Interesting car on Craigslist [Sabra]

[Billm]

https://sandiego.craigslist.org/ssd/cto/3724519784.html

NFI
BillM

 

[Sherlock]

The Israeli sports car, I've only seen one once (the coupe version), some people think these sports cars never touched Israel, that after Reliant built them for Sabra they were shipped directly to the United States, there were other cars that Sabra sold in Israel, more utilitarian sedans also based on a Reliant design...

 

[PAUL161]

They were a nice looking car. The one on Craigs list is just a chassis, body and has none of the original chrome or other parts to make it worth while. too many issues.

What the original looked like.

 

[DART]

An SP250 on steroids. (I know, not meaningful enough for the contest)

 

[AngliaGT]

I know of at least two of those in the US - one in the Los Angeles area,
& one in Portland,Oregon.They used an English Ford Consul (204E) 4 cylinder
engine.

- Doug

 

[70herald]

The Israeli sports car, I've only seen one once (the coupe version), some people think these sports cars never touched Israel, that after Reliant built them for Sabra they were shipped directly to the United States, there were other cars that Sabra sold in Israel, more utilitarian sedans also based on a Reliant design...

Autocar of Haifa took a very long time getting their act together so the first batch were assembled in the UK, and the second batch were put together in Haifa. For some unknown reason many or most of them actually went to Belgium.

Calling the other vehicles they sold "utilitarian" is way to generous! They featured cheap, poorly assembled fiberglass bodies, poorly welded very simple frames.... Basically they only sold because the protectionist market at the time made anything else way to expensive (at the time, these were poorly build cars were expensive for the average Israeli family, anything else was impossible) My Herald was considered a car for the rich!

Only very few of the Sabra's actually stayed in Israel, there wasn't much of a market for sports cars here at the time. The only one I ever saw was a left over body which had been dumped in a kindergarten sandbox for the kids to play in.

 

[Sherlock]

Autocar of Haifa took a very long time getting their act together so the first batch were assembled in the UK, and the second batch were put together in Haifa. For some unknown reason many or most of them actually went to Belgium.

Calling the other vehicles they sold "utilitarian" is way to generous! They featured cheap, poorly assembled fiberglass bodies, poorly welded very simple frames.... Basically they only sold because the protectionist market at the time made anything else way to expensive (at the time, these were poorly build cars were expensive for the average Israeli family, anything else was impossible) My Herald was considered a car for the rich!

Only very few of the Sabra's actually stayed in Israel, there wasn't much of a market for sports cars here at the time. The only one I ever saw was a left over body which had been dumped in a kindergarten sandbox for the kids to play in.

I imagine you would know more then me, and I've never seen a Sussita before so I'll take your word for it...

 

[glemon]

I seem to recall reading an article about these cars, I think it said the front suspension design was really awful, don't remember exactly what, but sounded like a pretty major issue, truly a rare oddball you don't see everyday though.

 

[Bruce Bowker]

Saw a red one at the Lehigh PA car show a few years ago.

 

[PAUL161]

I seem to recall reading an article about these care, I think it said the front suspension design was really awful, don't remember exactly what, but sounded like a pretty major issue, truly a rare oddball you don't see everyday though.

That's what makes it desirable, not how it was made or it's quality. Even though not as pretty, some day even a Yugo will be desirable. PJ