Welcome to the home of Reliant Scimitar SS1s in Australia.
The much maligned Reliant Scimitar SS1 - The best little sports car ever made.
Hopefully this website will enlighten you on one of the eighties forgotten gems - the Reliant Scimitar SS1. Be quick though, there aren't many left.
"The equation was simple - the car had to be: *convertible *very quick *easy to maintain *very cheap *rear wheel drive *English.
Well, the last one was optional, but as I am English it would be a patriotic choice. Even the first five criteria would reduce the field to basically one choice - the Reliant Scimtar SS1 - in ti1800 Turbo guise of course.
The outcome was not entirely surprising. Back in 2000 I bought an MX5 1.8i and added a Sebring supercharger, which produced a civilised but not exactly breathtaking sportscar. Meanwhile a friend of mine had acquired a SS1 ti1800, which seemed a bit of a joke at the time. The joke however was on me. The little SS1 could leave the supercharged MX5 for dead and after a quick test drive I found the missing breathtaking factor was alive and kicking in the SS1. The SS1 is a rare care too - only 1500 built and just 400 ti1800 turbo models produced. MX5s are probably close on 2 million produced and counting - not exactly unique.
If you want a seriously quick and fun car this is IT !!
The SS1 has tuning potential too. The factory 1800 turbo Nissan engine is easily swapped for the potent twin cam 16 valve Nissan CA18DET engine, as used in the 180SX, 200SX, Silvia and EXAs as well as the US market 240sx. This, together with a GT28 turbo, can easily put 250bhp (and a lot more) under the bonnet of the 850kg flyweight"
|