The Reliant Scimitar SS1 is an automobile which was produced by British manufacturer Reliant from 1984. Aiming to fill a gap in the small sports car market, Scimitar SS1 was launched in 1984 at the British International Motor Show in Birmingham. It was Giovanni Michelotti's last design. The name was reported to stand for Small Sports 1. Despite plans for production of 2000 a year, only 1,507 models were produced in the ten years of overall production. In 1990, the SS1 was renamed as the Scimitar SST following a facelift and in 1992 was re-launched as the Scimitar Sabre. Sales of the Sabre ceased in 1995 with the collapse of Reliant. Scimitar SS1 (1984–1990) The chassis was inspired by that of the Lotus Elan. The 1.3 L (later replaced with a 1.4 L) and 1.6 L engines were Ford CVH units, front mounted driving the rear wheels through a four-speed gearbox on the 1300 and 1400, and a five-speed gearbox with the 1600. Originally, the car was planned to use the new EFI 1.6 L Ford engine introduced on the Escort XR3i, however, the lower hood line of the SS1 meant that it had to use the slightly shorter carbureted version to fit. The suspension was independent all round using coil springs with semi trailing arms at the rear. The body panels were made of polyurethane or glass reinforced polyester, fitted to a semi-space frame backbone chassis. The panels were designed to be easily removed and replaced to repair accident damage. A removable hard top was available as an option. The SS1 1.6 L had an engine capacity of 1596 cc with a power output of at 6000 rpm and at 4000 rpm of torque and could reach and accelerated to 0-60 mph in 9.6 seconds. In 1986, the range was joined by the CA18ET 1809 cc turbocharged engine from the Nissan Bluebird. The 1800Ti, as the Nissan-engined version was known, received standard alloy wheels and a small rear spoiler and gave the car a significant performance boost with a power output of at 6000 rpm, of torque which provided for a top speed of mph and 0-60 mph in 7.6 seconds. This car had unusual uncovered rectangular Porsche 928-style pop-up headlamps and shared many components with production cars of the day, such as Austin-Rover switchgear and gauges. The post 1986 models with a galvanised chassis can be identified by