Riley RMF Saloon

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Low-slung, rakish and elegant, the RM series was the last range of cars to be developed independently by Riley before the 1952 merger of Riley's Nuffield Organisation with Austin to form BMC. Originally made in Coventry, by 1949 production had moved to the MG works at Abingdon.

The first two cars in the series, Riley's four seater 1.5 litre RMA Saloon and 2.5 litre RMB Saloon, were introduced in 1945 with low, streamlined styling and an opulent interior designed to appeal to the more discerning motorist. The cars were built on separate chassis assemblies with unstressed, ash-framed steel panel work and a fabric-covered roof.

Power for the RMA came from a 1,496cc overhead valve four-cylinder engine producing 54bhp, which propelled the car to a top speed of 75mph. The RMB was fitted with the larger 2,443cc 'Big-Four' with twin camshafts mounted high at the sides of the cylinder block, hemispherical combustion chambers and twin SU carbs. The bigger engine initially produced 90bhp but this was later increased to 100bhp for 1948, with a comfortable 95mph top speed.

Noted for its outstanding handling, the RMA was summed up by Motor magazine as follows: “With its many traditional British features, its good road manners and its excellent build quality and finish, the latest Riley will appeal to discerning drivers whose taste runs to an individual car of very pleasing up-to-date line.”

With the RMB having a similar chassis, this favourable appraisal could be applied to the whole RM range. In 1952 the RMA was replaced by the RME, whilst the bigger-engined RMB was replaced with the RMF. The later cars were essentially the same as the earlier models, although the RME / RMF cars had a bigger rear window which improved visibility. The later cars also had fully hydraulic drum brakes rather than the hydro-mechanical system of the earlier cars and featured independent torsion bar front suspension and rack-and-pinion steering which gave excellent ride and handling for the era.

In production for less than two years, just 1,050 RMFs were made before it was replaced by the Pathfinder in 1954 and survivors are highly prized today, a really nice example making over £20,000 at Brightwells only last month.

First registered in Nottinghamshire in November 1952, this RMF had only four previous keepers before joining the Stondon Collection in 1995, shortly after its last recorded MOT which stated that the car had done just over 51,000 miles at that date. Accompanied by its modern V5 document and aforementioned MOT, the file for the car is otherwise low on details but who needs paperwork when a car looks this good!