Marque Guide...
The famous Riley badge goes back to the dawn of motoring and has graced the grilles of dozens of interesting models. We look at how the company was formed along with all the main models produced from 1945 to 1969
A look at post-war Rileys from the RM series through to the Kestral ADO16.
The origins of the now defunct Riley marque go back to 1896 when William Riley Jr changed the name of the recently purchased Bonnick Cycle Company to the Riley Cycle Company. Riley’s engineering background had been gained in the production of textile machinery and in 1898 William’s middle son Percy, much to his father’s displeasure, started to secretly build a series of experimental automobiles.
By the end of the decade Percy Riley had produced a prototype four-wheeled quadricycle powered by an engine featuring mechanically operated valves. Although Percy went on to sell his first three-wheeled cyclecar in 1900 his father still refused to fund the production of motorcars, so Percy, along with his brothers, borrowed money from their mother and in 1903 established the Coventry-based Riley Engine Company.
As well as producing engines for Riley-badged motorcycles, the new firm also supplied power units for Singer motorbikes and it weren’t long before the Riley Engine Company started to look at producing a four-wheeled car. The first proper Riley has always been considered to be the 1905 built Vee-Twin Tourer and as the company expanded, William Riley Jr started to change his mind about the long-term future of automobiles.
This led to William winding down motorcycle and bicycle production at Riley Cycle and in 1911 the company changed its name to Riley (Coventry) Limited and started to concentrate on manufacturing wheels for the local automobile industry. In 1913 Percy and his three brothers formed the Riley Motor Manufacturing Company close the existing engine factory and the first model introduced by the new firm was the Riley 17/ 30.
During the First World War, Riley manufactured aeroplane engines and when peace returned, Stanley Riley’s Nero Engine Company amalgamated with Riley (Coventry) Ltd to concentrate on producing vehicles. Riley Motor Manufacturing now came under the control of Allan, another Riley brother, and this division went on to renamed Midland Motor Bodies and became a supplier of coachwork for vehicles produced by the Riley Engine Company.
It was around this time that Riley first adapted the Harry Rush designed blue diamond radiator badge that went on to grace a growing number of successful four, six and eight cylinder models built by Riley Engine (now renamed PR Motors after Percy Riley) and bodied by Midland throughout the ‘ Twenties and early ‘ Thirties.
Although Riley’s motto was ‘As old as the industry and modern as the hour’, the group ran into financial trouble after a failed takeover of the Triumph Motor Company and in 1938 all the Riley companies were purchased by Lord Nuffield and operated by Victor Riley as Riley (Coventry). Now sitting alongside Morris. MG and Wolseley as part of the Nuffield organisation, Riley concentrated on building four cylinder cars and the first Riley-badged car to be built in 1945 after the Second World War came to an end was the 1½ litre RMA.
In 1947 Riley’s Coventry factories were shut down and production transferred to the MG works at Abingdon. The popular RM series came to an end in 1955 with the RME sports saloon, although by then the Nuffield organisation had joined forces with Austin in 1952 to become the British Motor Corporation. The first completely new model launched by Riley under BMC ownership was the 2639cc Pathfinder in 1953.
The Riley 2.6 eventually replaced the Pathfinder and in 1957 BMC introduced the twin- carb Riley One- Point- Five. By now Riley was heavily into badge engineering and the 1959 introduced 4/68 and 1961 4/ 72 saloons were based on the Farina designed A55/A60 Austin Cambridge. In 1961 Riley introduced an upmarket booted version of the Mini called the Elf and badge engineering continued unabated with the introduction of the Riley Kestrel ADO16 in1965.
By the end of the ‘Sixties, BMC had morphed into British Leyland and in an effort to consolidate a confusing line up of overlapping models, the Austin- Morris division made an announcement on July 9, 1969, that the production of Riley badged cars would come to an end from that date. Today the Riley marque is currently owned by BMW, but despite several announcements that the German carmaker was keen to reintroduce the Riley name, this long redundant sporting British marque is still firmly consigned to the history books.
RM Series – 1945-55
Introduced not long after the end of the Second World War, the 1½ litre RMA was the first all new Nuffield built Riley and power came from a pre- war Riley designed 1496cc twincamshaft, four- cylinder engine driving the rear wheels through a four- speed gearbox.
The RMA’s wooden framed, fabric topped bodywork was mounted on a sturdy ladder framed chassis and in true Riley tradition, the car’s flowing lines complemented the RMA’s advanced torsion
bar independent front suspension and a hydromechanical braking system.
In 1946 Riley introduced the 2½ litre RMB built on an extended RMA chassis. The new model used a Riley produced 2443cc inline-four and was instantly recognisable by having a light blue diamond shaped Riley badge on the radiator rather than a dark blue one.
In 1948 the power output of the RMB’s 2½ litre engine was increased from 90 to 100bhp, a boost that now gave this good looking saloon a top speed nudging very close to the 100mph mark. The same year saw the introduction of the 2½ litre RMC roadster, a model that mainly went overseas to earn vital export currency and in 1949 Riley took the covers of another open topped version of the RM, the 2½ litre RMD. Both these open topped Rileys were based on the RMB and in 1952 Riley introduced the RME, an uprated version of the 1½ litre RMA. The 2½ litre Riley RMF was launched alongside the RME and this was basically an updated version of the RMB. Before RMF production came to an end in 1955, a mid-term upgrade resulted with the introduction of several upgrades that had also been applied to the RME. These included fitting a fully hypoid rear axle and a more reliable fully hydraulic braking system, while bodywork tweaks included deleting the running boards under the doors and the addition of a pair of neat looking spats covering the car's rear wheels.