Adrian Reynard formed Sabre Automotive Ltd in 1973, with friend and Formula Ford rival Rick Gorne taking responsibility for the commercial and sales side of the business. Gorne was among the first people in motorsport to apply a structured commercial approach to selling racing cars, developing detailed pricing models based on typical repair frequencies and building early relationships with young drivers to establish future loyalty. Reynard himself had competed in Formula Ford 2000 at a high level in the late 1970s.
The company gained a reputation for winning on debut in every new category it entered: this record was achieved in Formula Ford 1600, Formula Ford 2000, Formula Three (1985), Formula Atlantic, Formula 3000 (1988), and CART (1994). In Formula Ford, Reynard cars became extremely competitive; when the 1985 Formula Ford car proved unsuccessful, Gorne arranged to sell the entire programme as a one-make series behind the Iron Curtain rather than absorb a development loss. Reynard also designed and manufactured the Formula Vauxhall (or Opel) Lotus single-seaters for several years in the late 1980s, using spare capacity after Formula Ford 2000 contracted. The company was awarded the Queen's Award for Export Achievement in 1990 and 1996.
Reynard's entry into Formula Three in 1985 brought immediate success. However, the success in F3 proved transitory: Dallara and a revived Ralt obliterated Reynard from that market by 1992, and Adrian Reynard's attempt to purchase Ralt was unsuccessful. In Formula 3000, the picture was reversed. Reynard joined the championship in 1988 and quickly dominated, effectively pushing March, Ralt, and eventually Lola to the margins of the series.
An abortive Formula One programme had been prepared from 1989 onwards for a 1992 debut; engineers including Rory Byrne from Benetton were recruited, but Reynard could not secure funding to proceed. The Enstone factory and the F1 programme were sold to Benetton in 1991; Reynard's research data went to Ligier. Some Reynard components found their way into Keith Wiggins' Pacific Racing F1 car, which raced in 1994.
In March 1994, Reynard made its debut in Championship Auto Racing Teams, and the Reynard chassis won in its first race. The American campaign was highly profitable over subsequent years and led Reynard to diversify. The rivalry with Lola continued in CART through the late 1990s, with Reynard eventually establishing near-total dominance. Reynard also competed in Formula Nippon and the Barber Dodge series.
In 1999, Reynard purchased Gemini Transmissions and American manufacturer Riley and Scott. An R&D facility, the Auto Research Center (ARC), was established in Indianapolis under Bruce Ashmore, housing a 50 percent scale wind tunnel and a seven-post shaker rig.
Adrian Reynard and chief designer Malcolm Oastler became involved with the British American Racing (BAR) Formula One team from 1999, with Reynard Motorsport providing design services. The relationship yielded only two podium finishes. Reynard also worked with West Surrey Racing to design and build Ford Mondeo chassis for the British Touring Car Championship between 1996 and 1998, with the project enjoying only limited success despite substantial Ford backing. Outside motorsport, the company collaborated with Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic in the 1990s to build lightweight carbon-fibre airline seats.
After an abortive IPO on the New York Stock Exchange and the costs associated with purchasing Riley and Scott, Reynard Motorsport filed for bankruptcy in February 2002, with around 120 jobs lost. The company's assets were distributed among three buyers: BAR acquired the Brackley buildings and the Advantage CFD aerodynamics business; International Racing Management obtained the Formula Nippon and sports car operations; and Walker Racing in the Champ Car World Series acquired rights to the Champ Car chassis. Derivatives of the Reynard 2KQ and 01Q chassis continued to race for some years in the hands of ProTran and Nasamax, and the unfinished Reynard 02S was completed by RN Motorsport as the DBA4 03S. The Grand Prix Masters car, which used retired Formula One drivers, was essentially a development of the last-generation Reynard Champ Car chassis. Several senior Reynard engineers went on to found new businesses, including Simon Dowson with Delta Motorsport and Kieron Salter with KW Motorsport.
Reynard's achievement was unusual in motorsport: a commercial operation that genuinely disrupted the established order in multiple categories simultaneously. The systematic approach Rick Gorne brought to sales and customer relationships professionalized a market that had previously operated on personal contacts and handshake deals. The company's ability to win on debut across radically different categories from Formula Ford to Indycar demonstrated real engineering breadth, even if the Formula One ambition was never realized in its own right. The Auto Research Center in Indianapolis, where Adrian Reynard remained involved after the bankruptcy, kept aspects of the Reynard engineering legacy alive.