince Philip accidentally drive it into The Wash? ALSØ: I've finally realised what the Mk3 VW Scirocco reminds me of, and it wasn't the Mk1 or Mk2...

Interesting Fairly forward thinking design. Glass only tailgate today? Toyota Aygo? Does that 6cyl engine overheat…side facing radiator. Under 9sec to 60mph…..that’s still decent today.

Ogle Mini is my dream car... After the DB4 Zagato... But there isn't much in it.

A friends dad had a scimitar with overdrive. He said the cars with overdrive used the transit gearbox and the gate between 2nd & 3rd was huge

I can't help but thinknig this would have been very much in character for Princess Anne back in the day. Would the Jensen Healey GT have been a competitor?

They weren't renowned for their reliability and a story used to do the rounds about a guy whose Scimitar self-immolated. When the Fire Brigade turned up to put out the fire, he said "Let the f****** burn"

Yes I did know that about Princess Anne. Back in the day, she overtook me in hers on the A46 between Cheltenham and Stroud. Did not hang about.

Word has it that Princess Anne used her Reliant Robin to nip down the High st shops wearing a stained chenille brunch coat and torn Hermes scarf to have a stout with plebs at the local pub.

The GTE still looks fantastic. This early example looks in great nick.

Many years ago when you had the 6 o’clock news on BBC1 it was followed by a regional news programme, which varied around the country , depending where you lived, ours was called Midlands Today, presented by Tom Coyne. I remember the news clip of Princess Anne picking up her Scimitar direct from the Two Gates, Tamworth factory, where they were made. Virtually the whole town turned out to welcome her. Your quite right , she stuck with the brand there after, she even wrote the Foreword in the excellent book, The Scimitar and it’s Forebears by Don Pither. Her Royal Highness currently has the last edition of this excellent motorcar, known as the Middlebridge, re introducing the model with up rated specifications including the latest fuel injected Ford V6 for the 1980s. Prince Edward also had a Scimitar GTC convertible

That whine is as a result of having a steel timing gear fitted, the original fibre item was silent.

Same small dials as the E-Type. Lovely car.

Lovely sounding Ford V6 in this

I think it is actually treason if you fail to mention that Princess Anne had one when you mention that car!

I don’t think anyone didn’t know. It was all over the news when she had a new one as she used to travel to Tamworth to pick it up.

Always liked the early Scimitars - and the Essex V6...

Isn’t there still a law on the statute books that requires all British people to say “Princess Anne had one of those” whenever this car is mentioned?

Ive always loved this. Quite practical for a sporty car and great look and soundtrack

Fantastic video, you look mega cool wearing the shorts, shades and hat. The GTE reminds me of the humble Allegro estate

Amazing looking example, those Smiths gauges look fantastic.

Wow, didn't know that about Anne.

3.0 Essex V6, the same engine used by Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

And there was no Reliant manufactured Scimitar GT ( ie Coupe ) convertible . Although at least one was converted into a convertible.

Had a short drive in one many years ago. Great fun, but felt a bit kit car ish. Adds to the charm though. Great video.

Maybe Princess Anne had a hairy chest too Matt 😂

Oh Matt cars of the good old days not the stuff out there today ...always good when easy to repair outside the house no complicated ECU fuel management etc ...👍

The leather adds a touch of class.

Did you know one of my teachers at secondary school had a Reliant Scimitar? One of the boys in my class put it up for sale in the local classifieds and said teacher went on to receive a number of unnecessary phone calls.