It's one of the most tired clichés in the classic car world. Few vehicles have a famous owner that looms as large in its popular memory as the Reliant Scimitar GTE and Princess Anne. But this isn't a Reliant. Her final Scimitar, a car the Princess owned from new until 2023, is one of the 79 built, after considerable improvement, by Middlebridge Scimitar Ltd. It is surely the ultimate.
In truth, the House of Windsor's connection to the Scimitar starts before Anne and the GTE. Ogle Design and Pilkington Glass collaborated to build the one-off Scimitar GTS for the 1965 Earls Court motor show, adding a rounded glass shooting-brake-style rear to the existing coupé. After its trip down to the Turin Salon later the same year, Prince Philip borrowed the prototype as his personal car for two years - at exactly the same time as a young Princess Anne was coming of age. When asked which car she'd like as her 20th-birthday present, a Scimitar sports estate was the reply.
By the time the GTE arrived as a production model in 1968, that Triplex safety-glass top had disappeared. Ogle design chief Tom Karen. instead penned a long, flat roof that kicked up at the back for a lift-up rear window. Excluding the odd coachbuilt shooting brake, this was the first sporting estate car with a hatchback. The Scimitar GTE quietly created a successful niche for itself, so much so that the coupé on which it was based was discontinued in 1970. Other manufacturers eventually came to compete in the space, with the Volvo 1800ES, Lotus Elite, Lancia Beta HPE and Jensen GT, but it's the Scimitar GTE that remains the most famous example of the genre.
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RAY HILLIER
Double-chevron oddity proves a break from the norm for this Crewe specialist
SHORT BACK & GLIDES
Eccentric enthusiast Captain RG McLeod's series of Manx-tailed Bentley Specials reached its zenith with this unique S2 Continental.
People's choice
The diminutive but multi-million-selling Fiat 850 packed a remarkable diversity of form and function into its compact footprint
PLASTIC BREAKS FROM THE NORM
Glassfibre revolutionised niche car-body production, but just occasionally strayed into the mainstream.
A SENSIBLE SUPERCAR
The cleverly conceived four-seater Elite secured Lotus a place at the big players' table, but has it been unfairly maligned since then?
"I had a habit of grabbing second place from the jaws of victory"
From dreams of yachting glory to the Le Mans podium, via a stint at the top of the motorsport tree, Howden Ganley had quite the career
Still going strong
Herbert Engineering staked its reputation on the five-year warranty that came with its cars. A century on, this Two Litre hasn't made a claim
One for the kids
General Motors was aiming squarely at the youth market with the launch of the Pontiac GTO 60 years ago, and its runaway success popularised the muscle-car movement
A NEW BREED OF HERO
Launched at the turn of the millennium, the GT3 badge has already earned a place alongside RS, CS and turbo in Porsche lore.
Brits with SIX appeal
The straight-six engine is synonymous with a decades-long legacy of great British sports cars. Six variations on the sextet theme convene for comparison
