Riley Le Mans MPH Evocation

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Replica, evocation, copy. Sometimes the car you want is simply unattainable, so what do you do? Build one or course. Not all recreations, however, are equal. This is one of the best.

Riley themselves made 15 ‘replica’ six-cylinder Le Mans MPH cars as road-going versions (fitted with wings etc) of their super-successful Le Mans entries. These were built to celebrate six out of six finishers at Le Mans in 1934, the most successful of which finished second and third behind a blown 2.3 litre Alfa. The six cars that actually raced were also subsequently rebuilt into production cars by the factory – so finding an original car for sale will not be easy and financing it harder still.

DUU 823 is a Le Mans Evocation built on an original Riley Kestrel chassis suitably modified by master craftsman Nick Jarvis and lovingly assembled by marque expert Allen Clear. It has all the right parts in all the right places.

Its engine is a 1,633cc 14/6 six-cylinder unit fitted with a 12/6 cylinder head, bronze 1-3/8”carburettors and driving through a clutchless ERA-style pre-selector gearbox . The magneto is a Scintilla Vertex, the fuel pump is hand-operated and there is no speedo fitted (as with the original competition cars). The oversize Jaeger rev-counter more than makes up for this omission.

The car has MPH 18” wheels with 15” drums cable operated with torque-reaction rods as fitted by the factory in period. It also has a rare and desirable magnesium steering box. The bonnet has the correct off-set hinge, which allows instant single-sided access to all necessary under-bonnet functions.

This MPH deviates from the factory cars in one minor, but useful, point - the seat squab is removable to allow those who are more generously built to get behind the wheel comfortably: the vendor is 6’5” tall and built accordingly, so lesser mortals should have no problem fitting in.

This Riley is a cracker of car whatever you want to call it. It offers all the thrills of the real thing at a tiny fraction of the cost and will stand comparison with the original factory cars. And, given the estimate quoted, it’s a bit of bargain – try building one for less!