Middlebridge Scimitar GTE: by Royal appointment

By Charlie Calderwood

| 25 Jun 2024

Classic & Sports Car – Middlebridge Scimitar GTE: by Royal appointment

It’s one of the most tired clichés in the classic car world.

Few vehicles have a famous owner that looms as large in its popular memory as the Reliant Scimitar GTE and Princess Anne.

But this isn’t a Reliant. Her final Scimitar, a car the Princess owned from new until 2023, is one of the 79 built, after considerable improvement, by Middlebridge Scimitar Ltd.

It is surely the ultimate.

Princess Anne’s Middlebridge Scimitar GTE wears a statue of a jumping horse, a gift from Queen Elizabeth II

In truth, the House of Windsor’s connection to the Scimitar starts before Anne and the GTE.

Ogle Design and Pilkington Glass collaborated to build the one-off Scimitar GTS for the 1965 Earls Court motor show, adding a rounded-glass shooting-brake-style rear to the existing coupé.

After its trip down to the Turin Salon later the same year, Prince Philip borrowed the prototype as his personal car for two years – at exactly the same time as a young Princess Anne was coming of age.

When asked which car she’d like as her 20th-birthday present, a Scimitar sports estate was the reply.

Businessman Kohji Nakauchi had plans to build his own car, but took the opportunity to build continuation Scimitars

By the time the GTE arrived as a production model in 1968, that Triplex safety-glass top had disappeared.

Ogle design chief Tom Karen instead penned a long, flat roof that kicked up at the back for a lift-up rear window.

Excluding the odd coachbuilt shooting brake, this was the first sporting estate car with a hatchback.

The Scimitar GTE quietly created a successful niche for itself, so much so that the coupé on which it was based was discontinued in 1970.

The original Reliant Scimitar created its own niche, and the Middlebridge continuation cars improved the recipe

Other manufacturers eventually came to compete in the space, with the Volvo 1800ES, Lotus Elite, Lancia Beta HPE and Jensen GT, but it’s the Scimitar GTE that remains the most famous example of the genre.

Combining practicality with performance, the Reliant was a popular choice for British celebrities.

Not quite A-list jet-setters, you’d have to say, but presenter Noel Edmonds, magician David Nixon and actor William Roache were all Scimitar owners.

The GTE’s image of utility and modesty, despite relatively high performance, made it ideal for a Royal keen not to appear ostentatious.

Prince Philip with the 1965 glass-topped Ogle GTS (left); Princess Anne’s SE5-generation Reliant Scimitar leaves Buckingham Palace in 1972

Nonetheless, the young Princess managed to gain unwanted attention after being caught speeding in the car an unflattering number of times.

Anne followed that first GTE with a second in 1973, and six more after that.

The Princess became Reliant’s champion in the media, also acquiring a Robin and, later, multiple Kitten estates, for use at her country pile Gatcombe Park, where the little cars were employed as farm vehicles.

That association nearly ended when Reliant ceased GTE production in late ’86 to make way for the new SS1 roadster.

The Middlebridge Scimitar GTE uses the Ford Cologne V6, which produces 148bhp from 2.9 litres, for 140mph

But, in a roll-call that sounds like the start of a joke, a Japanese millionaire and an ex-Aston Martin engineer saved the day for the Princess.

Anglophile publishing magnate Kohji Nakauchi founded the Middlebridge Group in 1986, initially to go racing, and the company was successful in FF2000 and F3000 categories before taking over Brabham for the 1990 Formula One season.

But Nakauchi was just as interested in road cars and teamed up with Dennis Nursey, a former parts manager at Aston Martin who had also trained Aston engineers in Japan, to produce a British car with which to target that foreign market.

Growing exports of Austin Rover Minis, as well as a flow east of classic Jaguars, MGs and Astons, made bubble-era Japan’s appetite for traditional British motors clear.

The Middlebridge Scimitar GTE’s alloy wheels help differentiate it from the Reliant-built estates

Nakauchi and Nursey began planning an entirely new car, traditionally styled and handbuilt in the UK, but using Japanese mechanicals.

Before Middlebridge had started the ambitious task of creating its own car from the ground up, however, Nakauchi was approached by two ex-Lucas businessmen with close ties to Reliant.

With orders left on the books when the firm discontinued the GTE, Peter Boam and John McCauley had already negotiated a deal to buy the tooling from Reliant, with plans to build the continuation cars in Nottinghamshire.

This appeared to be a much more realistic way for Middlebridge to begin its manufacturing venture, so Nakauchi put up the money.

The Middlebridge Scimitar GTE’s hatchback was less of a novelty by 1989

Morgan was the company’s inspiration.

The Malvern firm was then building around 400 cars a year, putting updated running gear in an obviously classic-style body and making much of the traditional way in which its cars were built.

Middlebridge hoped that it could do the same and bought the Scimitar tooling in early 1987.

Boam and McCauley had already begun the redevelopment process by that stage, canvassing Reliant employees, dealers and the Reliant Scimitar Sabre and Owners’ Club for ideas on how to make the car better.

High-speed stability is the Middlebridge Scimitar GTE’s greatest strength

Nearly two years and more than £1m was spent refreshing it, with a prototype displayed at the 1988 British International Motor Show, at the NEC.

A revised, fuel-injected 2.9-litre version of the Ford Cologne V6, colour-coded bumpers and a five-speed manual gearbox (Reliant versions had a four-speed with overdrive) were the headline changes – and essential for the car’s ’90s modernisation.

Halogen headlamps, new tail-light units and alloy wheels further lifted the looks, while reworked suspension and the addition of a rear anti-roll bar promised better road manners.

But the Middlebridge wasn’t just an update, it was also supposed to move the Scimitar upmarket, to the level of an executive GT.

Princess Anne’s Middlebridge Scimitar GTE was speced with velour, not the optional leather

Premium options were loaded in, or available as extras, such as electric windows, heated door mirrors and better-quality interior trim.

Unsurprisingly, the Princess Royal was keeping a close eye on proceedings, and duly opened the new Middlebridge factory in Beeston, Nottinghamshire, later in 1988.

The Princess ordered a car, too, but the newly formed company missed the delivery date, and instead loaned her the first Scimitar built by the new firm while she waited.

It was Middlebridge number one, almost identical in specification to the example here today, that received much of the press attention in early 1989.

The Middlebridge Scimitar GTE’s centre console is a black slab, carried over from the Reliant

It was also the car in which she was infamously stopped for speeding – twice in the same day, by the same police officer.

The car intended for the Princess, the sixth Middlebridge built but wearing chassis number five, was completed in December 1988.

Painted Pearlescent Sapphire Green with a black velour interior, the car had plenty of option boxes ticked, too.

‘Econo-drive’ cruise control is operated by a switch to the right of the instrument binnacle, while headlamp wipers and a carphone all suggest this was a car the Princess intended to use extensively.

That proved to be the case, possibly more so than Middlebridge would have liked.

This well-appointed Middlebridge Scimitar GTE includes a period phone

After less than two years of production, the firm pulled the plug on the Scimitar in November 1990.

A botched attempt to buy the Le Mans Bentley ‘Old Number One’ was the final nail in the coffin, but the outfit was already on shaky ground.

Production was only at one or two cars a week, from a target of four, while its racing exploits, including the 1990 Brabham purchase, were draining funds.

Boam and McCauley, the model’s early champions, had already jumped ship.

Then, when money was needed quickly, the Nottingham factory’s huge pile of stock was sold off in a fire sale, along with all the rights previously acquired from Reliant.

The Scimitar logo appears on the Middlebridge car’s three-spoke steering wheel

Needless to say, Middlebridge Scimitar chassis five would be Anne’s eighth and final GTE.

Unlike her previous cars, which were replaced every three years or so, the Princess kept this one for more than 35 years, adding 114,000 miles.

It has become by far the longest bearer of her personal Scimitar markers, too.

The registration, 1420 H, has been on them from the start, a gift from the 14th/20th King’s Hussars, the regiment of which she was made Colonel-in-Chief on her 20th birthday.

‘The Middlebridge Scimitar GTE’s long wheelbase and tall gearing are the cherries on the top of an immense high-speed cruising ability’

The bonnet ornament, a statue of a jumping horse with a female rider, is believed to be unique, and a gift from Queen Elizabeth II following the ’76 Montreal Olympics, where the Princess competed in equestrian eventing.

It has been on every one of her Scimitars since. It took lots of red tape and security concerns to finally get her out of the car.

In 2022, Anne admitted to the Middlebridge Enthusiasts Scimitar Set (MESS) that she wasn’t using it much any more.

She had long been associated with the owners’ club, hosting Middlebridge’s 25th-anniversary event at Gatcombe Park in 2014.

This Middlebridge Scimitar was Princess Anne’s final GTE, and she owned it until 2023

The car was increasingly difficult for the Princess to insure from a safety perspective, and her security team wasn’t keen on it either.

After a hard life, the old charger was only getting the odd run around Gatcombe Park.

The Scimitar gained its second owner in more than 35 years, a senior member of the MESS, in 2023.

It has joined a private collection on the understanding that it will be kept as original as possible and put on public display.

Some minor paint correction and a thorough service were needed, but the MESS reported a car that wore its 114,000 miles lightly and was remarkably original.

The Middlebridge Scimitar GTE got halogen headlamps and new tail-lights

It is now on show at the Great British Car Journey in Derbyshire.

Middlebridge Scimitar Ltd claimed more than 450 improvements over the old Reliant GTE, the most noticeable being a much less rattly body and interior.

It still has the odd squeak – the rear hatch moves around over bumps – but the sound of loose trim is no longer as invasive as it was in the Tamworth-built cars.

Despite its power assistance, the steering is very heavy, the boost only taking the edge off parking manoeuvres.

That steering, the remaining rattles and the black vinyl wall of a dashboard give a first-mile impression of a car that struggles to make the cut as a GT.

‘Put her list of priorities together and you can see why the Middlebridge Scimitar GTE was perfect for Princess Anne, but relatively few others’

Even in this, the Royal Middlebridge, you’d struggle to call the interior plush.

Velour on the faces of the seats and the armrests is the only real luxury touch – and, even then, velour was a bit old hat by 1989. (Leather was an option that the Princess apparently didn’t specify.)

The door cards are plain, blocky sheets of vinyl straight from the early ’80s, too.

Other than in detail features, such as this car’s optional cruise control, its interior struggles for anything you couldn’t find in a mid-range Ford of the time.

But it’s at speed when you experience an ‘okay, I get it’ moment.

With ambitions to go racing, Kohji Nakauchi’s Middlebridge Group also took over the Brabham Formula One team

The heavy steering translates into an immense stability during high-speed cruising, with strong self-centring that prevents any wander.

It’s an impressively well-damped helm, too, refusing to transmit bumps in the road into kickback at the wheel.

The Scimitar’s long wheelbase and tall gearing are the cherries on the top of this cruising ability.

Most Middlebridge owners cite the car’s ease at motorway speeds as its greatest attribute, and it is plain to see why.

In keeping with its estate body shape, the Middlebridge’s character on the road is of a more humble, practical GT.

The Middlebridge Scimitar GTE is less rattly than earlier cars over bumps

It doesn’t cosset with ruched leather or an exquisitely designed, soft-touch dashboard, but it gets on with the business of high-speed motoring in a manner that contemporary coupés of its class – a Lotus Excel, say, or an Alfa GTV6 – struggle to match.

If you had a three-hour drive ahead in the outside lane of the motorway, you’d pick the Middlebridge every time.

The Ford Scorpio-sourced V6 is strong and torquey, majoring on fuss-free drivability.

The brakes, clutch and gearshift are similarly easy, if not very sporty.

Though this unassuming ability was perfect for a busy Princess who needed to get to her many appointments across the country at speed, but didn’t want to appear flash, it might explain why Middlebridge didn’t find many other buyers.

Princess Anne’s Middlebridge Scimitar GTE has covered 114,000 miles

Priced at £24,663, the updated Scimitar was more expensive than lighter, sportier offerings including the Excel or the Renault-Alpine GTA, and only a little bit cheaper than undoubtedly more luxurious, imposing cars such as the Jaguar XJ-S or Porsche 944.

What’s more, unlike in the Scimitar’s ’70s heyday, Japanese marques were by then offering a host of cars that were doing just what the Middlebridge did.

Their interiors were a bit lacklustre, but few could deny that the Toyota Supra turbo or Nissan 300ZX turbo were excellent GTs.

Worse still, both were considerably faster than the Middlebridge, despite being direct price-list rivals.

You had to really want that little bit of extra practicality to choose the GTE.

The Middlebridge Scimitar GTE’s ’80s-style doorcards date the cabin

Contemporary coupés had caught up considerably, with most featuring hatchbacks and fold-down rear seats.

Genuinely fast five-door estates had begun to appear, too, squeezing the Middlebridge from the other end of the practicality scale.

BMW would sell you the brilliant 325i Touring for £20,430 – so you also had to add ‘must be British’ to your list of priorities to arrive at the Middlebridge.

Put that checklist together and you can see why the car was ideal for the Princess Royal, but relatively few others.

Given the lack of development bestowed by Reliant upon the Scimitar as it aged in the ’80s, it’s brilliant that Middlebridge came along to create this ultimate GTE.

The Middlebridge Scimitar GTE’s cruise control switch, where overdrive was engaged in early cars

The world is richer – and Princess Anne’s transport needs were far better met – for the creation of a Scimitar with fuel injection, five speeds and an impressively stable chassis.

But it is difficult to deny that Reliant was probably correct in its decision to give up on the car.

Other than the handful of Jaguar XJ-S-based Lynx Eventers and the odd coachbuilt special, the Middlebridge ended up being the last hurrah for the traditional, sporting shooting brake.

First and last, the Scimitar GTE bookended the segment it created, something few other cars – if any – have achieved.

Images: John Bradshaw

Thanks to: Great British Car Journey; Middlebridge Enthusiasts’ Scimitar Set; owner Mick Gaughran

Factfile

Middlebridge Scimitar GTE

Sold/number built 1989-’90/79
Construction box-section steel chassis, glassfibre body
Engine all-iron, ohv 2935cc 60° V6, Bosch Jetronic fuel injection
Max power 148bhp @ 5700rpm
Max torque 172lb ft @ 3000rpm
Transmission five-speed manual (optional four-speed automatic), RWD
Suspension: front independent, by wishbones rear live axle, trailing arms, Watt linkage; coil springs, telescopic dampers, anti-roll bar f/r
Steering power-assisted rack and pinion
Brakes discs front, drums rear, with servo
Length 14ft 6in (4432mm)
Width 5ft 8in (1722mm)
Height 4ft 4in (1321mm)
Wheelbase 8ft 8in (2637mm)
Weight 2722lb (1235kg)
Mpg 30
0-60mph 7.5 secs
Top speed 142mph
Price new £24,663 (1990)
Price now £10-20,000*