GTE CELEBRATES 50
This club event marked the GTE’s golden anniversary, with plenty of owners taking part
Although the most famous owner of a Reliant Scimitar didn’t attend the 50th anniversary celebration of the GTE model, visitors were treated to the next best thing – one of HRH Princess Anne’s former cars.
The Princess owned the car from 1978 for three years, during which time it had a horse mascot on the bonnet. The car then went back to Reliant, and was sold on.
GTE owner Geoff Newcombe bought the car, which has travelled just over 40,000 miles, in 2000. ‘We understand that the Princess has owned eight Scimitars and still has her Middlebridge-built example.’ She was reunited with the car Geoff now owns during an event at Gatcombe Park, and remembers it well.
Brides like to choose the colour of their wedding dress but in Samantha King’s case things were different. ‘I like vivid-coloured cars,’ she explained. Indeed. Samantha’s beloved light blue Scimitar SS1 was transformed into luminous orange. Father-in-law Jim King was responsible. Jim’s son David, now Samantha’s husband following their wedding by a lake in the New Forest earlier this month, said: ‘The car certainly looks different.’
David and Samantha actually met at Scimfest in 1996. ‘We were six at the time,’ Samantha explained.
Scimfest 2018, organised by the Reliant Sabre and Scimitar Owners’ Club, included a 50th birthday photoshoot for GTEs on the Curborough Sprint Circuit in Staffordshire, the venue for the event.
Cars tackled the Sprint circuit during the 50th celebrations, which included a return to the track after a decade or so for Bev Fawke’s legendary Ford 450bhp GAA V6 Cosworth-powered Scimitar GTE, Blue Thunder.
Scimitars of all types, Bond Equipes and other classics formed a line-up of more than 100 cars. Winning the concours was an SS1 owned by Barbara Ganney. Club events manager Kevin Osbourne (and owner of the GTE which was the subject of our 5 Trials) said: ‘It’s been a great day and a fitting 50th tribute to the GTE!