Found for sale: An awkward-looking rare British sports car with a Nissan Silvia engine!

"Jim Spanfeller" (awesomeaustinv) 03/12/2020 at 14:01 • Filed to: car you've never heard of

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This is a 1988 Reliant Scimitar. These were a bit of a sales disaster when new, with only 2,500 leaving the factory, and it’s not hard to see why. Although the styling was initially penned by Giovanni Michelotti, he died before the design was finished, and whoever finished the design for him... Well, they made it look like this. It was already doomed to look a bit funky, as they cut costs wherever possible by using parts from various manufacturers’ parts bins. The interior was also a mess, featuring all the cheap grey plastic no one asked for.

However, it wasn’t all bad. The chassis was designed by Lotus, which gave it good handling. And about 50 of them were built with the same turbocharged engine as the Nissan Silvia, which could propel it to almost 130 mph. Also, this one has a 5-speed manual. With the regular Ford 4-cylinder, performance was not great, but the ones with the Nissan engine are said to be not bad at all. And luckily, this is one of the Silvia-engined cars !

It’s also claimed to be possibly the only one in America. This one can be found here, and can be yours for... $14,500. Oof. The price may be a bit much, but I honestly kinda like this thing. The interesting but awkward styling combined with decent performance make this a bit of an underdog car, and it’s always fun to root for underdogs. I bet this would be a fun car to drive on weekends and confuse people at car shows with.

You can find it on Craigslist here:

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HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Jim Spanfeller 03/12/2020 at 14:31

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I’d gladly pay up to 1400 bucks for that

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Jim Spanfeller 03/12/2020 at 14:37

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The problem with that car is the driver is on the incorrect car.

Jim Spanfeller > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 03/12/2020 at 14:41

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Same. 

Jim Spanfeller > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 03/12/2020 at 14:47

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Silvia is probably a safer bet... I still like this one, though . It’s weird, but interesting.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Jim Spanfeller 03/12/2020 at 15:07

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Princess Anne had one of those, you know.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Jim Spanfeller 03/12/2020 at 15:28

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The problem is that that is the wrong Scimitar

Jim Spanfeller > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 03/12/2020 at 15:44

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Yeah, I’d rather have the shooting brake too. Those are nice. I still find the S ilvia-engined Lotus-chassis’d one interesting, though.

SpeedSix > Jim Spanfeller 03/12/2020 at 15:52

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Jason Torchinsky has one of those, which he never posts about.

Jim Spanfeller > SpeedSix 03/12/2020 at 15:54

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I remember that... Wish he would get it running again, it’s too cool to be left sitting.

Edgyhal94 > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 03/13/2020 at 06:13

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I want a later one, they look so good and aren’t really that expensive right now. My mum had one before I was born, so my brother got to get driven around in that, I had to deal with a Renault Clio diesel (non turbo for extra slow). I’m basically owed one in my twisted logic.

I can’t believe the company which gave us the Robin three wheel also have us this. It’s fantastic looking.