as a kid in the 70s i spent many a day riding in my late fathers RILEY , the smell of those leather seats and hand cranking the motor are memories ill never forget 😍😀
I owned a 1946 1.5 RM as my first car. Cost me £12 in 1966 but I had to rebuild the engine as it had previously been driven with a knocking big end which scored the crank shaft. Learnt so much from working on that car in my teens. As the only car owner among my friends it took us out for trips to the coast, motor racing at Brands or Lydden Hill and anywhere there might be girls to chat up - that's as well as a 20 mile round trip to work every day. So many happy memories from that car made the time & cost spent maintaining it worth every penny. I eventually sold it to a Riley owners club member who showed it. He remained a member until his death a few years ago so I'm guessing the car is still about somewhere. Unfortunately I can't remember the Reg.
I feel happy about being in the fold now. Bought a left hand drive 1950 RMA from Joop Stolze and never regretted it: the technology (rack and pinion steering and torsion bar suspension) and the savvy and helpful club members make the Riley experience something special. Made real friends along the way if one may say in this age of modern media hypes about so-called friends and the like. And the Riley Club also has almosd all spare parts available to members. Very reassuring! Long live the club and long live Gwyn Morris!
Thought Joop Stolze didn't do Riley's. But maybe the sporty classical look willed him. He only does cars he likes. Most escpecially the luxurious classic sportscars and the rare ones of every make. I think he likes the sloped trunk. I think that got him. It gets me, for that matter.
My brother has the remains of a RM (not sure if a 1 1/2 or 2 1/12) and a Kestral plus has a Riley Special that raced at the Australian GP back in the 50s. He has been slowly restoring the Special and hopefully one day it will be completed. He has too many car restoration projects so I am not holding my breath.
I was a member for a good few years when I had my 1 and a half. Loved the car, and the spares set up was second to none. Sadly, my car had to go. It needed work beyond my expertise and pocket. It went to Germany, I believe. Hopefully it has now been properly restored and continues in use. I'd love another, preferably a 2 and a half, but couldn't part with my MG TD and Morris traveller.
Of all the cars that I've owned, my favourites are without doubt the two RMEs that I had, a long time ago now. Incidentally, my wife passed her driving test first time in one of them in 1974.
I owned a Pathfinder from 2012 to 2020; it was a lovely car! Chris Neal was extremely helpful when I had a clutch problem. I've got a Two-Point-Six now; another lovely car, but not quite as sleek and handsome.
@@paulmasonsjazz9611 i have 1 of us all at the front of the car somewhere taken in 84_85(it was just after ghost busters film came out) we had a ghostbusters sticker in the rear window lol. but no side views sadly. it was sold by the funeral directors because of to much work needed for its next mot. so we had it a few months till the mot ran out and it was sadly scraped. very bad rust, but the engine ran perfect.
I remember when I was about 9yrs old, 73yrs ago, there was a book shop just across the road from where I lived, parked outside was a Riley RM it was Black and I think it had a black vinyl roof, mounted on the rear bumper was a round canister which was chromed. I've always thought this was a Gas canister for the car to run on Gas. Hope this makes sence, I would love to know if this was possible those days.
That roadster would be a guaranteed flop in the US. The body style was 10-15 years old. By ‘49 American cars looked radically different. MG TDS did have some postwar luck though.
Have wondered why this Pre war style body was in production when the Pathfinder body must have been on the road around the time of the Wolsely 6/90 which must have had much body production comonality well before before 1957.
My father in law, a mechanical engineer, bought a 2.5 just after the launch. He drove it for a few days and found the steering peculiar. On inspection in a pit he decided the car was so badly made he could not risk his children it, so returned it to the dealer.
Was this the Pathfinder model introduced in the 1950's? There were quite a few complaints which were rectified by the factory but not before it was nicknamed the Ditchfinder by the motoring press....
The right hand floor shift would have ruled out a LHD version, The Last of the Wolseley 6/90 also had that RH floor shift. I saw an RM roadster on youtube once with a column gear shift which I thought was extraordinary, I don't know why the Column shift version was ever built.
@@paulmasonsjazz9611 Could that explain the Column shift I wonder?, always fancied a Riley in my youth down under, don't know if they were cheaper in the 2nd hand market in Britain.
@@adoreslaurel I guess the column shift was 'the latest thing' and also because of the front bench seat for three people. I had a 1950's Hillman Minx and my father had an A40 Devon, both of which had column change.
@@paulmasonsjazz9611 We had a Minx around the same time, lift the boot lid and eventually the one stay open jigger would bend the metal and a visit to the panel beaters was required to get it back into shap so that the rain would not get in when it was shut. We suffered a cracked cylinder head and one day up country on the highway the gearbox got noisy, a bolt holding a bracket for the exhaust pipe came loose and fell out draining the box, parents never used 1st gear for take off as it was so low.
The Club was established in 1969 with the intention to keep the RM's on the road by supplying spare parts and it is still our number one priority over 50 years later. Check out our website rileyrmclub.org.uk for more details. The Club is always interested in new technology. Do you have an interest in this sort of thing?
@@rileyrmclub I am a tool and die maker by trade just making a suggestion, I also send in suggestions to SpaceX one of which included mass producing rockets using a 3D printer. I find the Riley cars fascinating but I am starting 4 businesses and do not have time for a fifth. I am sure that at least one of your members would be eager to buy a Markforged metal working 3D printer to make spares especially if you have some of the original drawingsbecause of the money that could be earned. Cheers-Charlie
This Australian amateur film film, although high end and in colour , about the delivery and touring with his new 1951 Riley RM dream car may be of interest as colour film from this era is rare : ua-cam.com/video/bjAzzkI5vO4/v-deo.html The car was often seen in lots of his later films of Kenneth Carruthers Rankine (1890 - 1968) he called KENRA films.
Yes - the Riley company made a couple of sales tours to the US with the cars and the Roadster was designed for the American market, but was not the success they had hoped for. Rileys were on display at the 1949 New York Show and others. They are listed in the Standard Catalogue of Imported Cars. Distributors were set up including Inskip, Arnholt and Hambro.
@@paulmasonsjazz9611 RMs were also exported to Canada. Dad bought a 1950 RMB 2.5l from Percy Carriere's dealership in Ottawa. Shortly afterward, he was posted to the UK and the Riley made a second and third trip across the Atlantic.
@@herringchoker01 Thanks for the information. Did he buy it new and do you have any details / photos of the car? I know it is long time ago but its worth asking the question.
@@paulmasonsjazz9611 Dad had it until 1962. I last saw the car in the early 1970s - a friend asked me to tow it from near Smith's Falls, ON into Ottawa for a Dr McKercher. It was in sad shape - a rod through the block had apparently relegated it to chicken coop status. No word on it since.
@@paulmasonsjazz9611 This is my 3rd try to reply to your question. I'm guessing UA-cam is choking on the URL for my photo. The answers are: He did buy it new, and if you'd like a pointer to a photo, give me an email address. Cheers, Evan
Alot of these had the 4 speed floor change gear box removed and put into fj holdens here in Australia by people modifying their cars. My brother had a 1500 and a 2500 and sold both for their gear boxes.
@@rileyrmclub The person you sold your car to in Wales remembers buying it. Although he sold it again later, we are on the case and will see what we can find!
A truly marvelous and absolutely british documentary!!!!
as a kid in the 70s i spent many a day riding in my late fathers RILEY
, the smell of those leather seats and hand cranking the motor are memories ill never forget 😍😀
I owned a 1946 1.5 RM as my first car. Cost me £12 in 1966 but I had to rebuild the engine as it had previously been driven with a knocking big end which scored the crank shaft. Learnt so much from working on that car in my teens. As the only car owner among my friends it took us out for trips to the coast, motor racing at Brands or Lydden Hill and anywhere there might be girls to chat up - that's as well as a 20 mile round trip to work every day. So many happy memories from that car made the time & cost spent maintaining it worth every penny. I eventually sold it to a Riley owners club member who showed it. He remained a member until his death a few years ago so I'm guessing the car is still about somewhere. Unfortunately I can't remember the Reg.
I feel happy about being in the fold now. Bought a left hand drive 1950 RMA from Joop Stolze and never regretted it: the technology (rack and pinion steering and torsion bar suspension) and the savvy and helpful club members make the Riley experience something special. Made real friends along the way if one may say in this age of modern media hypes about so-called friends and the like. And the Riley Club also has almosd all spare parts available to members. Very reassuring! Long live the club and long live Gwyn Morris!
Thought Joop Stolze didn't do Riley's. But maybe the sporty classical look willed him. He only does cars he likes. Most escpecially the luxurious classic sportscars and the rare ones of every make. I think he likes the sloped trunk. I think that got him. It gets me, for that matter.
My brother has the remains of a RM (not sure if a 1 1/2 or 2 1/12) and a Kestral plus has a Riley Special that raced at the Australian GP back in the 50s. He has been slowly restoring the Special and hopefully one day it will be completed. He has too many car restoration projects so I am not holding my breath.
Excellent video 📹
I was a member for a good few years when I had my 1 and a half. Loved the car, and the spares set up was second to none. Sadly, my car had to go. It needed work beyond my expertise and pocket. It went to Germany, I believe. Hopefully it has now been properly restored and continues in use. I'd love another, preferably a 2 and a half, but couldn't part with my MG TD and Morris traveller.
Of all the cars that I've owned, my favourites are without doubt the two RMEs that I had, a long time ago now. Incidentally, my wife passed her driving test first time in one of them in 1974.
Zz😊žžz😩😩😊😊😊
7:02 😊 7:05 😊 7:07 😊
This model of Riley car much admired in the past and the Pathfinder was used by the London Metropolitan Police for catching the baddies.
always loved the Blue Diamond
nice music. belongs to perfect
I owned a Pathfinder from 2012 to 2020; it was a lovely car! Chris Neal was extremely helpful when I had a clutch problem. I've got a Two-Point-Six now; another lovely car, but not quite as sleek and handsome.
We used to have an old Riley pathfinder hurse in the mid 80s, we would ride around town at night with someone laying in the back lol.
WOW! I have never come across one of these in over 40 years in the Riley RM Club. Any photos by any chance, or more details?
@@paulmasonsjazz9611 i have 1 of us all at the front of the car somewhere taken in 84_85(it was just after ghost busters film came out) we had a ghostbusters sticker in the rear window lol. but no side views sadly. it was sold by the funeral directors because of to much work needed for its next mot. so we had it a few months till the mot ran out and it was sadly scraped. very bad rust, but the engine ran perfect.
@@ClassicTrialsChannel I'm the Riley RM Club Archivist and would love to see the photo if possible and add to the history of our favourite cars!!
I remember when I was about 9yrs old, 73yrs ago, there was a book shop just across the road from where I lived, parked outside was a Riley RM it was Black and I think it had a black vinyl roof, mounted on the rear bumper was a round canister which was chromed.
I've always thought this was a Gas canister for the car to run on Gas. Hope this makes sence, I would love to know if this was possible those days.
I had two of them. 1.5 L , 1953
underpowered, hahaha
I didnt know ,that time, where my first cars in 1962. never forgotten in the Netherlands
For more power there was the 2 1/2 litre version which keeps up with modern traffic with ease....
Great looking sedans, though the roadster looks ill proportioned. Like a home-made cut-down. GREAT video. THANKS!
It wasn't the prettiest of cars, but goes like a rocket, handles well and has a great exhaust note!
That roadster would be a guaranteed flop in the US. The body style was 10-15 years old. By ‘49 American cars looked radically different. MG TDS did have some postwar luck though.
It didn't have the success that they had hoped for, very true.
use to be called, the poor mans jaguar
Have wondered why this Pre war style body was in production when the Pathfinder body must have been on the road around the time of the Wolsely 6/90 which must have had much body production comonality well before before 1957.
My father in law, a mechanical engineer, bought a 2.5 just after the launch. He drove it for a few days and found the steering peculiar. On inspection in a pit he decided the car was so badly made he could not risk his children it, so returned it to the dealer.
Was this the Pathfinder model introduced in the 1950's? There were quite a few complaints which were rectified by the factory but not before it was nicknamed the Ditchfinder by the motoring press....
No not the Pathfinder. He changed his purchases to Rovers.
The right hand floor shift would have ruled out a LHD version, The Last of the Wolseley 6/90 also had that RH floor shift. I saw an RM roadster on youtube once with a column gear shift which I thought was extraordinary, I don't know why the Column shift version was ever built.
According to James Taylor's book Riley RM Series there were 43 LHD Roadsters produced and 2 LHD Roadster chassis out of a total of 507.
@@paulmasonsjazz9611 Could that explain the Column shift I wonder?, always fancied a Riley in my youth down under, don't know if they were cheaper in the 2nd hand market in Britain.
@@adoreslaurel I guess the column shift was 'the latest thing' and also because of the front bench seat for three people. I had a 1950's Hillman Minx and my father had an A40 Devon, both of which had column change.
@@paulmasonsjazz9611 We had a Minx around the same time, lift the boot lid and eventually the one stay open jigger would bend the metal and a visit to the panel beaters was required to get it back into shap so that the rain would not get in when it was shut. We suffered a cracked cylinder head and one day up country on the highway the gearbox got noisy, a bolt holding a bracket for the exhaust pipe came loose and fell out draining the box, parents never used 1st gear for take off as it was so low.
Bench front seat in the roadster meant nowhere else for the gear lever without offending the middle passenger?
I believe the fabric roof is because they don’t have a steel turret roof.
The Riley RM club should develop a set of 3D printer programs to build authentic new Riley Parts on demand.
The Club was established in 1969 with the intention to keep the RM's on the road by supplying spare parts and it is still our number one priority over 50 years later. Check out our website rileyrmclub.org.uk for more details. The Club is always interested in new technology. Do you have an interest in this sort of thing?
@@rileyrmclub I am a tool and die maker by trade just making a suggestion, I also send in suggestions to SpaceX one of which included mass producing rockets using a 3D printer. I find the Riley cars fascinating but I am starting 4 businesses and do not have time for a fifth. I am sure that at least one of your members would be eager to buy a Markforged metal working 3D printer to make spares especially if you have some of the original drawingsbecause of the money that could be earned. Cheers-Charlie
This Australian amateur film film, although high end and in colour , about the delivery and touring with his new 1951 Riley RM dream car may be of interest as colour film from this era is rare :
ua-cam.com/video/bjAzzkI5vO4/v-deo.html
The car was often seen in lots of his later films of Kenneth Carruthers Rankine (1890 - 1968) he called KENRA films.
Thank you - just catching up on comments! Thanks for the information, I will watch the film tomorrow and comment some more...
Were they exported to the USA?
Yes - the Riley company made a couple of sales tours to the US with the cars and the Roadster was designed for the American market, but was not the success they had hoped for. Rileys were on display at the 1949 New York Show and others. They are listed in the Standard Catalogue of Imported Cars. Distributors were set up including Inskip, Arnholt and Hambro.
@@paulmasonsjazz9611 RMs were also exported to Canada. Dad bought a 1950 RMB 2.5l from Percy Carriere's dealership in Ottawa. Shortly afterward, he was posted to the UK and the Riley made a second and third trip across the Atlantic.
@@herringchoker01 Thanks for the information. Did he buy it new and do you have any details / photos of the car? I know it is long time ago but its worth asking the question.
@@paulmasonsjazz9611 Dad had it until 1962. I last saw the car in the early 1970s - a friend asked me to tow it from near Smith's Falls, ON into Ottawa for a Dr McKercher. It was in sad shape - a rod through the block had apparently relegated it to chicken coop status. No word on it since.
@@paulmasonsjazz9611 This is my 3rd try to reply to your question. I'm guessing UA-cam is choking on the URL for my photo. The answers are: He did buy it new, and if you'd like a pointer to a photo, give me an email address. Cheers,
Evan
Beautiful cars. How cars should look.
I didn't like the cream and blue ones at the start.
Alot of these had the 4 speed floor change gear box removed and put into fj holdens here in Australia by people modifying their cars. My brother had a 1500 and a 2500 and sold both for their gear boxes.
As you may know, Healey used the RM drive train in its Silverstone and several other models.
My brother had a 4 speed Riley gearbox in his mk 2 zephyr in the 60s here in Australia
does anyone own riley 1.5l 1.5 liter reg no lrp993 here,helped my late dad restore it in the late 1970's sold it in wales about 1986 ish.
Hello Paul - I will ask our Registrar and we will let you know
@@rileyrmclub The person you sold your car to in Wales remembers buying it. Although he sold it again later, we are on the case and will see what we can find!
According to the DVLA the car has been off the road since 1997 - the last V5c was issued in April 1996.
Great video , not a fan of whitewalls though
What a shame this story is blighted by endless high pitched music.
Back in the mid 1990's it seemed the thing to do.... I prefer the sound of the cars myself.
difficult to think of a more inappropriate insto music
Riley s chocolate toffee rolls, delicious. anyone remember them?
err.... not the same company!!!
@@paulmasonsjazz9611 yes I know, but thought I'd still make the comment just to see if anyone remember so them