Lea-Francis

[Mickey Richaud]

Bet few of us have seen one of these:

https://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/195...1578261?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item416ec99295

 

[Mickey Richaud]

And what're the odds TWO would be on ebay at the same time??

https://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/195...6?item=200852697756&ViewItem=&forcev4exp=true

 

[pdplot]

Back in 1955, I had the late Jim Pauley replace an MG TD motor with blown rod bearings with a 1767 cc Lea-Francis engine. Typical british monkey-motion valve train with two camshafts - and pushrods. This was the smaller of two engine made by L-F.The conversion never did work out. The MG rear end ration at 5.125 to 1 meant that the Leaf engine was spinning around at about 6000 rpm since the gearbox ratios were different. Worst of all, the gearbox would slip out of second gear on deceleration. I had visions of racing this car and at a drivers school at the old Thompson track in NE CT, it came out of gear in the middle of the "clubhouse turn" - I spun out and did a 180. End of racing career of that car - traded even up for a new renault 4CV from Pauley who had become a dealer for these little POSs. I wonder what ever became of the car? If anyone has any knowledge of the car, please get in touch with me at pdplot2@gmail.com.

 

[DART]

That is wild, of the 3 in the US 2 are for sale at the same time. Be interesting to see what it takes to make reserve...if one of them does. How would you like to take yours to a high end show and find this other one there too?

 

[70herald]

The first one used to belong to the Gilmore car museum. If you ever go through South West Michigan it is worth stopping at the Gilmore Car museum. They have a very nice collection.

 

[Dinky]

I saw a great one this year the woody wagon

 

[pdplot]

Those cars have the 2 1/2 liter engine, not the 1767 cc engine my MG TD had. The larger engine would appear to be the same as the Riley, at least as to size and the crazy two-cam pushrod valve actuation. Brings to mind the old saying "Give an Englishman a piece of sheet metal and he's sure to do something stupid with it".

 

[mikephillips]

I prefer to think of them as, creative thinkers.....

 

[Roger]

Clearly you gentlemen know little about the successes of Riley and ERA in pre-war racing, or you wouldn't be quite so sarky about the engine design.

 

[pdplot]

Sarky? You must mean Freddy Dixon or Raymond Mays...or snarky? Or is it Sparky?

 

[Roger]

Sarky = Britspeak slang sarcastic.

 

[pdplot]

OK. Never heard the expression before. I thought it was a typo. Despite its racing successes, you have to admit the design was rather strange - two camshafts driving pushrods. I did like the looks of the Riley, one or two of which were seen back in the '50s here in CT. Are there any left?

 

[Roger]

The Riley design gave hemispherical combustion chambers without the complications (or increased overall size) of overhead camshafts, and still, thanks to the relatively high-set camshafts, some reduction in valve gear reciprocating weight.
Bear in mind that decarbonising your engine from time to time was standard practice in those far-off days, and removing and replacing OHC cylinder heads was not a task to be taken lightly.
By the way, as an extreme example of the need for simplicity, the side-valve Morris engine that replaced the much superior OHC engine in the Minor of the time was a much more popular engine! Thankfully, the OHC engine persisted in MG cars.

As to whether any Rileys still exist, a visit to any Vintage Sports Car Club meeting in England will have a number of Rileys on display, and the majority of ERA racing cars still exist and are actively raced.
I took the attached photos at Prescott hill climb last year. One shows a number of competing Rileys in the paddock, the other shows one of the most famous of ERAs, R4D, warming up. These cars usually have the entire dive line warmed through - as you can see, the rear wheels are off the ground, so the rather primitive chocks are only "just in case".

As a matter of further interest, the Lea Francis engine was developed into a Formula 2 engine that powered Connaught racing cars in the early 50s, and a number of those still exist too.

 

[pdplot]

I dimly remember the Connaught. One raced at Watkins Glen back around 1950. Last time I was in London a few years ago, I didn't see many older cars. I guess they're in garages. I did see a new MG and an Alfa, neither of which were imported here.

 

[aeronca65t]

This Riley (below) is owned by a VSCCA member here in the eastern USA. This fairly recent picture was taken near the Hershey Hotel, in Hershey, PA. I've seen this car...it's very, very nice. A '35 Riley MPH roadster.

Here's a very different "Riley". It's more of a hot rod that started with a '29 Brooklands. Most of us today know it as the "Ardent Alligator".

Here's a little quote from another websource about the Alligator:

This Riley Brooklands was first owned by Freddie Dixon. It was later purchased by Sam and Miles Collier who brought it to the United States where it was raced extensively. In the late 1930's it was given a Mercury Flathead V8 which greatly increased its power and performance.
Undoubtedly one of its most prestigious and most memorable victory came in 1949 when it took first place at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix. The win at Watkins Glen was very memorable, beating out the famous American sportsman, Briggs Cunningham, who was piloting a Ferrary 166 Spyder. The Riley proved it was quick and reliable, lasting the 99 laps at an impressive speed of 68.46 mph on this difficult and challenging track.

Today the Alligator is owned by my friend, Pete McManus. I have raced against it many times.

Here's me chasing Pete in the Alligator in a rainy practice session at Summit Point a few years ago. He passes me about 30 seconds into the video.

 

[pdplot]

You're a braver man than I, sir. Quite a race. One summer of racing proved one thing to me - I was good in a straight line.