This is a 1988 Reliant Scimitar. These were a bit of a sales disaster when new, with only 2,500 leaving the factory, and it’s not hard to see why. Although the styling was initially penned by Giovanni Michelotti, he died before the design was finished, and whoever finished the design for him... Well, they made it look like this. It was already doomed to look a bit funky, as they cut costs wherever possible by using parts from various manufacturers’ parts bins. The interior was also a mess, featuring all the cheap grey plastic no one asked for.
However, it wasn’t all bad. The chassis was designed by Lotus, which gave it good handling. And about 50 of them were built with the same turbocharged engine as the Nissan Silvia, which could propel it to almost 130 mph. Also, this one has a 5-speed manual. With the regular Ford 4-cylinder, performance was not great, but the ones with the Nissan engine are said to be not bad at all. And luckily, this is one of the Silvia-engined cars!
It’s also claimed to be possibly the only one in America. This one can be found here, and can be yours for... $14,500. Oof. The price may be a bit much, but I honestly kinda like this thing. The interesting but awkward styling combined with decent performance make this a bit of an underdog car, and it’s always fun to root for underdogs. I bet this would be a fun car to drive on weekends and confuse people at car shows with.
You can find it on Craigslist here: