Description
1972 Reliant Scimitar GTE SE5A, manual overdrive.
Low owner car (6) in Highland purple. Tax and MOT exempt. Matching numbers (like that matters). Used most weekends
The car has some history. The previous owner unfortunately, could not locate some of the paperwork from the person he bought it from (who had done a lot of work to it), including a rebuilt engine and replacement chassis. Whilst I can't verify that on paper, simply look underneath the car and it speaks for itself - just like the way it drives which is really good! The previous owner purchased a Dolomite Sprint front air dam which really sets the front end off nicely.
Engine:
It runs well, but does have trouble firing into life occasionally along with staying on when cold - the revs will drop and it’ll cut out. Good oil pressure. No loss of oil or water. Runs really sweet. Lots of power. Electric fan with manual override. No overheating - even in the middle of summer in traffic.
Recently had a new full stainless exhaust system fitted. I was told it was bored to 3. 1 but l can't verify this but by the way it drives, I would not argue with that. Seems to have high compression and is very eager to get down the road.
In my ownership I have replaced the clutch slaved cylinder, the servo, new alternator, the timing gear was replaced with the better alloy one as the nylon one went (fortunately when the car was trying to start, so didn’t mess up the internals), new stainless exhaust as mentioned earlier, new front bushes, new fuel pipe and oil temp gauge pipe, had the carb rebuilt and had the wiring/ fuss box looked at and part rewired as the headlights kept failing.
The last owner replaced the fuel pump, fuel hoses, distributor, Accuspark leads, electronic ignition, new ignition switch, starter motor solenoid, new speedo cable, (speedo broke straight after that was fitted)! Engine bay nice and clean.
Gearbox:
Manual overdrive. Goes into gear very smoothly and overdrive works as it should. Clutch smooth and operates well.
Drivetrain:
No knocks, bangs or whines. The back axle is silent (find me a scimitar that isn't noisy)! Drives true and straight and feels really tight and is very eager to get down the road.
Suspension:
Partly rebuilt with new track rod ends, top joints and bushes by the previous owner. New steering rack gators.
Very light to steer and feels really positive.
Wolfrace wheels X5 in good condition (would benefit from being polished). Matched tires X4
Things the car would benefit from:
Mechanically:
The car occasionally has trouble starting, but after a few attempts it will fire into life. Doesn’t love being started on a hill. There’s some sort of issue with either the starter motor or the solenoid. The car misfires sometimes when going down a hill and has occasionally cut out when going down a hill. The speedo has never worked in my ownership (since January 2024), was told by the previous owner that it stopped working just before he listed it for sale. The rev counter will get stuck too or sometimes not work at all, unless given a tap.
Exterior:
Ideally the car needs a respray. It has lost some of the shine and the photos give an indication of what needs doing. Shine could be brought out with a good polish but to get it looking great, it will need a respray. I had it polished up last summer but after a month of sitting outside, the paint had faded again. The paint has started to peel away in on the drivers door sill.
Vinyl roof needs renewing. As you can see from the photos, it’s been patched in with a mix of vinyl cut offs and gorilla tape.
Interior:
Seals around the quarter lights need replacing. Interior a bit tatty. Rip in the drivers seat. I recently fitted some new door cards as the others had started to split. The carpets were torn and shot when I bought them, haven’t had time to strip the car out and lay new ones, so cut out what was bad and put generic floor mats down.
The headlining isn’t great, it doesn’t sag much but is mouldy.
It seems that looking at the ads, you get restored cars which deservedly, are really beginning to creep up in value, and others that look like they've been dragged through a lake.
This car is in between and a good usable example with many excellent points. There are a few things that let it down but with the right owner, this could be made into a really cracking car. All the fundamental bits are good. The clock tells the right time twice a day.
It’s a hard sale, I never thought I’d sell this car but other commitments have arisen and an opportunity to buy a different classic has come up. I’ve had a ton of great times in/ with this car.
As you can see, I have done a lot of work on the car and fundamentally, there are many more good points than bad. It just needs to be taken to the next stage and I am just not in the position to do that so I would like to see it go to a good home.
Viewings welcome.
