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Reliant Motorsport History For over 45 years Reliant cars have been entered in many grueling rallies, road tests, hillclimbs and are still very popular in all types of motorsport today! It all started back in March 1962 when Peter Easton suggested to the managing director of the Reliant Motor Company "Raymond Wiggin" that he should enter a Reliant Sabre into the Tulip Rally which was fast approaching. Remarkably within a few days Ray Wiggin had made the necessary arrangements for a Reliant Sabre to be prepared and entered into the world of rallying! Their main aim was enter the car into the rally was for research, testing and publicity.
Above: 15 CUE with later short nosed bonnet fitted for the RAC Rally of November 1962 A prototype fixed head Sabre 4 was chosen to enter the modified with a 1962 Tulip Rally. The fixed head Sabre was known as the Sabre GT ( not to be confused with a hardtop version of the normal open top Sabre 4). The car was registered 15 CUE and had a curious round rear window (which were later changed on the production versions, along with square rear wheel arches). The Sabre was standard other than a stage 2 Alexander tuned 1.7 litre Ford Consul engine (which was already an optional extra for the road version) and the interior was fitted out with the necessary rally instrumentation which included a Halda trip meter, stop watches, map reading lights and an extra oil temp gauge. Ray Wiggin approached his trade sales manager ' Arthur Rusling' and asked him to manage the new competition department. Arthur happily agreed and soon they entered their works Reliant Sabre in the Tulip Rally (May 1962). Arthur volunteered to be Peter Easton's co-driver. Arthur had previous experience in rallies and knew the Sabre inside out. Arthur also spent time running the new car in before the rally Although the car performed quite well, there was plenty of room for improvement, but sadly Peter Easton picked up a stomach bug and had to stop numerous times, due to sickness and they retired from the rally. Although their rally had finished, Peter was able to recover after 24 hours he and Arthur got special permission to complete the stages to prove the Sabre could make it to the finish. In 1963 Reliant used their new 2.6 litre Sabre Six cars in the Alpine Rally. Bobby Parkes and Gerry Cooper were in car 649 GUE and the famous Roger Clark was given his first ever factory drive along with navigator Bob Aston in car 650 GUE. They managed 1st and 2nd place after the Austin Healey 3000 works cars both retired.
It was in 1964 on the Monte Carlo Rally when Bobby Parkes and Arthur Senior found out how strong the Sabre design was after their car left the road at high speed and ended up rolling 80 ft down the mountainside before coming to rest nose first on the road below. Both driver and navigator miraculously escaped major injury and managed to walk away with just minor cut and bruises. There were various magazine articles about the incident, saying that the Reliant Sabre landed in a cloud of glass fibre on the road below. This prompted an angry Ray Wiggin to write a letter to the " Sporting Motorist" magazine in May 1964. The letter reads: The Sabre Six did leave the road on the Turini special stage as a result of a burst tyre, but to refer to "a cloud of glass fibre" is very unfair. I am enclosing 2 photographs which show very clearly that the vehicle survived this tremendous crash very well indeed and proved, once again, the extreme toughness of properly moulded glass fibre. Obviously, any car which rolls nearly 80 feet down a scree slope, and lands nose first on a road, can be expected to suffer a good deal of material damage. In this case, the Reliant withstood the terrible impact remarkably well, and Bobby Parkes and Arthur Senior walked away from the wreck with bruises. There is no doubt that the crew of the Sabre Six owe their lives, in the main, to the construction of the coachwork. The body, incidentally, was virtually a normal production example. I appreciate that in the rush of reporting international rallies inaccuracies can slip through, but I hope that after the study of the photographs, and bearing in mind Reliant's second to none experience of glass fibre construction, you will agree that your comment was a slight on Reliant and glass fibre manufacturers generally. As a matter of interest, you may have already noticed that among many press comments praising the way in which Reliant stood up to the battering, were some remarks expressing horror at what might have happened to a steel bodied vehicle in similar circumstances. Signed R. W. Wiggin, Managing Director of Reliant Motor Co. Ltd, Tamworth, Staffordshire.
The car was beyond economical repair and was written off, but all the other works cars are still around today and some of them are still very competitive on various rallies/Hillclimbs!
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| The Works Cars: |
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Reliant Sabre 4 GT Registration Number: 15 CUE Competed at 1962 Tulip Rally.
Above: Peter Easton next to the Reliant Sabre GT.
Above: Arthur Rusling & Peter Easton having to wait a a level crossing during the Rally (Note the round rear window and square rear wheel arches).
Above: The rally prepared interior.
Above: Arthur Rusling & Peter Easton at the start of the Tulip Rally in May 1962.
Above: The Sabre has a new shortened bonnet fitted. Jimmy Ray & John Hopwood finish 38th place in the RAC Rally in November 1962
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Reliant Sabre 4: Registration Number: 6 EUE Competed at 1962 RAC Rally, 1963 RAC Rally. 
Above: Derrick Astle and Peter Roberts shortly retired from the November 1962 RAC Rally after rear axle broke.
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Reliant Sabre 4: Registration Number: 7 EUE Competed at 
Above: Tony Fisher & David Skeffington finished 92nd overall after a church jumped out in front of them and damaged their lights!!
Above: Ken Trickett and his ex works Sabre 4. Ken looks very proud after restoring the car after many years off the road. Well done Ken, it looks great!
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Reliant Sabre 4: Registration Number: 42 ENX Competed at 1962 RAC Rally, 1963 Monte Carlo Rally, 1963 Circuit of Ireland, 1963 RAC Rally, 1964 Welsh Rally, 1982 RAC Golden Fifty, 1983 Coronation Rally, 1985 Welsh Rally Demonstrations, 1985 Coronation Rally, 2001 Rally of the Tests, 2002 Rally of the Tests.
Above: 42 ENX, started off as a Sabre 4 open top roadster, seen here on the tail of the works Le Mans Harrington Alpine on the 1962 RAC Rally.
Above: Reliant later fitted the GT body. Leslie Griffiths waiting for the next stage of the 1963 RAC Rally.
Above: Unfortunately, they crashed while in 3rd in class, and finally had to retire, with that than an hour away from the finish line!
Above: John Valler and Geoff Cooper take flight in the Ex-works Sabre 4 on the Coronation Rally in the early eighties.
Above: During the Coronation Rally in 1985, John Valler and Geoff Cooper have a major incident after landing nose first from a jump, which forces the car to veer off into another stranded Lotus Elan!! The car was rebuilt in 2001.
Above: John Valler and Geoff Cooper competed in the 50th Anniversary of the RAC Rally, which was celebrated in great style with the Rally of the Tests revival-rally in 2001
Above: 42 ENX on the famous set of "Heartbeat"
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Reliant Sabre 6: Registration Number: 648 GUE Competed at 1963 Coupe des Alpes, 1963 Spa-Sofia-Liege, 1964 Welsh International Rally.
Above: Raymond Baxtor and Douglas Wilson-Spratt driving their Sabre 6 on the Spa-Sofia-Liege Rally of August 1963.
Above: Bobby Parkes and Peter Roberts at the beginning of the Loton Park stage on Welsh International Rally in 1964.
Above: 1966 Dyrham Park - Bob Marsland driving the Sabre
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Reliant Sabre 6: Registration Number: 649 GUE Competed at 1963 Coupes des Alpes, 1963 Spa-Sofia-Liege, 1963 RAC Rally, 1964 Monte Carlo Rally.
Above: Bobby Parkes and Gerry Cooper on the 1963 Coupe des Alpes Rally
Above: Bobby Parkes (with the baseball cap) deep in thought before on of the stages on the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally
Above: Bobby looking for his keys??
Above: Bobby and Arthur leaving Reims
Above: Bobby Parkes & Arthur Senior enjoying the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally before their massive accident
Above: After rolling down an 80 foot hillside and hitting the road nose first below, Bobby and Arthur walked away with minor cuts and bruises. A credit to Reliants' build quality
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Reliant Sabre 6: Registration Number: 650 GUE Competed at 1963 Coupes des Alpes, 1963 Spa-Sofia-Liege, 1963 RAC Rally, 1964 Monte Carlo Rally.
Above: Roger Clark and Bob Aston on the 1963 Alpine Rally
Above: Peter Roberts and Graham Warner leading Bobby Parkes and Arthur Senior on the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally
Above: Graham Warner and Peter Roberts enjoying a rest after surviving the Monte Carlo Rally in January 1964
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| Reliant Sabre
6 Registration Number: 876 HWD 
Above: Reliant built this special Sprint Sabre Six originally to enter the 1963 Le Mans, but they couldn't get an entry as it was over subscribed, so instead the car was used for Hillclimbs/Sprints and driven by Bobby Parkes, Bob Marsland and Tony Marsh amongst others.
Above: With a tuned Ford Zephyr engine 6 cylinder engine, fitted with Raymond Mays heads and triple 45 DCOE Webber carbs, this car would do 0 - 60 in 6.1 seconds in 1964!!
Above: Various shots of 876 HWD in the hands of Bob Marsland, Tony Marsh and Robin Rew (note the various paint jobs and bonnets!)
Above: The car was lowered and had experimental independent rear suspension with double wishbones and adjustable bottom links. Note the lowered and widened rear wings to house the IRS and wider track.
Above: In 2006 with a new lick of paint, back to its original colour, Dave Womack's one of a kind Sabre 6 sprint HWD 876 looks superb! Thanks to Dave Womack for these photographs.
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| The Privateers |
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Reliant Sabre 6: Registration Number: WGV 287 This car was a actually a Reliant Dealers Car. Competed at 1963 RAC Rally, 1964 Monte Carlo Rally. 
 Above: Garage Owner Graham P Warner, Steering Wheel Garage in Bury St.Edmonds, joined John Spiers for the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally.
Above: In 2007 WGV 287 was totally restored by its current owner. It's fantastic to see the car looking soooo good!!!
Above: WGV 287 came up for sale in 2009 and ended up in the Germany.
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Reliant Sabre 6: Registration Number: 660 XYB This Sabre was a Reliant Dealers Car; Alexandre Motors of
Sanford.
Above:
Official photos of Alex Griffiths & Stuart Turner on the
1965 Monte Carlo Rally.
Above:
Alex Griffiths & Stuart Turner enjoying the rally.
Above:
Alex & Stuart pulling into the checkpoint at Saint Flour,
Auverngne.
Above: The Sabre later had a private plate "PTL 14" which was removed when the car was sold on and it was given an aged related plate "BAE 620B".
Above: New owner Phillip Needham was delighted to be able to re-register the Sabre with its original registration number "660 XYB". In 2017 Phillip puts the Sabre through its paces at Curborough Sprint Circuit.
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Reliant Sabre 6: Registration Number: WGT 889 The Sabre belonged to Reliant Dealer "Mike Watts". Competed at 1964 Commanders Cup - Snettertons 24 Hour Endurance Race. 
Above: Graham P Warner and Mike Watts set a new record at Snetterton in May 1964 in their completely standard Reliant Sabre Six
Above: Magazine article from Autocar 12th June 1964
Above: Advert from "Motor" magazine from June 1967
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Reliant Sabre 6: Registration Number: ORE 459F Car was a actually a Reliant Press Car. Competed at: 1969 Austrian Journalists Rally. 
Above: Edward Eves at the wheel of the Scimitar GT press car during the Austrian Journalists Rally in 1969. Article from Autocar 18 September 1969: "The ultimate ride and handling test took place when I (Edward Eves) drove the car in this years Austrian Journalists Rally, an event sponsored by the Martha petrol people and organised by the Austrian police. This rally traditionally takes place in the Corinthian mountains to the south of Vienna and this year consisted of one roughly 60-mile circuit covered twice, one in daylight, then once at night. With the four timed sections to be covered as quickly as possible, the Scimitar looked as if it might come into its own. It seemed a certain class winner, being alone in the 3 litre GT class. However, the scrutineers swiftly discovered that it had not been homologated and relegated it into the unlimited sports prototype class: this it shared with a lonely 2.3 litre Capri driven by a pair of keen German colleagues who had been practicing all week. Unfortunately they had not practiced well enough and motored smartly into thin air on the first bend, injuring themselves when the car eventually stopped lower down the hill. So we could not help winning the class. Nevertheless, the whole affair was a splendid dice and I was able to discover just how tough the Scimitar was when driven to the limit on dirt roads."
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