Riley Falcon.

Thats more retro than a retro thing! its vintage

Best man to speak to is PaulH on here, he's a member of the VSCC and theres a Riley in his family thats slowly being restored. I'll point him in the direction of this thread

chap i know had a kestral lovly thing it was but it had a bodged in the past chassis with dexion welded in (no I'm not kidding) and the body was tatty with the door pillers dropping due to the wood rotting..
it drove nice though.. those little twin cam engines are like sowing machines very nice and smooth..

he sold his tatty but with a rebuilt engine with some mot for around 10 grand IIRC that was about 4 years ago..
maybe a bit more now??

si

Good choice Vintage Rileys are lovely cars..

If it's a 9 engine check the back of the block for frost damage (you'll feel a noticeable bulge in the block) 12/4's are a good engine though look for cracked rocker covers (around the bolt holes and strengthening ribs) 6's are lovely and one of the best sounding engines ever made but have their flaws as well...

Check everything, and i do mean everything as you can very easily run up a huge bill just for parts and the majority of rileys esp lesser models like falcons are just coming out of decades in the doldrums price wise so many haven't been maintained as they should..

we need more info on spec, as i don't fancy writing a general vintage rileys buyers guide on here, what gearbox (preselector or silent third)? what engine? caburation? distributer or magneto? what wheels? cable or rod brakes? ect ect..

Pay particular attention to the bodywork and it's ash frame, if you don't know what your looking for bring someone who does (NOT A GENERAL MECHANIC a vintage car or coach building specialist) In my experience most normal mechanics haven't the faintest idea when it comes to vintage cars... a proper inspection could save you literally 10's of thousands of pounds

We had a very nice looking 12/4 Riley in a couple of months ago that went quite cheaply at auction (circa 20k) looked stunning but it took the selling price over again just to get it safe and reliable, never mind sorting the niggly faults..

I used to work for a vintage Riley specialist full time and still do the odd day for him to help out when he's busy, he's well worth a chat to, he may know the car your looking at... www.barrieagillies.com/ he also has sheds full of spares and parts, Blue diamond services as previously mentioned are worth talking to as well..

Ed

Paul, you have PM.

I hate to say it, but that would make an awesome rod.

Here's a few more pics of a Falcon:




Very difficult to chop, as ally body panels on ash frame. Chassis, engine & running gear etc are also very valuable for use as VSCC racers, which keeps values of vile ones relatively high.

RME rod - still a twin cam & loving the 5 spoke Cosmic Mk2s


The late Kestrel is so much better looking in standard from than many cars which make popular rods, so would make a stunning rod:

Don't worry, you're preaching to the converted - my Amazon is what I consider to be my modern, but pre war Rileys are my true automotive passion. Sadly one that funds don't allow me to indulge in yet. Provided that I had a garage to keep it in, I'd happily use a 12/4 Sprite spec six light Kestrel as my everyday car.

I was thinking of a rod which used a left over tatty bodyshell* where the chassis & running gear have become a special, rather than hacking up a complete car. Photoshop in progress, which I'll post up once it's complete.

*So tatty in fact that it's good only to use to make moulds for new GRP panels.

good to see you joined up

Tbh, underneath is the least of your worries - the chassis will outlast the body by a long way, and the floorpan is ally. IMHO 2K is a good price (I've seen far worse advertised for more), but it could easily need several multiples of that spending to sort it out. As 10mpg says, get someone who knows vintage / coachbuilt cars to look at it, especially the body.