1962 Sabra Sport GT Coupe

The Sabra was born when Autocars, an Israeli firm, commissioned Reliant, a British car company to build them a sports car. The Sabra Sport was to be sold as a new entry in the growing US sports car market in the early 1960s. Total production is estimated at 208, with 55 sold in the UK under the name of Sabra, and 153 examples were exported to the US under the name of Sabra. The Sabra Sport was introduced at the 1961 New York Auto Show. The car came with either a re-moveable hardtop as seen here or a convertible top - not both.

The car was not accepted well in the US for several reasons. First, it did not come equipped with several amenities such as sun visors, backup lights and an interior dome light. The Sabra Sport was offered at $3,500 - comparable to the Austin-Healey 3000 - but its performance was more in line with MG Midget selling for only $2,000.

This car was brought into the country by a Florida dealer in 1962. It remained unsold and was stored for more than 40 years. The current owners purchased the car in September 2000 with only 40 miles on the odometer. Because of the Florida heat and humidity, the car had a complete restoration completed in 2001.

This Sabra was awarded its AACA Senior at Hershey, PA, its AACA Grand National Award in North Carolina in 2002, and it's Senior Grand National in 2004. It was also chosen for an AACA National Award (The Emmert Swigert Memorial Cup) in 2002.