Lot Ended
Description
Wonderfully handsome 'Big Four' Riley; restored in 2,000 and only
3,000 miles since; recent major service; few owners; lots of history; nice
transferable number plate; driven 30 miles to the sale; advisory-free MOT; lots
to love about this one
We are big fans
of the Riley RM Series here at Brightwells – what a supremely elegant car it is.
Low-slung and rakish the RMB, like its RMF successor, had the fabulous Riley 2.5
‘Big Four’ under its long bonnet, a 100bhp twin-cam that has long been a
favourite with specials builders. Donald Healey built a whole string of fine
sportscars using this engine and the Police loved it too – no Fifties bank
robber could outrun a cop in a well-driven RMB.
Coachbuilt in the
traditional way with a luxurious interior allied to excellent ride and
roadholding for its era, the RM Series proved very popular with the middle class
buyers it was aimed at, around 6,900 RMBs being sold between 1946 and
1952.
First registered in the East Riding of Yorkshire in January 1950,
this splendid RMB comes with a large history file extending back many years,
with details of all seven previous owners in buff and green logbooks on file
(the V5C states three former keepers but DVLA long since gave up recording
owners from the distant past).
From
1969 – 1976 it was owned by a Mr R Timperley of Grantham who sold it to a Mr W
Grossett of Whitchurch in September 1976. It seems that Mr Grossett left the car
with a fellow Riley owner in Lincs to check it over and get it MOT tested before
Mr G came to collect it and drive it 100+ miles back to Shropshire.
A
letter from this friend waxes lyrical about how good it was to drive, being much
faster than his own Riley 1.5: “I am very impressed with the car… It rides well,
much more comfortable than my Riley, and has excellent performance… At speed it
lopes along, 60mph is a whiff of throttle and it is very smooth…”. He goes on to
say that the brakes impressed him too but he didn’t like to go over 60mph in the
dark because the headlights weren’t good enough for such a fast car!
Mr G
was to keep the RMB for the next 40 years and looked after it very well, as
detailed in numerous invoices on file. He had the bodywork restored by NJ
Bethell of Oswestry in August 1985 (see penultimate photo) and the interior was
retrimmed by a Mr Barlow of Crewe who worked for Rolls-Royce – and my does it
still look good today.
An engineer’s report dated
February 1986 gave the restored car a glowing report in all departments, stating
that it should be insured for at least £2,250, the mileage at this point being
00816. Another engineer’s report when the car had done 1,302 miles (sadly not
dated but c.1989 judging from the old MOTs) says it should command a value of at
least £4,000 “or even more to an enthusiast” - this being the time when the
classic car market had just begun to take off.
There are lots of bills
for subsequent maintenance, including a major overhaul of the brakes, steering
and suspension by Nigel Pocock of High Heath Garage in Market Drayton in April
2000 which cost over £5,200. The following month he carried out some minor
bodywork repairs and repainted the whole car which cost another £3,000, the
mileage at this point being c.6,000.
In August 2013 the top end of the
engine was stripped and rebuilt to cure an oil leak (see last photo). The
compressions were all tested at the same time, cylinders 1 – 3 recording 150 and
cylinder 4 recording 145, the mileage at this point being 7,876. In July 2015
the carbs were overhauled.
Mr Grossett finally
sold the car in August 2016 and it subsequently appeared in one of our auctions
in summer last year where it was acquired by the current vendor. A seasoned
Vintage car enthusiast and restorer who enjoys tinkering with old
cars to keep him busy in his retirement, he has gone right through the car to
tidy up some cosmetic details and ensure that it is fighting fit
mechanically.
A quick tot-up of the invoices
shows that he has spent around £1,800 on parts alone. Items of note include:
reconditioned rear lever arm shock absorbers and leaf springs and suspension
adjusted to restore the correct ride height; new half shafts and rear hub oil
seals; various new belts and hoses; Tudor windscreen washer bottle; new side
window weatherstrips and window channels; chassis and floors rust-proofed pained
and undersealed; new pedal rubbers and furflex sections as required; interior
woodwork revarnished; new rear bumper quarter blade; new boot rubber, bonnet
slam rubber and sound deadening material. It also received various new
electrical parts and a thorough grease-up and service.
Although it no longer needs one, in April this year it was submitted
for an MOT which it passed with no advisories recorded. Driven 30 miles to the
sale, we are told that it drives as well as it looks and it has been starting
promptly and running very nicely as we have moved it around on site, with
healthy oil pressure.
As you can see in the photos, this is an immensely
handsome car, with a lovely interior and just a few minor bodywork imperfections
here and there, principally at the base of the boot lid.
On offer here at a sensible guide price, this well-historied and
freshly rejuvenated Riley is now in search of an enthusiastic new keeper who can
reap the rewards of all the good work carried out to date. The icing on the cake
is the original East Riding-issue number plate, GWF 444, which is transferable
and doubtless has a significant value of its own.
As you can probably
tell by now, we like this car a lot and we are sure that you will too,
so do come and see it!
Consigned by James Dennison – 07970 309907
– james.dennison@brightwells.com