
Many years and many weird cars later that opinion has not changed. It's not a weird body per se, it's those gigantic over riders on the front the make it look weird. I have no idea what they were thinking when they designed them. Most 1963 vintage sports cars came from the factory with little flimsy bumpers or bumperettes. The pieces on the Sabra look like the things the state police use to push disabled cars off the highway. Another odd styling touch was the almost square rear wheel openings.
Get past the pushbars and the Sabra is a pretty interesting car. The Sabra comes from an Israeli company, Autocars Ltd. Founded in the mid-1950s with assistance from Great Britain's Reliant, Autocars started out assembling Reliant three-wheelers at its Haifa factory and later produced a four-wheeled version of the Reliant Regent van. The company's first model of its own, the Sussita, was also designed by Reliant.

The engine and transmission are from the Ford Cortina. Top speed was around 100 MPH and 0 - 60 took 16.5 seconds. The gauges are typical period Smiths. The tail lights are the same as those used on an Alfa.

The car needs complete restoration. The body is fiberglass so rust isn't an issue. It appears that most of the trim unique to the car is still there. Restoring this car would not be a weekend job, but it wouldn't be impossible either. This car, if for no other reason than it's rarity and uniqueness, deserves to be restored.
Click here to see the eBay lsiting for this Sabra.
This car was also built and sold by Reliant as the Sabre. It had a more normal looking front end and was available as a coupe. It was also available with a 6 cylinder engine. The Sabra-website has some information on both the Israeli Sabra and English Sabre. Click here to find it.
No comments:
Post a Comment