​Scimitars e Cimitarra
1986 Reliant Scimitar SS1 1600
The motivation behind possibly purchasing a small sports in 1989 was based on it being a newer car, hopefully with less that might go wrong and I wanted to have just one car, principally for speed events. I had tired of concours competition, so CAN was not getting much use and the yellow V6 had never been intended as a long term prospect, so with both coupes sold, the way was clear to look for an SS1. The first and only car I looked at, for sale at Rickmansworth Sportscars, was the one I purchased. It came complete with a hardtop and leather interior and was clean, tidy and devoid of any faults. Within a few weeks of ownership I took part in a sprint at Brands Hatch. This was a unique opportunity, as the Hampton & Harrow Car Club used to host the only sprint meeting held each year at the Kent circuit. The event comprised two laps of the Indy circuit and was brilliant to drive, although I soon found that the limited power from the 1600 engine was going to be a challenge in the up to two litre class. The image below left was taken on the exit of Druids.
The first few events were all done without carrying out any improvements to the car, other than compliance with the regulations that prevailed at the time. These were pretty rudimentary and certainly nowhere near what I imagine they are now. One of the first improvements was to get some bigger wheels with decent tyres. I still had the unused Revolutions that I'd bought for CAN and with these having expensive knock-off centres I managed to do a straight trade for a new set for the SS1. A little realignment of the inner rear wheel arches and these were good to go. A seat change was also a must in order to try and get a little lower and further back. A Sparco seat improved matters but was still far from perfect. Why couldn't they have designed these cars for anyone over 5ft 6in? By this time I'd also fitted a rear spoiler and diffuser, which might have looked nice but I doubt provided any benefit and Janspeed in Salisbury had also fitted a new exhaust sytem.
I was very fortunate in having a boss with a keen interest in motorsport, who was more than happy for me to claim all of my entry fees on expenses. This was on the basis of sticking a little advertising on the car, although I doubt very much that the firm benefited from this in any way! The images on the left show the car just after being sign written. It might have been more meaningful if we'd elected to use Pipercross decals, as they were also in our group of companies and were later to provide me with free air filtration!
I did a total of 19 events during 1989, which included Ragley Hall, Goodwood (7 events), Curborough (2 events), Lydden Hill (2 events), North Weald (4 events), Valence, West Malling and Brands Hatch, as previously mentioned. This netted me a class award in the BARC London & Home Counties Championship, which was really a second, as the class winner won the overall championship and wasn't allowed to win both.
April 1989 Goodwood
May 1989 Lydden Hill
July 1989 Valence
September 1989 Lydden Hill
At some point towards the end of the year, or early 1990, the car went to Robin Rew's establishment at Silverstone, to have various mods carried out, including a camshaft change, gas flowed head, twin 40DCNF's, Spax adjustables and an oil cooler. This was all done, I was given to understand, at a reduced price and in return I placed a bit of Robin Rew advertising on the car. Despite all these improvements the car never felt much quicker and I well remember that pick up out of slow corners was pretty hopeless.
October 1990 Goodwood
September 1991 Rotherfield Park
The 1990 season was not quite as busy as '89 had been, with just 10 events, taking in Ragley Hall, Goodwood, Gurston Down, Curborough, North Weald, West Malling, Debden, Ocean Village and Rotherfield Park. The last two being intersting additions to the calender. The Ocean Village sprint was probably a one off, I can't remember if it was held the following years. This was around unfinished roads, with very high kerbs, so care had to be taken on the corners.
Rotherfield Park, on the other hand, was a lovely setting with the hill gradually rising from the paddock at the bottom, via a little stone bridge to the country house at the top. I took a photograph (see here) in the paddock of my car, along with Shaun Byrne's coupe and Dave Phillips SE6, under an oak tree, which was used on the cover of Slice 119.
Due to family pressures 1991 turned out to be my last year competing. I did just two events, with the last being at Rotherfield Park. The advertising already stripped from the car ready for sale and the hardtop removed in order to demonstrate the advantages of open air motoring.
My heart wasn't in it anymore and my time at Rotherfield was 2 seconds off what I'd achieved the previous year. The SS1 was put up for sale and with a buyer quickly found, my days of both Scimitar ownership and competitive speed events had come to an end. Scroll forward 25 years and here I am again with another SS1!
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Postscript:
Not long before selling the car I acquired a personal registration A12 JEC, which was fitted at the time of selling. Checking the Gov.UK MoT History site under both registration numbers, C999 YCR and A12 JEC, has drawn a blank.
In March 2023 I was contacted by Jim KIng, who keeps a record of all SS1's. He said that amongst his records he had a copy of an Irish registration certificate for the car and that it was exported with the registration number C150 LBH. Looking at this it would appear that the car was exported in Sept 1997. Jim also had a copy of an advertisement for the car that appeared on a website called donedeal.co.uk in 2021. At this time the car was in Gorey, Wexford.
The advertisement was as follows:
1985 Reliant Scimitar. Very sporty vintage car. Non runner. Refurbishment project. 50k genuine mileage on clock. Comprehensive folder on the cars history to date. Bodywork is very straight. Fibregalss body. Needs to be seen to be appreciated. Soft top available in boot. 1600cc engine. Loads of power. Reasonable offers only please. No time wasters. No texts. No messages. Please phone Des on 0872560834 to discuss. Happy to answer any questions....