[D]

The Riley family had been long established as master weavers in Coventry, but loss of trade to Germany and Austria meant that by the time William Riley Junior took over in 1870 other means of income were required. He acquired the cycle works of Bonnick & Company Ltd. in 1890. William founded The Riley Cycle Company Ltd. on the 23rd May 1896 with premises adjoining the Bonnick works in King Street Coventry. About this time two companies were merged.

In 1896 Percy, aged 16, started to built a quadricycle in his own workshop (his father did no approve) and completed it some two years later in 1898. Many details of this vehicle were unusual, such as having a steering wheel instead of the normal tiller. Although never put into production, this car was used by the Riley family for many years.

In 1899 a quadricycle and a tricycle, both called "Royal Riley's" were produced by William and his two brothers Basil and Herbert. Despite Percy's earlier design, these two cars are usually reffered to as the first Riley's.

Over the next few years the Royal Riley was developed and some of the Riley bicycle designs were adapted to have engines. 1904 saw the first vehicle designed from the outset to have an engine, the Tricar. It was fitted with the first Riley designed engine from the Riley Engine works run by William's sons Percy, Victor and Allan from premises near the Coventry city wall.

From about 1905 a four wheeled Riley was developed and was ready by the end of 1906. 1907 saw the announcement of the first detachable road wheel, designed by Percy. These wheels became an important part of the company's business as demand became worldwide, 183 manufacturers paid to use the patent rights. The company nearly decided to concentrate on wheel production but William persuaded them otherwise and in 1912 a separate company was formed to manufacture wheels, this was eventually sold. Bicycles were discontinued in 1911 and a new Light Car was introduced in 1919, designed by Harry Rush. (Their first car not designed by a member of the Riley family). This car was the first to carry the diamond Riley badge.

Lord Nuffield bought Riley privately when they went into receivership, and later sold it to his own Morris Empire.

Throughout the 1930's Riley achieved much sporting success and became a make to be reckoned with. John Godfrey Parry Thomas built and raced the Brookland Riley Nine until his death in 1927, when the work was continued by Reid Railton who was then working with Thomson & Taylor.

The Pathfinder of 1953 to 1957 was the last Riley to use a Riley engine.

The 1957 1.5 litre model had a body shell that was intended to be the replacement for the Morris Minor 1000, but as the Minor was selling well this did not happen. The Riley 1.5 used the Minor's base frame (The Wolseley version was similarly constructed) with a twin carburettor version of the BMC B-Series engine. This was almost the MGA tune and gave the car a lively performance.

In 1961 a Riley version of the Mini appeared. It was named the Elf and had a better standard of internal trim than the standard car, but the most noticeable feature being the extended boot.

The last use of the Riley name was the Kestrel, a re-badging of BMC's 1100 and 1300 models, until British Leyland stopped using the name Riley in 1969.

E-Mail: history@britishmm.co.uk