BMC’S GREATEST CLASSIC CARS
Nick Larkin picks six of his favourites from the British Motor Corporation’s back catalogue, starting by explaining why Riley’s One-point-five is what he’d buy
RILEY ONE-POINT-FIVE (1957-65)
Most classic fans know that the Riley One-point-five was a slightly faster version of the Wolseley 1500 and developed from a planned Morris Minor replacement and was an amalgam of BMC bits and… STOP! Forget all this and look at the Riley as a car in its own right. Surely here is one of the best classic packages that (not too much) money can buy?
To some the car’s only connection with Riley might be the liberal splattering of the legendary marque’s diamond logo throughout the car but c’mon – the 1.5 is superbly finished and the tuned twincarb engine, though a feature of other BMC cars, is a fine and lusty unit. The cars are extremely well appointed with great attention to detail.
From outside the car simply howls 1950s, down to the chrome radiator grille and paint colours, including several two-tone choices. Four doors, good visibility and excellent headroom all work in the car’s favour.
It’s based on the Morris Minor floorpan so there’s not a vast amount of interior room but sit in the sumptuous driver’s seat, admiring the superbly crafted, if rather upright steering wheel, and the wooden dash with its well-placed instruments and high-quality switchgear could almost be from a limousine.
The Riley had obviously been targeted at an upmarket audience with advertisements featuring airports – in which the Riley was so imposing that it was allowed next to planes – and horsey gatherings. ‘You’ll take your hat off to the brilliant Riley One-point-five powered for extra performance,’ said one ad featuring a gentleman at least lifting his headgear but suspiciously not actually removing it altogether.
The car is great fun to drive, sharing the Morris Minor’s responsive torsion bar front suspension and rack-and-pinion steering and a delightfully slick and easy to use gearbox – though it lacks first gear synchromesh. The handbrake is easy to find ’twixt the two front seats, not hidden somewhere right of the driver or under the dash. The ride is supple and handling predictable yet entertaining, with some body roll and understeer and performance is more than adequate for today’s traffic. The brakes are good for an all-drum system but you could always improve matters by fitting a servo. And that engine is very tuneable.
Autocar summed up the Onepoint-five in 1957 as ‘a splendid little car destined without doubt for a successful career.’
The car cost £874 in 1957 against the Wolseley 1500’s £796, and never matched its sales. Many people must have been tempted to pay the extra, even if they didn’t in the end.