1905 Riley 9hp

Bridge Classic Cars at the Festival of Classic & Sports Cars at Helmingham Hall

We had the privilege of being the headline sponsors of the Festival of Classic & Sports Cars at Helmingham Hall this past weekend, and it was a huge success. As the main sponsors, we wanted to make a big impression, and we’re thrilled to say we think we did just that! A Stand to Remember […]

Featured On Car & Classic – Our Riley 9HP

Our one-of-one 1905 Riley 9HP has been featured on Car & Classic, one of the most well-known and popular platforms in the world of classic cars. Dale Vinton, head of content, has written a fantastic article that highlights the importance and uniqueness of this incredible car. I’ve spoken about our Riley 9HP a lot and […]

Press Release – The World’s Only 1905 Riley 9HP

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  May 2024 Historical Rarity: 1905 Riley 9hp, Believed to be Experimental Design, Offered for Sale Bridge Classic Cars are offering collectors a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire a true piece of automotive history: a meticulously restored 1905 Riley 9hp, believed to be an experimental design from the pioneering days of British motoring. This […]

Workshop Walkaround – A Few Projects

With the team here at Bridge Classic Cars always working on something, whether that be the restorations technicians in the various departments, the marketing team or the leadership teams, we are all focused around our incredible workshop. We’re all incredibly lucky to be able to be surrounded by these cars on a daily basis and […]

Our Riley Returns

Tony recently collected our 1905 Riley 9HP and transported it back to the Bridge Classic Cars workshop. Now that it is back with us, we can continue getting it ready for its first drive!

Shown To The World

After several years of research and restoration, our 1905 Riley 9HP is ready to be revealed to the world! As a 1 of 1 prototype for the first car to have fully removable wheels, this is the first time anyone outside of the workshop has seen the car in decades. The unveiling of the fully […]

Lights And Buckles

John has been running the wires of our 1905 Riley 9HP from the front and rear to the batteries. He wired in the switch and the front and rear lights. Lydia has spent the last few days titivating the Riley before its grand unveiling at the NEC show at the weekend. Mostly, she has been […]

Finish Touches – Final 1905 Riley 9HP Parts Painted

The final parts of our 1905 Riley 9HP restoration project have been in the booth under the gun of our paint technician Mauro. Mauro has been working on finishing these handmade parts in thick, gloss black for the workshop team to get back on the car ahead of the car’s unveiling at the Practical Classic […]

Coming Together – Trim team work on the interior of the 1905 Riley 9hp

Ahead of its unveiling at the Practical Classics Restoration Show at the Birmingham NEC this weekend, our restorations teams have been working flat out to get our 1905 Riley 9HP ready for its first public appearance in what is thought to be nearly 70 years. The trim team have worked on getting the bench seat […]

Riley Seat

The backrest of the our 1905 Riley 9HP seat is actually fitted on the body of the car and, as a result, could not be fitted until the vehicle returned from paint. Lydia placed the seat in and began to line up the pleats so that they were straight. She had to stuff the seat […]

Taking our Riley 9hp to Joby Carter

In February our Riley 9hp underwent the next stage of its restoration by paying a visit to Joby Carter’s workshop in Berkshire. Joby Carter is a traditional sign writer who is an expert in fairground style art. Up until 2022 his work could be seen decorating every ride as part of his touring steam fair. […]

Door Card

Lydia made an internal door card for the opening door on our 1905 Riley 9HP. She first made a template from paper to ensure the correct shape, and then she cut this out from card. She then made her own design based on the pinstriping on the paintwork of the vehicle. She will affix this […]

A Rare Vehicle Returns

Our very special one of one 1905 Riley 9HP has returned to the workshop after being handpainted. As you can tell from the photos, it looks very different to how it did when it left, but there’s no denying it looks as good now as it would have done over 100 years ago.

From the Brits to Bridge, meet Joby, the man with the Golden Touch

As we continue to see the amazing progress being made on our 1905 Riley 9HP, meet Joby Carter, the incredible talent behind the colour transformation. Joby is a traditional sign-writer, decorative artist, restoration specialist, author and teacher. He’s a master craftsman with his heritage decorative art skills including signwriting and the endangered craft of fairground […]

An Ultra Rare Roof Frame

The roof frame of our 1 of 1 1905 Riley 9HP has been in the Bridge Classic Cars paint shop with technician Mauro. Mauro painted the brackets in black before also painting the wood.

Riley Roof Frame

The roof frame of our 1905 Riley 9HP has been in the Bridge Classic Cars paintshop with Mauro. He has been prepping the frame before applying epoxy primer ready for it to be painted black.

Paint Progress

We have received the below pictures which show just how much progress Joby Carter is making on our 1905 Riley 9HP.

Time For Paint

As the restoration of our 1905 Riley 9HP is moving into its final stages, the time has come for it to be painted. For this to happen, Tony and Gordon took the car to Joby Carter in Berkshire. This is so this special car can have traditional methods used to bring it fully back to […]

Even More Progress

Our very special 1905 Riley 9HP continues to make fantastic progress. Lydia has been finishing the buttoned back for the Riley seat. This was particularly challenging, as the original seat was made from a soft oiled cloth, but she was now using leather, which is much thicker and a lot harder to manipulate. The flat […]

Bench Seat Back

Yesterday, Lydia was preparing the seat backrest that Darin, from Ashbocking Joinery has kindly made for us. This involved replacing the springs back to their original position and hand sewing them into place. Next came various layers of cotton and horsehair padding, and then working out her fabric allowance with a scrap piece of fabric. […]

A 100-Year-Old Seat

Lydia has upholstered the base seat of our 1905 Riley 9HP. She used a 2-inch foam for the base to provide a firm seat so that the driver doesn’t slip out of the seat. She then placed a layer of horse hair on top to give it the correct finished look and feel. This is […]

Bench Seat Base

Recently, Lydia has been making the pattern for the base part of the seat of our 1905 Riley 9HP. She has been working with Steve to make sure that the seat is adequately secured when placed in the vehicle. They have decided to make a metal dowel/peg affixed to a metal plate, which will locate […]

Moving Forward

There’s been some incredible progress on our 1905 Riley 9hp in recent weeks. Recently, the team here at the Bridge Classic Cars HQ have been working full-steam ahead on the 1-of-1 antique car. The wooden frame has returned from the team at Ashbocking Joinery ready for the trim team to continue their careful and precise […]

Starting A 119-Year-Old Car

Our 1905 Riley 9HP was originally thought to be just 1 of 3 remaining examples. However, the evidence now suggests that it is, in fact, a 1 of 1 prototype of the first car to have fully removable wheels. This is the moment we started the 119-year-old car in the workshop.

Seat And Roof

Brian has been fitting the brackets to hold the roof frame when it’s folded back, cutting the inner seat frame wood to fit around the brackets. He then put the front inner seat frame into the car, adjusting the cutouts around the brackets before glueing the left-hand side of the frame back on, before fixing […]

Battery Box Framework

The battery box metal frame is almost complete and will eventually have an ash wood box for battery to sit in.

Riley 9HP work continues

Steve is still working through the few final pieces on the 1905 Riley 9HP restoration. A new final drive chain has been fitted, new fabric body prop, new fabric exhaust has been temporarily fitted to help with routing of coolant pipes.

Riley 9 Restoration Progress

The restoration of our one-of-a-kind 1905 Rilep 9HP has been something of a labour of love and dedication. With very little reference material to work from, bringing this piece of automotive history back to life has been challenging, to say the least. However, the project has made even more progress recently, as its wooden body […]

New Tool Box and Trembler

Darin from Ashbocking Joinery is completing the final few pieces of our Riley 9 woodwork. Here is the new tool box and trembler being finished.

1905 Stop Start Technology

Alright, I am not referring to the start-stop technology of today, it’s not quite the completely automatic system that works by detecting a lack of vehicle motion. Instead, check out the beautifully crafted hatch that has been made up for our 1905 Riley 9HP. When opened, the vehicle’s engine can be run by simply turning […]