Middlebridge selected a network of twenty four specialist dealers to supply their new hand built model in the UK and a couple of Dealers abroad were soon to be added to the list. Scimitar production was running at only one to two cars a week and sales were slower than expected (many of the early cars were bought by previous Scimitar owners) and 40 + executives who were after something with style, speed and space, People even joked about re-naming it the 'Brabham Scimitar' as the Middlebridge Group owned the legendary F1 Brabham Racing team at the time...(see Middlebridge Racing), John McCauley and Peter Boam had already seen their new baby into production but were not happy with the way the company was progressing and parted with Middlebridge Scimitar at this time.

With Production and Sales still averaging 1 to 2 cars a week Dennis Nursey made the decision to bring in Steve Coughlin (Ex Aston Martin and Tickford Director) to oversee and make improvements to the management and Production systems in spite of all of Steve's efforts and a very reduced workforce several factors were to eventually culminate in the downfall of Middlebridge Scimitar they were a combination of slow production and sales, a very large stock holding of parts, the £1 million purchase of F1 Brabham + other racing interests and finally the ill fated £10 million historic Le Mans Bentley Old Number One" very briefly Middlebridge started to purchase this famous car and someway through the deal Dennis Nursey wanted to withdraw from it on the grounds that it was not the authentic specimen it was purported to be, Ed Hubbard Owner" and Finnigans Wax Oil Millionaire was the wrong man to take on as he quickly enlisted the help of the well known Wally Hassan and others to argue his corner in a very well publicised court case which was lost by Nursey and Middlebridge, The Judge ordered them to proceed with the purchase, and with no way of avoiding the bill the parent Company pulled the plug on the Scimitar division of the company that strangely enough had purchased the Bentley and the Beeston Scimitar operation went into receivership.

For full details of the trial go to the downloads area. The Final irony it was a cold wet day in a Nottingham factory on the 22 November 1990 - The day that Margaret Thatcher Resigned!! Being unable to find a buyer for the Company there was an everything must go auction "which consisted of 774 lots, the auctioneers were Walker Walton Hanson of Nottingham and they had a very long day ahead of them, during the early part of the morning many people with different interests were rummaging around for different bargains from Xmas tree decorations, office furniture, computers chairs etc etc, the auction started at 10.30am with two pedestal bins and at lightning speed whizzed through all the office furniture, electrical items and general tit bits, it was now about lunchtime and we had just started on the contents of the Middlebridge stores a shocking amount of stock was held" e.g. 5,000 rear seat retaining clips, many of the smaller lots were bought by Scimitar enthusiasts of which there were many in attendance, some enthusiasts were there hoping to get one of the five Auction Middlebridge's at the end of the day.

"Bidder number 22 Graham Walker was a very busy man with a big shopping list, He's also owner of the Worlds largest Scimitar Spares outlet, at about 4.30pm up came first of the really talked about lots The Big One" Lot 653 which was for the entire stock of Middlebridge Moulds and the rights to the names Scimitar GTE and GTC there was also a hand written note on the auctioneers podium that included the rights to make the Scimitar body shape, the bidding started at £3000 with Graham Walker bidding as expected, when the lot reached £6000 there was only one other bidder a man nobody knew" the two bidders pushed the price up to £31,500 way past what Graham Walker had expected to pay but way short of the 400,000 paid by Middlebridge to Reliant some three years earlier, the other bidder turned out to be Jefferson Ritson a Glass-fibre manufacturer from Birmingham., Graham Walker did win the Lot and still owns all the moulds and rights to this day.

Next under the hammer was all the nearly new workshop equipment quickly followed by the other prize lots, Five completed cars, these cars were completed by a skeleton crew working at Lilac Grove after Middlebridge had folded, the cheapest complete Middlebridge made £12,100 and the dearest and last off the line made £17,400 + car tax and vat of course, the total auction netted the creditors a mere £200,000. Mystery Car ( APL 248)

This car really stood out at the Middlebridge auction, it was LOT No 769. She was sporting the new style Middlebridge front and rear ends (believed to have been in clay) she also sported a sliding roof and has been described as similar to a Bristol Beufighter in appearence, surely there must be information / paperwork and drawings detailing the new modifications carried out on this car at the Lilac Grove Site. Just to add to the mystery I received a phone call in 2008 from a man that had a Middlebridge Scimitar with a strange front end,, the car was in storage and eventually the guy asked if I would be interested in purchasing it " I said yes price depending" the man then said he would call me when he had a price as a starting pont , unfortunately I have never heard from him again and his phone No is unobtainable. ; o ( After the auction the new front end mould was kept in the passageway at Graham Walkers new premises between the front reception and the workshop, the body lifting gear and the production line are still stored in a room behind the workshops , this is where the production line would have been had it ever re-started.

My conclusions for what they are worth:

The mystery car above was the last item in the auction and the final call for Middlebridge Scimitar. They may have only been a small car manufacturer for a short time but where else would you find, Japanese Money, An affordable Ferrari 250 GTO, Aston Martin and Rolls Royce employees, Car exports to Japan, £10 million Bentley Le Mans, F3000 Racing and the Brabham F1 Racing team and all in one brief history..