A TALE OF TWO RILEYS

This tale involves my late father's 1947 1.5-litre Riley and my 1964 Riley Elf.

The one and half litre Riley, registration number DBX 425, was registered in Carmarthenshire in 1947, the year I was born. My father purchased this vehicle secondhand in approximately 1953 from a Riley dealer called Rex Neate in Botley, Hampshire. We understood that the first owner was a doctor from Carmarthen. This car was to replace a Riley 9 Monaco of which dad was really proud.

The picture on the right was taken in approximately 1955 at the mainland end of Telford’s lovely bridge spanning the Menai Straits. We were nearing the end of our touring holiday around North Wales, hence the Riley is very dirty, which was rare as my father always strived to keep the car immaculate. I am the young lad standing by the fence and my mother is standing by the side of the car. We had stopped here to have a look at the bridge, and also H.M.S. Conway, a large cadet training sailing ship that had gone aground on 14th April 1953 close to the bridge on The Platters rocks in the Swellies in the Menai Strait.

I always remember the Riley as having a lovely pale green leather interior and being fitted with a walnut dash containing round instruments. Looking back, I do remember that the car did not have a heater, so some trips in winter could be cold. Dad rebuilt the engine after a couple of years to re-white metal the bearings etc. Mother was not too pleased to have a Riley engine under the kitchen table whilst awaiting for some spare parts to arrive before it could be fitted back into the car!

Sadly, when the Suez crisis arose in 1956 and petrol was subject to rationing, dad thought it wise to sell the Riley and purchase something more economical. This was a mixed blessing, because we ended up with a lovely Morris Minor which provided us with the luxury of a heater! My father always intended to purchase another Riley, but sadly fate did not let this happen. I wonder if his car still exists?

The second Riley (below left) is the classic car that my wife Sue and I purchased after retirement – a 1964 Riley Elf Mk2 which we acquired after a recommendation from Steve Harris to contact a man called Alistair who lived near Swansea – Alistair had restored the Elf to a very high standard and incorporated an engine that Steve had tuned. He was selling the car to finance the restoration of a pre-war Triumph. The Riley Elf has had three owners from new, and all lived within the South Wales area – two of the previous owners lived in Ammanford and one in Swansea.

The Riley Elf was supplied new and first registered by T K Beynon of Llandybie Road, Ammanford, Carmarthenshire on the 17th August 1964. I am led to believe the garage is now a Vauxhall dealership. The nice feature that helped to persuade us in the end to buy it is that ABX 679B is a Carmarthenshire registration number, as was DBX 425 on dad’s Riley.

Our Elf has quite a few upgrades and modifications. Until the lockdown in 2020, we had taken our car to many classic car shows and gatherings, where the sight of such a rare vehicle always brings a smile to people’s faces and we have had many interesting conversations. The car is finished in Birch Grey with an Old English White roof. Birch Grey is a lovely colour, and this shade of grey was also used on Riley 1.5 vehicles. Interestingly, in certain light conditions this colour portrays a hint of green.

Alan Haddock

MK1 ASTRA

Just reading your piece on the

Mk1 Vauxhall Astra in the February issue. I agree with what you say, apart from when you say there is absolutely nothing wrong with the cabin. I borrowed one from Skipper of Gloucester, neighbouring dealer to Haines and Strange of Cheltenham whose plates are attached to the yellow car in your pictures. My test car for the Gloucester Citizen, a car from initial launch stock, was a pea green estate and I can still hear the engine rasp as I read your words. However, the early cars seemed to have a problem with the sun visors. They folded down OK, but try to turn them sideways and the stem snapped so the visor came off in your hands. It happened both on the estate and on a hatchback sent down from the Vauxhall press fleet.

That said, I preferred its style to the Mk2, which of course was reborn as a Daewoo, a brand with non-negotiable list prices that relied on trying to screw more out of the dealer for the trade-in while they were not allowed to offer more than trade guide valuations. I'm not sure it's a method that would work today for those companies selling directly online without dealerships. Only a fool would part with money without first trying the product in the metal. We all joke about car dealers, but the buying experience will be poorer without them, and so will we.

Maurice Hardy