The Reliant Scimitar GT Coupe was based on an Ogle Designed vehicle that displayed much of Reliant’s new design philosifies.The car was based on the Daimler SP250, which was first shown at the 1962 Motor Show.The Daimler SP250 had many similarities to the other Reliant sports car of the time - namely the Sabre6. It was not just the Fibreglass body, but the chassis, suspension and wheel base which were very close indeed to this car. Reliant was looking for a successor to the Sabre6 whose sales were beginning to decline, so modifications to the SP250’s rear roof line, rear seating , doors and rear wheel arches enabled the Ogle Daimler body to be accommodated on a modified chassis of a Sabre6.

The original Daimler V8 engine found in the SP250 was not used, instead a straight six 2.6 litre Ford unit as used in the Ford Zephyr/Zodiac was used and many were tuned by Reliant to produce over 120BHP as opposed to the standard Ford engine which produced around 88BHP. This engine was found to be ideal for Reliant’s new Grand Tourer.

1962 Ogle SP 250

This new car was then produced by Reliant and was codenamed the SE4 (Coupe’) , and was introduced at the 1964 Earls Court Motorshow. The car featured an OGLE designed glassfibre body,and was mounted on a sturdy chassis.It included a wood veneer dashboard, wire wheels , triple SU carburettors and seat belts for the price then of £1292.00.

After 2 years, and a production run of 297 cars this engine was superseded with a more compact, more powerful Ford V6 3-litre unit , which was to produce around 140BHP. This necessitated the SE4 chassis to be modified to accommodate this new power unit. Road holding and handling was also improved by other alterations to the chassis which accommodated a revised front suspension setup, and the new car was then called the SE4a . Once fitted with the 3 litre V6 engine , the SE4 had a better performance than many of its rivals such as the MGC, Austin Healey 3000 and TR4.

The interior was also then changed to all black (apart from the headlining), and this version of the car was called the SE4b. In 1967 the Sinei Desert War caused a rise in petrol prices, so Ford developed a 2.5Litre V6 engine which was offered in the Scimitar Coupe (as it was becoming to be called), and this model was code-named the SE4c.

Production ceased in 1970 after 590 - 3Litre and 118 - 2.5Litre cars had been produced. The only Coupe models to be seen after that date was two cars that had SE5 GTE alterations to modernise the body shell, but this modified version of the car was never commercially produced.