by Richard Harley

Created on: January 16, 2009

A great little sports car for not a lot of money. That pretty much sums up the Reliant Scimitar SS1 - a forgotten gem of late 80s British motoring. Originally designed by Michelotti, who's other works included a long list of Triumph sports cars, the SS1 was held in great acclaim by British motoring journalists at it's launch in 1984. Many called it the natural successor to the iconic TR range but only 1500 were made in various guises and they're now a rare sign on UK roads. Why?

Is it the car itself? I used a 1400cc model for 2 years as a daily driver. The 70bhp CVH engine was borrowed straight from Ford and mated to a 4 speed gearbox. The car weighs nothing, or in other words, about half as much as a similar BMW 5 series of the time. You wouldn't want to crash it - the doors feel structurally weak and build quality overall feels poor. Reliability wasn't the best - but you don't buy a 20 year old sports car for the reliability. The interior is basic. The dash was borrowed from a Metro of the era and the seats feel cheap too. The four speed gearbox has given up by 70mph and don't even think about holding a conversation over 60. The headlights popped up in a homage to Japanese styling but they often didn't pop down again. The leather roof has a clever design but is hard to maintain, especially on the join to the chassis, which often means holes in the wrong places leading to wind, rain or worse! I've eaten a snowflake that came through the roof hole above my head whilst driving this thing in winter. In a straight line the car isn't super fast either (0-60 around 11.5 seconds). But this isn't the point. And if your worried about all of the above, you're missing the point too.

It handled beautifully. Being lightweight and rear wheel drive meant plenty of fun on twisty B roads as well as the ability to take corners safely at higher speeds than your average front-wheel drive hatch. The 1400 didn't feel underpowered but extended motorway driving is probably best left to newer and comfier vehicles. Reliant did produce an 1800cc model too powered by a Nissan turbo lump which could propel the little fibreglass chassis and it's passenger to 60mph in 8 seconds. Top speed in later models was 130mph. However, the unreliability of the turbo's was notorious and they've nearly all died out. Steering on the SS1 is tight and accurate. You can really point the nose where you want to go and tuck into those tight corners before getting the power down on the way out. The boot has a

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