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).

Above: The rally prepared interior.

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.

 

Reliant Sabre 4:

Registration Number: 7 EUE

Competed at

1962 RAC Rally and 1963 Monte Carlo Rally.

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!  

 

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.

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

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

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

Reliant Sabre 6:Development Sprint Car

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 cars was used for Hillclimbs/Sprints and driven by Tony Marsh and Bobby Parkes.

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, Geoff Hotblack's one of a kind Sabre 6 sprint HWD 876 looks superb.

      Thanks to Dave Womack of DWR for these photographs.

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  from 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!!!

Reliant Sabre 6:

Registration Number: 660 XYB

Car was a actually a Reliant Dealers Car.

Competed at 1965 Monte Carlo Rally.

*** Sadly No Picture ***

Reliant Sabre 6:

Registration Number: WGT 889

Car was a actually a Reliant Dealers Car.

Competed at 1964 Commanders Cup Endurance Race.

Above: Graham P Warner and Mike Watts set a new record at Snetterton in 1964 in their Reliant Sabre Six

Above: Advert from "Motor" magazine from June 1967

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.

"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."

During Reliants' Rally years, they had a host of Drivers and Navigators including:

Alec Lob, Alex Griffiths, Arthur Rusling, Arthur Senior, Bob Aston, Ernest McMillan, David Skeffington, Derrick Astle, Douglas Wilson-Spratt, Ernest McMillan, Gerry Cooper, Graham A Warner, Graham P Warner, George " Bobby" Parkes,  Jimmy Ray, John Hopwood, John King, John Spiers, Leslie Griffiths, Mike Hughes, Peter Easton, Peter Roberts, Raymond Baxtor, Robin Richards, Roger Clark, Ronald Crellin, Stuart Turner and Tony Fisher.

Above: From left to right, Bobby Parkes, Arthur Rusling and Bob Aston.

Above: October 2002 - Ecurie Cod Fillet re-union re-unites some of the Reliant Works Rally Team members.  From left to right, John Hopwood, Raymond Baxter, Arthur Senior, Roy Dixon, Bobby Parkes and Jimmy Ray.

Bobby Parkes

George Robert Parkes, known as "Bobby" was one of the most successful drivers/navigators for the Reliant Works Rally Team and stayed on the team for 3 years.

I had the great pleasure of meeting Bobby at his home near Morcombe on 9th of August 2005.

Bobby is 80 years young and still  has very fond memories of the 3 years his was with Reliant and praised the Reliant Sabres and the team members.

I found Bobby to be a true gentleman, very kind and hospitable who was still very enthusiastic about his rally days.  He kind enough to show me his collection of rally memorabilia and tell me many fascinating stories of his rallying career.