1988 Middlebridge Scimitar

This means that we are delighted to be able to offer you chassis #001, a car that also boasts a VIN plate stamped with the legend 'Prototype No 1'. Handbuilt, it was assembled to the highest possible standards as it was destined to be displayed by the firm at the 1988 Motor Show before being used as a press car to introduce the model to the world’s media.

Having only covered 54,000 miles from new and in the hands of the vendor since 2010, it was nonetheless important enough to warrant being completely stripped down and refurbished in 2014 at a sum that easily exceeded £15,000. A hefty sum for sure but then it did include the high-quality respray you see here; fibreglass might not rust but it can be a bugger to respray properly and the vendor took the time and trouble to employ folk who knew what they were doing.

It is also said to have been fitted with a new five-speed manual gearbox, uprated Bilstein suspension, and a replacement, low-mileage 2.9-litre engine by Middlebridge back in the day. There’s nothing to support this in the history file but the rolling road printout you can see on file does show what appears to have been a tweaked engine…

Now fully fettled and running beautifully, this significant and important piece of Scimitar history is being offered with a very sensible reserve, making it one for the aficionado with an eye to future values.

Only kidding.

You didn’t seriously think we’d be able to write an advert for a Scimitar and not mention Her, did you?

But, rather than using tired old clichés, this very car was driven by Princess Anne herself. Lent by Middlebridge to use while it built chassis #5 for her, she was caught speeding in it along the Fosse Way; please see the attached newspaper article as proof.

As a result, it was also displayed at the 1992 NEC Classic Car Show as part of a Royal Feature Exhibit of cars formerly owned by the Royal Family. Oh, and she is said to still own and drive her Middlebridge Scimitar...

The bodywork is in a sensational condition. No rust of course, thanks to that fiberglass bodywork, but then no ripples or mismatched panel alignment either, something that’s normally a given with plastic cars from low-volume manufacturers.

Not here though because the process was well-established by then, and the Reliant Scimitar had the sort of reputation in the 1970s and 1980s that many brands would kill for, even today. So, it all hangs together neatly, aligns well, and presents wonderfully. It’s a classic shape, and this is one of the better assembled and finished ones we’ve ever seen.

It helps, of course, that this was a show car, a car presumably assembled with an even greater degree of care than even the production cars. After all, they weren’t going to send You Know Who out in anything second-rate, were they?

The green paintwork gleams too, and was clearly applied by someone with the skill and experience to recognize that they were working on something very special. As we mentioned, fiberglass isn’t the easiest material to work with but the vendor was careful to only commission craftsmen who knew what they were doing.

Those body-coloured bumpers work every bit as well today as they did back in the eighties, slimming the car down and freshening it up brilliantly. The body-coloured headlamp surrounds help enormously too, as does the deep front spoiler. It looks terrific and doesn’t have a single awkward angle.

The refurbished alloy wheels, which are as unsullied as you would expect of a car as well presented as this, are shod with matching 195/65R15 Avon tyres – and we can’t think of a better brand for a classic sports car like this.

As we will never tire of explaining, our experience shows that matching high-quality tyres are an infallible sign of a caring and mechanically sympathetic owner who is prepared to spend the appropriate amount in maintaining their car properly. Their presence does not, of course, preclude the need for a thorough inspection - something the vendor would welcome, by the way – but it does perhaps give you a shortcut into their attitude towards maintenance.

There are other lovely touches too, like the protector on the tailgate that stops the rear wiper blade marking the paintwork, and the gorgeous rear fuel filler cap, and the air extractor vents on the trailing edge of the rear wing.

Work to do? Well, aside from the odd stonechip and minor mark there isn’t anything more serious to worry about. It really is every bit as good in the flesh as our photographer makes it look; he’s a talented chap but even the work experience bod could’ve shot this with his Nokia and made it look good.

The interior is Old School and all the better for it. We like our classic cars to look like classic cars and nothing screams high-end Brit like a row of switches and a bank of dials, does it?

And this is exactly what you get here, all backed up by traditional rotary air-vents and slider controls for the heater. There’s also a three-spoke, leather-rimmed steering wheel to hang on to, and a Ford gearknob to stir the five-speed gearbox.

There are four black velour seats too. Deeply bolstered, especially in the rear, they’re buttoned down and finished with black piping. They’re wonderfully of the period and as comfortable to sit in as they are pleasing to look at.

The (new) headlining is excellent too, as are the door cards and carpets, including the extensive trimming in the capacious and useful boot. The rear seats fold down of course, and the carpets fitted to the backrests folds down to provide seamless cover. It’s very cleverly done and, of course, very useful.

Work to do? Well, while we yield to no man in our desire to preserve a car’s hard-won patina we could excuse you getting the steering wheel refurbished. But that’s it. As we keep saying, this is a very, very well-preserved car indeed.

The mechanical and trim work in 2014 by Blaze Motorsport set the owner back five figures but then it was exhaustive and included a new headlining plus refurbished wheels, new tyres, a new battery and all those myriad jobs that look small but make a huge difference to the finished car. Please see slides #191 and #192 for details.

There are further substantial invoices from the same firm for work in 2016 and 2019. As you can see in the accompanying video, all that hard work has paid off because it starts and revs beautifully. You’ll also note the strong oil pressure, and the lovely exhaust note through the twin exhaust.

We’ve driven it and it feels every bit as lively as a car that has been as well restored as this one has should. We didn’t take it far enough to open the 165bhp engine fully but there’s no disguising the urge with which it accelerates.

(The story goes that it was being tested on either the M62 or the M56 back in the day when it was pulled over by the police for speeding. When the bobbies were told what they were up to, they are said to have encouraged the driver to try again to see if he could top the 145mph they’d just caught him doing…)

The engine bay is very well presented being clean and neatly ordered but not so prissy as to deter you from actually driving it. It is, in fact, exactly how we like to see an engine bay. There’s a spare alloy wheel under there too.

The underside, complete with that galvanized chassis, is – and you’re ahead of us here, aren’t you? – very clean and tidy. We’d encourage you to take a long look at the photos and then compare and contrast them with the ones you’ll find of other Scimitars that’re for sale elsewhere.

Struggling to find any? There’s a reason few people bother to shoot the underside of their cars, and it’s rarely a positive one…

The Scimitar’s MOT certificate, which is valid until February 2022, was gained without a single advisory point, something it’s been doing for more than a decade since the vendor bought it.

It has a number of expired MOT certificates, a sheaf of invoices and bills to confirm the work that has been done to it over the years, the pre-production prototype brochure, and the service record book. It also has, of course, lots of paperwork confirming the Princess Anne connection as well as a few other bits and bobs from what appears to be a series of uncommonly conscientious owners.

Please visit the documents section of the gallery of this listing where you will find photos of this and other paperwork to support our claim that this car has been maintained and refurbished to a very good standard.

Retro-mods are all the rage, combining as they do the classic looks we all love with the mechanical reliability and performance we’ve come to take for granted.

But, a modified classic car always be a hybrid, a mish-mash of potentially incompatible components put together with an unknown level of skill and engineering diligence.

Unless you buy something like this of course, a car that was re-engineered from day one to meet the needs and demands of a more sophisticated audience. The trouble is, cars like this are rare: the Bristol 411 MKVI is one, but getting one of those in your garage is likely to need a six-figure investment, which is a bit too rich for most of us.

But, the £29,000 to £34,000 we think this one will sell for is much more affordable. Still a hefty chunk of money but then you are buying the Ground Zero of the Middlebridge cars, the original and probably the best of the bunch, and a car with an impeccable pedigree thanks to THAT connection.

Besides, if you do buy it, you will be able to start every sentence with “Did you know…” – and you can’t put a price on a giggle like that, can you?

Inspection is always encouraged, within Govt. guidelines of course, and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; to arrange an appointment please use the ‘Contact Seller’ button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.