First, a quick mechanical description of the SS1...
The car is a 2 seater convertible, built as a separate chassis with
unstressed glassfibre and rubber panels bolted to an additional skeleton.
The main chassis comprises of a central X-shaped backbone, and was made
under license by Thyssen in Germany (Reliant owned
the majority shareholding in the tooling). Front suspension is a
Vauxhall Chevette derived double wishbone setup with coil springs and
inboard inclined dampers, whilst the rear is independent trailing arms and
coil-over shock absorber units. Anti-roll bars are fitted both front
and rear. Front brakes are 4-pot twin circuit discs at the front and
drums at the rear.
This base rolling chassis (as shown above) was the basis of all the
SS-series (SS1, SST, Sabre and Scimitar Sabre) from start to finish.
Motive power was from a number of sources; chronologically:
Ford CVH 1300cc (SS1)
Ford CVH 1600cc (SS1)
Nissan CA18ET 1800cc Turbo (Scimitar 1800Ti in both SS1 and SST body styles,
plus Sabre and some Scimitar Sabres)
Ford CVH 1400cc (replaced the 1300cc unit when Ford changed from MK3 to Mk4
Escort, and stopped making the 1300cc CVH. SS1, SST, Sabre)
Rover 14K4 1400cc 16v K series (Scimitar Sabre only)
A Rover 2.0 T-series (not Turbo..) was launched with the 1.4K Scimitar Sabre;
only one car appears to have been fitted with this engine, but never run.
It was retrofitted with a 1.4K engine before being registered.
All except the Nissan engined cars used Ford Type 9 gearboxes (either 4 or 5
speed). Nissans own 5 speed gearbox was used on the 1800Ti. Rear
differential unit was a 3.92:1 unit from the Ford Sierra.
Performance ranged from mediocre (1.3/1.4) through adequate (1.6) to
mindblowing (1.4K, 1800Ti) in a straight line, yet all variants possess
excellent handling with comfort. At its launch, the 1800Ti was the
quickest in-gear accelerating mass production car (30-70 in 5th gear)
Interior
(SS1 1800Ti interior shown)
The interior was a mixture of Reliants own dashboard mouldings allied to
Triumph TR7-based seats, a Ford Fiesta based set of instruments
(1800Ti/later cars used an Austin-Rover based unit) and Austin-Rover
switchgear.
Bodywork
This is the perfect case of "if you don't succeed, try, try and try again".
I'm not referring to the terrrible panel fit of the SS1 (gaps below 10mm are
good..), but rather to the body style...
(1800Ti - never actually called an SS1)
SST 1800Ti (later with colour coded bumpers)
Sabre 1800Ti Mk1
The SS1 (Small Sports One, before you ask) sadly wasn't the prettiest car on
earth - its wedge styling was on its way out at its launch and panel gaps
could be measured in inches, not mm. On the upside, it was one of only
a few genuine convertible sports cars on sale at the time and a near loner
in its price range. The trouble was actually getting someone into one
and onto the open road - at which point perceptions change. The change
to the SST changed the body to a two piece (plus body tub) fibreglass
construction; the Sabre and Scimitar Sabre were basically a re-bumpered and
body-kitted version of the SST.