Tag Archives: riley

Riley RMC

Posted on by
Reply

1951 Riley RMC

Offered by H&H Classics | Buxton, U.K. | November 30, 2022

Photo – H&H Classics

Riley’s RM series of cars picked up after WWII where the pre-war Kestrel had left off. What started as the RMA in 1945 would eventually progress through the RMF in 1953. The RMC was produced between 1948 and 1951 and was only available as a roadster.

These cars always struck me as a little awkwardly proportioned. The wheelbase just looks too long. But otherwise it’s an attractive post-war sporting body with suicide doors. Power is from a 2.5-liter inline-four that made 100 horsepower. It was enough to push the car to 100 mph. Sixty took an agonizing 16.5 seconds.

Over four years of production, just over 500 of these (507 to be exact) were built. This one is finished in good colors and is described in the catalog as “self-maintained” – which I think means it maintains itself? It has an estimate of $33,000-$38,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.

Update: Not sold, H&H Classics, Duxford March 2023.

Riley Ulster Imp

Posted on by
Reply

1934 Riley Nine Ulster Imp

Offered by Bonhams | Chichester, U.K. | September 17, 2022

Photo – Bonhams

The Riley Nine is one of those British cars that pops up everywhere in a variety of forms. They were successful sports cars in their day, with the production run of the Nine lasting from 1926 through 1938. No less than 19 factory styles were offered in that period.

In 1927, Riley introduced a sporting, or speed, model called the Brooklands. It featured a low chassis and cycle fenders. Development continued through 1931, at which time they sort of hit a wall before shifting to a new sports model, dubbed the Ulster Imp, after the car’s success in the Ulster Rally. One such car also finished 13th at the 1934 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The Imp featured a short-wheelbase chassis and is powered by a 1.1-liter inline-four. It retained the sporty narrow body, tapered tail, and cycle fenders of its predecessor. Imp production lasted from 1933 through 1935. The cars were capable of about 75 mph. This particular car was purchased new by a one Freddie Clifford, who raced it at Ulster. It then was relocated to South Africa with its second owner. Competition history from that point includes:

  • 1937 South African Grand Prix – 2nd (with Buller Meyer)
  • 1938 South African Grand Prix – 3rd (with Ronnie Richardson)

The car was returned to the U.K. in 2008 for use in historic events. It’s now estimated at $185,000-$210,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.

Riley-BMW Daytona Prototype

Posted on by
Reply

2012 Riley-BMW Mk XXVI

Offered by Mecum | Chattanooga, Tennessee | October 15-16, 2021

Photo – Mecum

Daytona prototypes were a cool era of American sportscar racing. Basically the Grand-Am, then IMSA, version of an LMP1 car, they were the top dog in Grand-Am and American-based sports car racing starting with their debut in 2003. This is actually a third-generation DP, which debuted in 2012 and lasted through 2016.

This era was more creative than previous generations, as those tended to all look like the same block of soap with wheels. The third gen featured this Riley chassis and the Corvette DP, which looked different enough to be recognizable on its own.

Riley Technologies was founded in 2001 by Bob Riley (of race car constructor Riley & Scott) and his son Bill. The Riley DP chassis were pretty successful, being competitive from 2003 through 2016. This car features a way-too-busy livery and is powered by a 5.0-liter BMW V8.

It’s an ex-Michael Shank Racing car and comes with two spare engines. Its specific race history is unknown. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: ?? Not listed as sold or not sold. So presumably sold and Mecum is hiding the result from everyone.

June 2018 Auction Highlights, Pt. II

Posted on by
Reply

Bonhams held back to back sales the first weekend of June. In addition to their Aston Martin sale, they also had their sale at the Greenwich Concours. While the 1907 Thomas-Detroit we featured was an incredible bargain at $61,600, the top seller was this slightly more expensive 1965 Aston Martin DB5 Convertible for $1,450,000.

Photo – Bonhams

The National Model 50 we featured brought $147,840. Both cars from Carroll Shelby’s personal collection that we featured sold, with the Ram Prototype bringing $33,040 and the V-8 Can-Am $100,800. The Panhard and Lozier both failed to sell. Click here for complete results.

Next up, we have the second of Osenat’s June sales. This was a more traditional sale. The Matra we featured sold for $24,462 and the top sale was $322,023 for this 1930 Bugatti Type 49 Roadster (it’s kind of an assembled car so the year is sort of a guess). More results can be found here.

Photo – Osenat

Onward to Barrett-Jackson’s Northeast sale. The top sale here was a charity combo lot: $1,000,000 for the last production Viper and Challenger Demon.

Photo – Barrett-Jackson

Meanwhile, back in Reality Land, the Whippet we featured sold for $13,970 and the Model T-based Mercury Speedster $24,200. Click here for complete results.

On the complete other side of the country we’ve got Mecum in Portland, Oregon. Shockingly, this Mecum sale saw a 2005 Ford GT take top sale honors, this one bringing $214,500.

Photo – Mecum

The Gardner Radio Special we featured failed to sell. Click here for more results from Portland.

And now Brightwells’ Bicester Classic & Vintage sale. The Bitter SC we featured failed to meet its reserve and the Buckler was withdrawn. The top sale was this 1935 Riley Amilcar Special that brought $175,581. Click here for complete results.

Photo – Brightwells

One of the First Riley Cars

Posted on by
Reply

1905 Riley 9HP V-Twin

Offered by Brightwells | Bicester, U.K. | April 5, 2017

Photo – Brightwells

In 1896, William Riley Jr. bought and renamed the Bonnick Cycle Company and began building bicycles under his own name. In 1898, his 16-year-old son Percy built his first automobile, which is pretty incredible. William wanted no part of this, so Percy and two of this brothers started their own company in 1902. Four-wheeled vehicles first appeared in 1905, making this one of the first Riley cars ever built. The last Riley car was sold in 1969 and BMW owns the dormant marque today.

Powered by a nine horsepower, 1.0-liter V-twin, this early Riley is thought to have been sold new in New Zealand. It wasn’t until 2009 that it returned home to England. Its restoration was completed over a 30 year period (!) that ended in 2004.

Only three 1905, 9HP Rileys are known to exist and with the lack of records kept, this could be the earliest known survivor. It could even be the first Riley built. It does run and drive and is being sold with its own covered trailer included. It should bring between $57,000-$63,500. Click here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $47,196.

Riley Nine Gamecock

Posted on by
Reply

1932 Riley Nine Gamecock

Offered by H&H Auctions | Duxford, U.K. | April 15, 2015

Photo - H&H Auctions

Photo – H&H Auctions

The Riley Nine was a very successful car built by Riley Limited between 1926 and 1938. I’m not quite sure what the American equivalent of this car would have been as the Ford Model A is a little too prevalent, but nonetheless, this was one of Britain’s most successful pre-WWII automobiles.

This car is powered by a 1.1-liter straight-four that was powerful enough to propel it car up to 70 mph. This is the Gamecock model and it was only produced between 1931 and 1932 in two-seat roadster form, although Nines were available in a variety of body styles.

This car is one of about 52 Gamecocks known to have survived. It has had over $10,000 worth of work done in the past year and is presented in bare metal, which actually looks pretty good. It is expected to sell for between $48,000-$55,000. Click here for more info and here for the rest of H&H’s auction lineup.

Update: Sold $47,144.

Riley Tricar

Posted on by
Reply

1904 Riley Tricar

For Sale at Hyman Ltd. | St. Louis, Missouri

Photo - Hyman Ltd.

Photo – Hyman Ltd.

Riley was founded in 1890 in Coventry, England, to build bicycles. Their first car came in 1898, making them one of England’s oldest car manufacturers. Motorcycles came first, so the Tricar was a natural step between two and four-wheeled vehicles.

The first Tricar was sold in 1900 and four-wheelers didn’t come along until 1905. This Tricar uses a steering wheel instead of a tiller, which was common on early cars. The engine is a V-Twin. The restoration is described as “older” but it looks fantastic.

The final Riley cars were built in 1969. BMW currently owns the marque and hasn’t revived it. This interesting car is currently for sale in St. Louis for somewhere near $100,000. Click here for more info.

Bonhams 2012 Beaulieu Sale Highlights

Posted on by
Reply

We featured three cars from Bonhams September 8, 2012 sale held at the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu, Hampshire. The Waldron Wayfarer was withdrawn. The Wolseley Seven sold for $18,774 and the 1913 Humberette brought $36,809. Top sale went to a 1925 Bentley 3/4.25-Litre Speed Model Red Label Tourer for $253,000.

1925 Bentley 3/4½-Litre Speed Model Red Label Tourer

Right behind that was this 1927 Bugatti Type 40 Roadster for $239,000.

There were a pair of interesting Delages at this auction, first: a 1913 Type R4 Two-Seat Raceabout (first below) for $68,000. And then a 1938 D6-70 Tourer with coachwork by Coachcraft. It (second below) sold for $82,800.

1913 Delage Type R4 Two Seater 'Raceabout'

1938 Delage D6-70 Tourer Coachwork by Coachcraft

Other cars of interest included this 1910 Star 15hp Tourer. This is from the British Star Motor Company – entirely separate from the American marque of the same name that operated during the same period. This big touring car brought $57,000.

As far as oddball cars go, this 1958 Merry Olds Runabout is a 1950s replica of a Curved-Dash Oldsmobile from around 1902. There were a couple of companies that built such cars in the 1950s. This one was built by The Air Products Corporation of Ft. Lauderdale. These were not kit cars, but actual low-volume production cars with a throwback look. Now, why anyone would’ve wanted it for anything other than a novelty, I don’t know. I guess it would be nice to have the disposable income to buy a novelty car. It sold for $12,800.

1958 Merry Olds Runabout

And finally, there was this amazingly-sporty 1935 Riley 1.5-Litre Kestrel. This thing looks mean. The low-slung drophead coupe body was custom built during restoration and no doubt looks better than the saloon body it replaced. It sold for $99,100.

For complete results, click here.

 

 

 

August Auction Catch-Up

Posted on by
Reply

There were quite a number of high-profile sales during August during Pebble Beach and whatnot. I think it’s important not to overlook any other sales that went down around the time that more or less got lost in the shuffle. Yeah, they were much smaller in nature, but here’s a rundown of three from our calendar. First, the most recent, H&H’s sale at Stoneleigh Park on August 28th didn’t yield any significant highlights, but you can check out full results here. H&H’s August 8th sale at Donnington Priory had a few highlights, among them, the top sale, $258,000 for a 1967 Aston Martin DB6.

1967 Aston Martin DB6

The other sale we are looking at is Silverstone’s August 25-26 “CarFest South/Pride & Joy” sale. Among the highlights was this 1976 Alpine A310 for $23,470.

Then there was this 1969 Lancia Fulvia Zagato for $18,800.

A couple of older cars included, from H&H, this 1949 Riley RMC 2.5-Litre Drophead Coupe, one of only 507 produced. It needs a little work but still managed $25,500.

1949 Riley RMC 2.5-Litre

And from Silverstone, this 1938 Morgan 4/4 looks awfully good but it is consigned as “may need some mechanical freshening.” It sold for $28,500.

1938 Morgan 4/4

The final car from H&H’s sale was this 1982/97 Mark Phillips Cobra. I think I might try and squeeze in every obscure Cobra replica marque that I can when I do an auction recap. This one brought $23,300.

1982/97 Mark Phillips Cobra Replica

Some newer cars, from the Silverstone sale, included the top seller, a 2006 Ultima GTR (below) for $63,000. And then a 1994 Marcos Mantara 400 (second below) for $16,700.

And finally, one of my all time favorites, a 1972 Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV. This one looks near-immaculate in red. The price of $24,700 doesn’t really scare me as much as my bank account hopes it would.

1972 Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV

For complete results from Silverstone, click here. And from H&H’s Donnington sale, here.