The hunt for my first classic started with an obsession for Volvo Amazons. Since then, Iʼve been darting from a Porsche 924 to an Austin A30, via a Honda Beat kei car. But then an interest in Reliant Scimitars began to brew, after reading a C&SC feature (April 2016) about its designer, Tom Karen. Then my dad told me about one for sale in an industrial estate in Worthing, near where he works.
Finished in Ford Tawny Brown, inside it was more of the same, with coffee velour seats up front. Not an original option, I believe, but neither was the Alpine subwoofer in the boot. Flicking through Our classics, I realised there were already two brown cars on the fleet: Damonʼs Volkswagen Type 3 and Aaronʼs now-departed Opel Monza. While most of the team seemed to think this was plenty, I was determined to keep the numbers up. Three weeks later, I was driving my brown 1976 GTE home to Portsmouth.
Two untroubled trips – one to Swindon for an upcoming C&SC story and another to the Festival of the Unexceptional – presented good opportunities to understand the carʼs idiosyncrasies and boost my confidence behind the wheel. It also gave an early but entirely false impression that a Britishbuilt classic could be reliable.
In an effort to get my mum on board with the idea of classic car ownership, I suggested a family trip to Hayling Island for a fish-and-chip dinner. The four of us all bundled into the Scimitar and set off on our merry way, but halfway to the beach we lost power and spluttered into a pub car park. Mum was sitting in the back, so I couldnʼt see her death stare. I could feel it, though.
Fortunately, I met Bo and Verity Hare, of Who Hares Wins (The specialist, April 2015), dining at the pub and they offered a hand. The problem was down to a ropey condenser, and with some help from the RAC it was running again the following day – but I still owe Mum a trip to the beach.
Back at home, and thanks to this summerʼs unseasonably wet weather, I noticed a crack around the door sill, causing soggy carpet near to the passenger-side door. Looking for solutions, it turned out that living near the coast means the glassfibre-bodied Scimitar is well catered for, thanks to an abundance of boat-repair workshops. The friendly folk at Portsmouth Fibreglass Centre provided everything I needed to patch up the damage, which Iʼll attempt in the coming weeks.
Some more trouble-free driv
