Pantherman Posted June 2, 2020 Posted June 2, 2020 Having had to sell my Westie I am looking for something else and was wondering about a Scimitar ( at least its fibreglass ) anybody got / had one ? What do you think about them ? Quote
Alan France Posted June 2, 2020 Posted June 2, 2020 Princess Anne had one but I don’t have her phone number. Quote
Pantherman Posted June 2, 2020 Author Posted June 2, 2020 I heard her husband was looking for a coil for a 70's princess !! 3 Quote
DamperMan Posted June 2, 2020 Posted June 2, 2020 Owned one for years.. b******dised it with a bmw 2.5 straight 6, and XJS powerloc diff. The advise as for all classic cars is to get the best you can or the most original and expect to change it all. The original v6 sounds nice but is a bit thirsty and not powerful by today’s standards. There’s the issue of leaded fuel too. suspension is fairly good with triumph double wishbones at the front and a live axle 5 linked with watts linkage. main chassis are normally good but out riggers get rusty There’s various steel bits in the body which rust and swell. Like below the doors the sill may bulge out. the base of the roll over hoop to outer chassis tube goes. The seat belt anchors to the same spot. I never really had much electrical issues but most are caused by the extra earths needed as the body is fibre glass. It has the normal array of smiths gauges and Lucas on/flicker/off switches. They are good cars and still don’t command the value they should compared to other classics. And in there lies the issue... A lot of classics it’s worth spending money on them. On these it’s not and there fore they are often neglected. Spare part availability is generally good. i really enjoyed mine. 3 1 Quote
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted June 2, 2020 Posted June 2, 2020 It’s never a great recommendation when the photo seems to show a wire from under the bonnet, disappearing back, over the bonnet and in the drivers window, nor when the car looks oddly like it may be on a tow rope! Always loved the old Scimitars though. It did them no favours having the Reliant badge, either. Quote
Pantherman Posted June 3, 2020 Author Posted June 3, 2020 Yes buy the best you can is good advice, an alternative at the moment is a very nice TVR Tasmin 390 se ! Not sure what I want any suggestions welcome. Quote
corsechris Posted June 3, 2020 Posted June 3, 2020 A Marcos Mantula fits the bill of a badly assembled conglomeration of 70’s parts on a rusty chassis topped with fiberglass! 2 Quote
jeff oakley Posted June 3, 2020 Posted June 3, 2020 In their day they were a great car and even today the early ones still look fresh. Just looking at the picture above shows they really are pretty. These days there are a lot that have been modified, the Jag V6 is gaining popularity as the essex V6 is heavy, very thirsty and di have a tendancy to overheat as the spare wheel was just behind the radiator. I keep looking at them as a practical car to use after I retire, with some style. 1 Quote
DamperMan Posted June 3, 2020 Posted June 3, 2020 13 hours ago, Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Secretary said: It’s never a great recommendation when the photo seems to show a wire from under the bonnet, disappearing back, over the bonnet and in the drivers window, nor when the car looks oddly like it may be on a tow rope! Always loved the old Scimitars though. It did them no favours having the Reliant badge, either. The photo was as the new owner took it away on an ‘A’ frame and with a light board over the roof. That year I’d driven 300 miles and it had failed it’s mOT.. easy fixes but it was going to take more than 300 miles worth of time to fix... It was a sad day but it’s sale created a Westfield sized hole in my heart.. 3 Quote
Blatman Posted June 3, 2020 Posted June 3, 2020 7 hours ago, corsechris said: A Marcos Mantula fits the bill of a badly assembled conglomeration of 70’s parts on a rusty chassis topped with fiberglass! Describes quite a lot of TVR's too... Quote
corsechris Posted June 3, 2020 Posted June 3, 2020 18 minutes ago, Blatman said: Describes quite a lot of TVR's too... There was a TVR dealer near where I used to live and I'd spend off-shift days round there helping out with stuff from time to time. The amount of random bits of 2" x 2" timber stuffed up under the dash on some of the TVR's was a bit of a surprise. They always looked great, but not very well put together. This was Griffith era stuff. They raced a couple of Tuscans and did pretty well with them. Our Marcos had the entire dash structure made from plywood, but it was reasonably well put together. Can't say the same for the suspension geometry - they completely messed up copying the Triumph front setup, and the live axle with leading links was bl**** awful. Every bump was like pushing a wheelbarrow up a kerb, and the angles gave it shocking rear-end bump steer, although to be fair, it was matched by the equally bad front end bump steer. Quote
Man On The Clapham Omnibus Posted June 3, 2020 Posted June 3, 2020 2 hours ago, Pantherman said: Even a few Westies !! Oi! My chassis isn't rusty! Quote
Blatman Posted June 3, 2020 Posted June 3, 2020 4 hours ago, Man On The Clapham Omnibus said: Oi! My chassis isn't rusty! That's because it's covered in oil... Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.