RileyInformation extracted from Notice issued in compliance with the Regulations of the Committee of The Stock Exchange, London (with regard to the issue of 150,000 Preference Shares of £1 each on 17 January 1934).
The Company was incorporated in England on 25 June 1896 under the name The Riley Cycle Company Limited, changed to Riley (Coventry) Limited on 30 March 1912.
In and around the year 1927 closer working arrangements were made between the Company and the Riley Engine Company and the Midland Motor Body Company whereby the designing and manufacturing resources of the three businesses were pooled.
(During 1932) these two associated concerns were absorbed by the Company which became a completely self-contained manufacturing unit on modern lines.
The Company's works at Coventry and Hendon cover a combined area of 16½ acres, in addition to which the Company owns adjoining land at Coventry of approximately 6 acres.
About 2,200 workpeople are regularly employed.Riley (Coventry) Limited. The Times, Thursday, 18 January 1934; pg. 18; Issue 46655 was a British motorcar and bicycle manufacturer from 1890. Riley became part of the Nuffield Organization in 1938 and was merged into the British Leyland Motor Corporation in 1968. In July 1969, British Leyland announced the immediate end of Riley production, although 1969 was a difficult year for the UK automotive industry and many cars from Riley's inventory may have been first registered in 1970.
Today, the Riley trademark is owned by BMW.
Riley Cycle Company
The business began as the Bonnick Cycle Company of Coventry, England. In 1890 during the pedal cycle craze that swept Britain at the end of the 19th century William Riley Jr. who had interests in the textile industry purchased the business and in 1896 incorporated a company to own it named The Riley Cycle Company Limited.Riley (Coventry) Limited. The Times, Thursday, 18 January 1934; pg. 18; Issue 46655 Later, cycle gear maker Sturmey Archer was added to the portfolio. Riley's middle son, Percy, left school in the same year and soon began to dabble in automobiles.
He built his first car at 16, in 1898, secretly, because his father did not approve. It featured the first mechanically operated inlet valve. By 1899, Percy Riley had moved from producing motorcycles to his first prototype four-wheeled quadricycle. Little is known about Percy Riley's first motor car. It is, however, well attested that the engine featured mechanically operated cylinder valves at a time when other engines depended on the vacuum effect of the descending piston to suck the inlet valve(s) open. That was demonstrated some years later when Benz developed and patented a mechanically operated inlet valve process of their own but were unable to collect royalties on their system from British companies; the courts were persuaded that the system used by British auto-makers was based on the one pioneered by Percy, which had comfortably anticipated equivalent developments in Germany. In 1900, Riley sold a single three-wheeled automobile. Meanwhile, the elder of the Riley brothers, Victor Riley, although supportive of his brother's embryonic motor-car enterprise, devoted his energies to the core bicycle business.
Riley's founder William Riley remained resolutely opposed to diverting the resources of his bicycle business into motor cars, and in 1902 three of his sons, Victor, Percy and younger brother Allan Riley pooled resources, borrowed a necessary balancing amount from their mother and in 1903 established the separate Riley Engine Company, also in Coventry. A few years later the other two Riley brothers, Stanley and Cecil, having left school joined their elder brothers in the business. At first, the Riley Engine Company simply supplied engines for Riley motorcycles and also to Singer, a newly emerging motorcycle manufacturer in the area, but the Riley Engine Company soon began to focus on four-wheeled automobiles. Their Vee-Twin Tourer prototype, produced in 1905, can be considered the first proper Riley car. The Riley Engine Company expanded the next year. William Riley reversed his former opposition to his sons' preference for motorised vehicles and Riley Cycle halted motorcycle production in 1907 to focus on automobiles. Bicycle production also ceased in 1911.
In 1912, the Riley Cycle Company changed its name to Riley (Coventry) Limited as William Riley focused it on becoming a wire-spoked wheel supplier for the burgeoning motor industry, the detachable wheel having been invented (and patented) by Percy and distributed to over 180 motor manufacturers, and by 1912 the father's business had also dropped automobile manufacture in order to concentrate capacity and resources on the wheels. Exploitation of this new and rapidly expanding lucrative business sector made commercial sense for William Riley, but the abandonment of his motorcycle and then of his automobile business which had been the principal customer for his sons' Riley Engine Company enforced a rethink on the engine business.
Riley (Coventry) Limited
In early 1913, Percy was joined by three of his brothers (Victor, Stanley, and Allan) to focus on manufacturing entire automobiles. The works was located near Percy's Riley Engine Company. The first new model, the 17/30, was introduced at the London Motor Show that year. Soon afterwards, Stanley Riley founded yet another business, the Nero Engine Company, to produce his own 4-cylinder 10 hp (7.5 kW) car. Riley also began manufacturing aeroplane engines and became a key supplier in Britain's buildup for World War I.
In 1918, after the war, the Riley companies were restructured. Nero joined Riley (Coventry) as the sole producer of automobiles. Riley Motor Manufacturing under the control of Allan Riley became Midland Motor Bodies, a coachbuilder for Riley. Riley Engine Company continued under Percy as the engine supplier. At this time, Riley's blue diamond badge, designed by Harry Rush, also appeared. The motto was "As old as the industry, as modern as the hour."
Riley grew rapidly through the 1920s and 1930s. The Riley Engine Company produced 4-, 6-, and 8-cylinder engines, while Midland built more than a dozen different bodies. Riley models at this time included: Saloons: Adelphi, 'Continental'(Close-coupled Touring Saloon), Deauville, Falcon, Kestrel, Mentone, Merlin, Monaco, Stelvio, Victor Coupes: Ascot, Lincock Tourers: Alpine, Lynx, Gamecock Sports: Brooklands, Imp, MPH, Sprite Limousines: Edinburgh, Winchester
Introduced in 1926 in a modest but innovatively-designed fabric bodied saloon, Percy Riley's small capacity Riley 9 engine was a high revving unit; ground-breaking and ahead of its time in many respects. It has been called the most significant engine development of the 1920s. It has hemispherical combustion chambers and inclined overhead valves, with twin camshafts set high in the cylinder block, and valves operated by short pushrods. This provided power and efficiency without the servicing complexity of an overhead camshaft layout. It soon attracted the attention of tuners and builders of 'specials' for sporting purposes. One such was engineer and driver J.G. Parry-Thomas, who conceived the Riley 'Brooklands' (at first called the '9' Speed Model) in his workshops at the Brooklands racing circuit in Surrey. After Parry-Thomas was killed during a land speed record attempt in 1927, his close collaborator Reid Railton stepped in to finish the job. Officially backed by Riley, the Brooklands, along with later developments and variations such as the 'Ulster' Imp, MPH, and Sprite, proved some of the most successful works and privateer racing cars of the late 1920s and early 1930s. At Le Mans in 1934, Rileys finished 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 12th, winning the Rudge-Whitworth Cup, the Team Prize, two class awards, and the Ladies' Prize. Rileys also distinguished themselves at the Ulster TT, at Brooklands itself, and at smaller events like hill climbs, while providing a platform for the success of motorsports' first women racing drivers such as Kay Petre, Dorothy Champney and Joan Richmond. Another engineer and driver, Freddie Dixon, was responsible for extensive improvements to engine and chassis tuning, creating a number of 'specials' that exploited the basic Riley design still further, and contributed greatly to its success on the track.
For series production, the engine configuration was extended into a larger 12 horsepower '4', six-cylinder and even V8 versions, powering an increasingly confusing range of touring and sports cars. The soundness and longevity of the engine design is illustrated by Mike Hawthorn's early racing success after WW2 in pre-war Rileys, in particular his father's Sprite. By about 1936, however, the business had overextended, with too many models and few common parts, and the emergence of SS Cars at Coventry was a direct challenge. Disagreements between the Riley brothers about the future direction of the enterprise grew. Victor Riley had set up a new ultra-luxury concern, Autovia, to produce a V8 saloon and limousine to compete with Rolls-Royce. By contrast, Percy, however, did not favour an entry into the luxury market, and the Riley Engine Company had been renamed PR Motors to be a high-volume supplier of engines and components. The original intention of PR Motors was to produce a small car, but the outbreak of war, followed by Percy Riley's untimely death, put an end to this project. The rest of the Riley companies later became part of Nuffield and then BMC, but PR Motors remained independent. After the death of Percy Riley in 1941, his business began producing transmission components. It still exists today, producing marine and off-highway vehicle applications, as PRM Newage Limited based in Aldermans Green, Coventry. Percy's widow Norah ran his business for many years, and was Britain's businesswoman of the year in 1960.
Nuffield Organization
By 1937 Riley began to look to other manufacturers for partnerships. A contract with Briggs Motor Bodies of Dagenham to provide all-steel bodies for a cheaper, more mass-market saloon had already turned sour, with dozens of unsold bodies littering the factory. It had withdrawn from works racing after its most successful year, 1934, although it continued to supply engines for the ERA, a voiturette (Formula 2) racing car based on the supercharged 6-cylinder 'White Riley', developed by ERA founder Raymond Mays in the mid-thirties. BMW of Munich, Germany was interested in expanding its range into England. The Riley brothers were more interested in a larger British concern, and looked to Triumph Motor Company, also of Coventry, as a natural fit. However, in February 1938 negotiations were suspended. On 24 February the directors placed Riley (Coventry) Limited and Autovia in voluntary receivership.The Future of Riley (Coventry).The Times, Saturday, 26 February 1938; pg. 17; Issue 47929. On 10 March the Triumph board announced merger negotiations had been dropped.Merger Negotiations Dropped. The Times, Friday, 11 March 1938; pg. 21; Issue 47940.