Reliant Scimitar GTE: The Sporting Estate That Fooled Everyone
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It carried the shopping. It took the dog to the vet. It also did 120mph on the motorway and handled better than most sports cars of its era. The Reliant Scimitar GTE is one of those quietly brilliant British machines that never quite got the recognition it deserved — and that, paradoxically, is part of its enduring charm.
Princess Anne owned six of them. Six. That is not the purchasing habit of someone settling for adequate transport. That is devotion.
Origins and History
The story begins in Tamworth, Staffordshire, where Reliant had spent the 1950s building three-wheelers and gradually working its way up to proper four-wheeled sports cars. The Scimitar name arrived in 1964 with a handsome fastback coupe styled by Ogle Design, the same studio responsible for the SX1000 and various other clever British shapes.
But the GTE — Grand Touring Estate — was something genuinely new. Launched in 1968, it married a proper sports car platform to an estate body at a time when the concept barely existed. Reliant did not invent the sporting estate by accident. They saw a gap that no mainstream manufacturer had the courage to fill and drove straight through it.
The SE5, as that first GTE was designated, ran until 1975. The SE6 arrived with a wider, more refined body and remained in production all the way to 1986, by which point the GTE had become a genuine British institution.
The Design
Tom Karen at Ogle Design is the man responsible for that shape, and he got it exactly right. The GTE has a long bonnet, a steeply raked windscreen and a distinctive flying buttress arrangement around the rear tailgate — features that give it a genuinely muscular, purposeful stance. Nothing about it looks like a compromise.
The glassfibre body was both a practical necessity and a genuine advantage. Reliant could not afford the tooling costs for steel pressing, so fibreglass it was — which meant the GTE never rusted in the way that destroyed so many of its contemporaries. The bodywork ages gracefully rather than disintegrating, and that has done wonders for the survival rate of these cars.
Inside, the GTE was properly equipped for its era. Walnut trim, comfortable seats, a usable rear loadspace that could swallow a surprising amount of luggage. This was a car you could genuinely live with every day.
Performance and Driving
The engine under that long bonnet was Ford's 3.0-litre Essex V6, a unit that proved itself in everything from Transit vans to Capris. In the Scimitar it produced around 138 bhp and propelled the lightweight glassfibre body to 60mph in around eight seconds — respectable in 1968, genuinely quick by the standards of most cars on British roads.
The handling was the real revelation. With its independent front suspension and a properly sorted rear axle, the GTE turned in with accuracy and confidence. The power steering on later models lightened the effort without killing the feedback. Drive one on a decent B-road today and you will understand immediately why so many owners kept them for decades.
Fuel economy was never spectacular — the Essex V6 was thirsty — but the GTE rewarded commitment. This was a car that came alive when pushed, not one that merely transported you from one place to another.
Cultural Impact
Princess Anne's loyalty to the GTE made it genuinely famous in a way that no amount of advertising could have achieved. Her first arrived in 1970, and by the end of the decade she had owned multiple examples — sometimes being photographed by the press in ways that did the car's image no harm at all.
The GTE attracted a specific kind of buyer: practical people who refused to be boring, professionals who needed space but would not sacrifice driving pleasure, and enthusiasts who recognised something genuinely special hiding beneath the modest Reliant badge. It built a loyal following that persists to this day in the clubs and at the shows.
It also inspired a generation of British sporting estates, a segment that now includes everything from Audi RS Avants to Volvo V90 Cross Countrys. Reliant got there first, with considerably less money and considerably more ingenuity.
Buying a Reliant Scimitar GTE Today
Values have risen steadily over the past decade as collectors have woken up to what these cars represent. A sound, usable SE5 or SE6 can be found for between £8,000 and £15,000. Concours-condition examples and those with genuine provenance command more, sometimes considerably more.
The glassfibre body means bodywork corrosion is rarely the problem it would be on a steel-bodied contemporary. What you are looking for is chassis condition — check the steel chassis for rust, particularly around the outriggers and suspension mounting points. Inspect the floor and inner sills carefully.
The Essex V6 is tough and spares remain available, but check for oil leaks and listen for any timing chain noise. Gearbox issues are usually minor, and most mechanical components are shared with Ford, which keeps parts costs sensible. The Reliant Owners Club is an excellent resource for technical advice and parts sourcing — join before you buy.
Shop Reliant Scimitar GTE Art at KK Automotive Art
KK Automotive Art does not yet have a Reliant Scimitar GTE design in our collection. We are working on bringing this iconic car to our range — watch this space! In the meantime, explore our classic car phone cases, classic car mugs and limited edition prints.
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