Riley

The Pathfinder is the last Riley with a Riley engine. 1953–57, 5,536 built: a 2443cc twin-cam four, twin SU, 110bhp, 12in Girling drums with a Clayton Dewandre servo as standard, torsion-bar independent front suspension, and coil rear springs changing to leaf late in production. The body was designed by Gerald Palmer alongside the Wolseley 6/90. Then, August 1957, the Two-Point-Six arrives — virtually identical to the Wolseley 6/90 Series III, with the 2639cc BMC C-series replacing the Riley Big Four. That is the moment. Everything after it is a badge on somebody else’s car.

The Riley One-Point-Five is the one Morris Minor owners come looking for, and they are right to. It shares the Minor’s floorpan, torsion-bar front suspension and rack-and-pinion steering — and nothing else. Different body, 1489cc B-series engine, MG Magnette gearbox. And it is not a Wolseley 1500 with a badge either. The Riley runs twin 1½in SU H4 carburettors against the Wolseley’s single 1¼in, a sportier cylinder head, 68bhp against about 50 — and, critically, a larger Girling brake system where the Wolseley runs a smaller Lockheed one. Those Girling brakes are sought after as a Morris Minor upgrade, which is why this car matters to us out of all proportion to the 19,568 built. November 1957 to 1965; Series II from May 1960, Series III from October 1961, and from October 1962 uprated internals — crank and bearings from the 1622cc Austin Cambridge unit, but still 1489cc.

The Farina Rileys are Oxfords with twin carburettors and a rev counter. 4/68 (Apr 1959–1961, 10,940 built) and 4/72 (Oct 1961–1969, 14,151 built): 1489cc then 1622cc B-series, twin SU HD4, 64bhp and 68bhp, and Girling hydraulic 9in drums front and rear like every other four-cylinder Farina. Riley is the only one of the five Farina badges with a rev counter as standard, and Riley and Wolseley have slightly less acute tail fins than the Austin and Morris — a panel difference, not a glass one. One more first worth knowing: the 4/72 was the first mass-produced car in Europe to adopt the Borg-Warner 35 automatic.

The Kestrel is an ADO16 with three round dials. September 1965 to 1969, 21,529 Riley Kestrel and 1300 cars built. Twin SU throughout — 55bhp on the 1098, 65bhp and then 70bhp from October 1968 on the 1275 — against the single SU on the Austin and Morris cars. Shell, glass, body rubber, subframes, 8in front discs, rear drums and Hydrolastic are all common to all six ADO16 badges: one windscreen seal, ARA1392 / ES35, fits the lot. There is no Riley estate — the Traveller and Countryman are Morris and Austin only. Search both “Kestrel” and “1300”; no source we found states whether the name was formally changed mid-run.

And the Riley Elf, which is the New Zealand one. A booted Mini, October 1961 to 1969, 30,912 built, and 1,975 of them were assembled in New Zealand between 1965 and 1970. Mk1 848cc, Mk2 998cc with twin-leading-shoe front brakes introduced, Mk3 998cc; rubber cone springs 1961–63, Hydrolastic from October 1964. It has unique rear windows, pillars, quarterlights, chrome trim and body panels, so Mini body rubber does not all cross — which is the single most useful thing to know before ordering anything for one.