A much-loved Reliant Scimitar that used to traverse the roads of Cornwall and Corfu has found a new home with us at Open Road West Norfolk, allowing our students to expand their training and practice their mechanical skills on a classic car.
Kristina Amadeus, an award-winning short fiction author donated the car to the charity after learning about us through our social media. Kristina, first cousin of the singer-songwriter David Bowie, used to ferry the musician around in the reliant around Cornwall, where the car spent much of its life. Before living on the southwestern coast, the car spent time on the Isle of Man and then moved with Kristina to Corfu for a time.
The Reliant in the sun in Corfu
New Home
The car has been on a long journey to get to King’s Lynn, and while it may have suffered a little due to the UK weather, it’s in good hands now with our students overseen by Training Manager Robin.
Martin Slater, Managing Director commented “We’re thrilled with the donation of the Scimitar. Our usual vehicles donated by the brilliant Co-part, Copart allow the students to learn on the latest automotive technology, but this will be a great experience to show them how rewarding restoring a classic car can be. We’re so thankful for Kristina’s donation, and for entrusting the car to our care.”
The Scimitar repainted and the Cabriolet roof removed on its return to the UK.
Kristina commented: “[I] thought it was best to donate it to a good cause. I am about to turn 82 in July which is a little too old to be hot-rodding around!! I really love the car and am thrilled that she’s getting the right attention now.”
The Reliant as it stands today in Robin, our Training Manager and the student’s care.
A New Spark of Life
The car has been assessed by a local mechanic, meaning the team and students have a checklist of things to fix. Once the car is back together and running, the hope is to be able to auction it off to raise funds. Stay tuned to hear about this.
Donations like that from Kristina mean the world to Open Road’s students, to find out more about how you can help us, visit our ‘how you can help’ page.
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