Any Riley owners?

[Silverghost]

I have become interested in Rileys....thinking about an Elf for a partner to our Mini. Also interested in other Rileys. I am especially fond of pre-war British cars and pre-war cars in general. I am not that familiar with the marque and would be interested in hearing from others.

 

[zblu]

Had a Pathfinder once circa, '52 I think, gearchange between seat and door!, from mem was twin su carb and around 1.5l, had a good design from mem re engineering etc, was a saloon about mgy size

 

[Steve]

Rileys were always considered one of the sporting marques. Even under the BMC flag they were treated as the upmarket "sporty" brand. Nice cars, well made.

 

[Silverghost]

Do they tend to be finicky like some of their more famous bretheren? I have been reading much lately about the tendency of our beloved cars to fail to procede. Which has made me wonder - in general were these british cars as problematic when they were new? It seems to me that they had to be respectable cars when built otherwise the makers wouldn't have lasted. I know some makers faded away, others still exist. Just some thoughts.

 

[JPSmit]

yes they were - partly because all cars of that era were - Maverick/ Pinto/ etc. etc. but also because of the terrible build quality of British cars that essentially killed the industry. Lots of reasons for that including - labour issues/ national ownership and a steadfast refusal to modernize

 

[Roger]

Pre-WW2 Riley made some very nice sports cars as well as some interesting saloons. The marque continued after the war, but pretty quickly lost its identity when it became part of the BMC badge-engineering company.
There's nothing fundamental to distinguish a Riley Elf froma Wolseley Hornet, for example.
They're no better nor worse than any other of their UK contemporaries, which somehow always seem to have done a lot worse overseas!

 

[weewillie]

my buddy used to have a nice riley 1.5 with wire wheels now he has this

https://www.formulalibreireland.com/images/profiles/ken_fildes_car.jpg

 

[Twosheds]

<span style="font-style: italic">My</span> buddy has this Riley 2.5 litre Drophead Coupe. It was built post-war ('50, I think) but uses pre-war technology. It's a rather large and heavy car.

The engine is a large and heavy pre-war design. It's a double-underhead cam layout. This makes it very tall. It wouldn't fit in my buddy's SUV height-wise. We put it in my truck to take it to be overhauled and it barely fit under the cap.

The overhauler wanted to remove the engine from my tailgate with his 4WD Kubota backhoe tractor. We hooked the engine to the bucket with a lift chain. I kept signalling him to raise the bucket, but it was at its max height and still wouldn't lift the engine from the tailgate.

So he backed the Kubota and slid the engine off the tailgate. The tailgate flew up and the engine went down! The back tires of the Kubota were off the ground.

Being in aviation, I understand weight and balance, so I ran (yes, I can run a few steps) and stood on the three point hitch. My buddy followed suit. The overhauler put the tractor in 4WD because the back tires had no traction.

It will be a neat car when done.

By the way, he also has two other Rileys. They're sorta Morris Minor-lookin' little sedans from the sixties or so. Cute little buggers.

 

[Silverghost]

You might guess from my user ID which marque holds a special place in my heart. I find the Rileys like the one above have a similar elegance. And the name begins with an R!

 

[weewillie]

You might guess from my user ID which marque holds a special place in my heart. I find the Rileys like the one above have a similar elegance. And the name begins with an R!

Reliant? :thumbsup:

 

[Roger]

You might guess from my user ID which marque holds a special place in my heart. I find the Rileys like the one above have a similar elegance. And the name begins with an R!

Reliant? :thumbsup:

He probably prefers R-R in full. Like Reliant Regal, or Robin maybe...