1936 Riley 12/4 Adelphi

Description

Pretty little Riley 1.5 twin-cam saloon, well-known to the Club; previous owner 20+ years; engine requires attention; rare model at an enticing guide price

One of the most respected names in British motoring history, Riley produced an amazingly wide variety of sporting road cars during the 1920s and 30s, sales being boosted by an equally impressive competition record which established the Coventry-based marque as a worthy rival to the likes of Alvis, Aston Martin and HRG.

The bedrock of Riley’s success was the immortal Nine which they launched in 1926. The chassis, suspension and bodywork were the work of Stanley Riley, while the hugely talented Percy Riley designed the brilliant little 9hp engine. This 1,087cc 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. Coupled with an ingenious crossflow head, this enabled prodigious power to be extracted from this willing unit.

Introduced at the 1934 Olympia Motor Show, the Riley 12/4 successfully built on the Nine’s greatest strength – its excellent twin-cam engine. Modified and enlarged to 1.5 litres, the new engine produced 51bhp and gave the 12/4 a top speed in excess of 70mph, impressive performance for its class.

In true Riley style, various bodies were available on the 12/4 chassis, including upright saloons like the Adelphi, the Falcon and the Merlin plus the more streamlined Kestrel. The Lynx was the open model along with numerous highly-tuned racing specials, buyers able to choose between manual or pre-selector gearboxes. For 1936, the 12/4 was renamed the 1½ Litre and this most tunable power unit would remain in production right up until 1955 with the demise of the RME model.

First registered in Bedfordshire in November 1936, this Adelphi sadly comes with no real history so we can’t tell you much about it. Our vendor, who is the 7^th owner according to the V5C, acquired the car at an auction in June this year at which point it had been owned by a Riley Club member for the previous 20+ years and was well-known to the Riley Register.

In light regular use during his ownership, it was ‘running like a sewing machine’ according to the auctioneers. There are many old tax discs on file and a check of the MOT history online shows that it was tested every year from 2006 – 2022, always passing with no advisories recorded and covering just over 1,000 miles during this period.

Our vendor was delighted with the car and used it regularly over the summer, including a couple of trips to VSCC events at Prescott, reporting that it drove really well in all departments with the pre-selector gearbox working as it should.

Unfortunately the head gasket then blew so our vendor bought a new one (which is included in the sale). However, on removing the cylinder head it became apparent that there was damage to the top of piston no. 3 and the bore was scored.

Our vendor is not mechanically minded and does not have a friendly local garage willing to tackle the job so he has decided that the best course of action is to pass it on to someone with the skills and the enthusiasm to repair it. He does know of a spare Adelphi engine for sale via the Riley Register, details of which can be passed on to the winning bidder if desired.  

As you can see in the photos, this Adelphi is a very pretty little car with a pleasingly original interior. HPI records a colour change from blue/black to red/black in August 1986 so it was presumably treated to a degree of restoration at around that time.

On offer here at a modest guide price (less than half what the vendor paid for it), this Adelphi should make a worthwhile winter project for someone and comes with an illustrated 200-page Riley cars maintenance and repair guide which should assist with the job. The icing on the cake is the original Bedford-issue number plate, ATM 709, which is transferable and no doubt has a value of its own.

A link to a video of this car running and driving earlier this year can be sent to interested parties by request.

Consigned by James Dennison – 07970 309907 – james.dennison@brightwells.com