Reliant Sabre 4

Code Name (SE1) 

Reliant launched the new Sabre 4 at the Earls Court Motor Show in London in 1961.  The Reliant Sabre was a two seater open top sports car which was moulded in glass fibre.  The Sabre received a mixed reaction by the public and dealers alike due to the unusual elongated nose with boomerang style chrome over-riders.  

ABOVE: The Sabre 4 at Earls Court 1961

Under the bonnet the Sabre used the Ford Consul 375 engine, which was available with stage 1 and stage 2 tuning modifications (at extra cost) made by reputable tuners "Alexander Engineering".   Stage 1 was mildly tuned with a single-choke Zenith downdraft carburettor.  The compression ratio was 8.9 to 1 , as compared with 7.8 to 1 on the the standard consul engine.  At an extra cost of £52 & 10 shillings you could have a Stage 2 engine, which included twin SU carburettors, which would give more top end power and could make the Sabre achieve speeds over the magic 100 m.p.h.   

ABOVE: Stage 2 "Alexander" tuned engine

At first the Les Ballamy independent front suspension system seemed overcomplicated, but on the road it worked well and in conjunction with the rear Girling combined coil springs and shock absorbers, plus the modified live rear axle located by a Watts linkage the car was praised for its virtually roll free cornering at high speeds.

ABOVE: Les Ballamy Independent Front Suspension

Reliant entered the Sabre 4 in various rallies including the 1962 Tulip Rally, 1962 RAC Rally, 1963 Ilfracombe Rally and the 1963 Monte Carlo Rally with some success.   

Towards the end of the production Reliant introduced the fixed head version of the Sabre 4 and a new short nose version was also available after much criticism of the long nose cars.

At £1,128 the car was not the cheapest sports car, fundamentally the Sabre was safe, fun to drive and economical to run.   

ABOVE: The Sabre 4 Revised "short nose" version at the motorshow

ABOVE:  "Long Nose" Sabre 4

ABOVE:  "Short" Nose Sabre 4