Riley 9 Special

The Riley company motto, “As old as the industry – as modern as the hour” summed up the product range very nicely. Their masterstroke came in 1926 when the Nine was announced.

The chassis, suspension and bodywork were the work of Stanley Riley, whilst the hugely talented Percy Riley designed the brilliant little 9hp engine. This 1087cc four-cylinder unit thrived on high revs, which it would happily and reliably maintain for long periods of time thanks to its clever design.

Twin camshafts were mounted high in the block, making for short and light pushrods which operated valves set at 45 degrees to the head. This, coupled with a crossflow head design, enabled prodigious power to be extracted from this willing unit which soon became a big favourite with builders of Riley Specials.

This 1930 example has been owned by the vendor since 1986. Shortly after acquiring it from its mid-Wales hiding place, he took the engine to Riley ‘ace’ Ian Gladstone of Blue Diamond Services. He rebuilt the engine with high compression pistons and then taped up the carburettors, exhaust ports and water manifold for storage. The project then stalled until the owner recently decided that it was time to pass this super project onto a new owner.

The car comes with: an old style buff log book; headlights; sidelights; 4-into-1 stainless exhaust manifold; engine (which turns freely) with carburettors; gearbox with remote extension; spare head and sump; dynamo; front and rear shock absorbers; pedals; steering column with hand controls as well as a host of other small parts. It has also had a skimpy lightweight body fitted at some point which remains eminently serviceable and its chassis has been shortened to give a wheelbase of around 7’6”.

A great basis for next year's trial or race car, this special has all the right ingredients and has had much of the necessary expenditure already covered. Opportunities like this don't come along very often...