I don’t live far from the Woodland Grange Hotel so when I was told that the Association of Healey Owners club had been invited by the Riley Motor Club to celebrate the latter’s centenary I thought I would go along to take some photos. Readers of this blog will know that I have a connection with Healey via the Donald Healey Motor Company archive owned by the Warwickshire County Record Office (WCRO). I have had a lifelong interest in the wonderful cars made by the Riley Motor Company so today’s visit was doubly rewarding.
Here are the photos that I took –
INTRODUCTION
Here is how it all began –
The Riley family
Competition
The Riley Cars Archive Heritage Trust
PRE-WAR CARS
They always say that some of the best cars are to be found in the car park. Certainly this Riley 9 Tourer appeared to be in excellent condition, why it wasn’t in the display area I don’t know, maybe it was moved later in the day. It was the first Riley I saw after parking my car (a Peugeot 2008 GT Hybrid if your interested).
A very rare Autovia, only 44 built. I first saw this car last March at the Classic Car & Restoration Show, Birmingham NEC.
All the way from the Netherlands
And all the way from Switzerland
POST WAR CARS
They don’t all have to be in concours condition!
But this one was!
A couple of interesting Radiator Cap Mascots
RILEY COUSINS – THE HEALEY CARS – 1945 – 1954
Those who are familiar with the Healey story will require no explanation of the use of the “cousin” description but for those who are not familiar with the story here is a brief explanation – Before WWII Donald Healey was a very successful rally driver and engineer/designer (with Triumph). During the war he worked for Humber on military vehicle design. He had the ambition to design and manufacturer his own car after the war and laid down the foundations with two Humber colleagues Achille (Sammi) Sampietro (chassis engineer) and Ben Bowden (stylist). After the war a manufacturing facility was rented in Warwick and production of chassis commenced for shipment to various contracted bodybuilders who built bodies to Ben Bowden’s designs. The engines used were Riley’s 2.5 litre twin cam units together with transmissions and other components from the same source.
It is because of that connection that the Riley Motor Club invited members of the Association of Healey Owners club (that caters for these early Healeys but not exclusively) to join them for their centenary celebrations. Here are the Healey cars that were on display –
This article and photographs contained within is subject to copyright and should not be republished in part or as a whole without permission from the author.
Nick
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