This fantastic pre-war Riley special was conceived, designed and engineered by Ian Gladstone (former owner of Blue Diamond Riley Services) and Roy Williams.
Their vision was to create a highly competitive historic rally car that was capable of competing at the highest level at the world’s toughest endurance events – and that’s is exactly what they achieved.
The car was based on a 1937 Riley “big four” Adelphi saloon, and mounted on it was a 1939 16/4 engine (chosen specifically for its high torque output).
The car was almost entirely constructed using parts from contemporary pre-war models, to ensure its eligibility for VSCC and Hero-ERA events.
In view of campaigning the Riley in a number of cross-continent events, Ian & Roy were mindful to engineer into the car a host of ‘long distance’ upgrades:
Twin Fuel Tanks (range approx. 300 miles)
Intake Filtration System
Comfortable Seating with Extended Pedal Box
Twin Ignition Systems
Twin Fuel Pumps
Once completed, the Riley was immediately flown out to compete in its first major event – the arduous and gruelling Peking to Paris rally.
Not only did the car finish, it was awarded a Gold Medal for its achievement. Quite remarkable for a rally car’s debut.
Upon returning to the UK, the car was then lightened, recommissioned and performance tuned ahead of being sold to its current owner in 2010.
In the 14 years since, the car has competed in an array historic rallies, often with great success, including:
First in Class – Le Jog
First in Class – Alpine Trial
First Overall – Blue Train Rally (Deauville to Cannes)
Numerous finishes on the Flying Scotsman
As you might expect, competing at this level requires a great deal of on-going maintenance and improvement, and so its no surprise that the car’s history file amounts to almost 90 pages of work, invoices and receipts.
Most recently, the car has benefitted from a full engine rebuild, and just prior to launching the car for sale, Blue Diamond Riley Services carried out a full inspection of the car along with the following recommissioning work:
Carburettor overhaul and tune
Brake Rod Pivots
Rear Axle Shackles, Pins & Bushes
Front Axle Kingpins
Front Wheel Bearing
What we have here then, is a fantastic opportunity to acquire a unique, well known, and highly respected pre-war Riley Special that’s not only a total joy around the B-roads of Britain, but is also capable of competing at the highest level in the world’s toughest historic endurance rallies.
