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 […]
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!
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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.
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.
We have received the below pictures which show just how much progress Joby Carter is making on our 1905 Riley 9HP.
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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.
The battery box metal frame is almost complete and will eventually have an ash wood box for battery to sit in.
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.
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 […]
Our 1905 Riley 9HP may be more than 100 years old but, thanks to our team of skilled technicians and our friend, Darin at Ashbocking Joinery, this is one special car that looks as good as it ever has. With the wood sections of the car being worked on and fitted to this one-of-one prototype, […]
Recently, classic car technician Steve and Bridge Classic Cars Director Gordon took a trip to the British Motor Museum to take a closer look at the Riley 9HP they have on display. The purpose of the trip was to gather more information and references as to how our 1905 Riley 9HP goes together and works. […]
Following our recent visit from Geoff Haviland, of the Riley Cars Archive Heritage Trust, he has written us a detailed letter explaining what he believes to be another part of our 1905 Riley 9HP’s story. There is a lot of information within his letter and all of it will likely be useful as we continue […]
We recently welcomed Geoff Haviland into the Bridge Classic Cars workshop, so he could take a close look at our 1905 Riley 9HP. Geoff was the individual who reached out to us after seeing our Riley project online. He noticed that our car looked different to how it should, and seemed to be a year […]
The wooden body of our 1905 Riley 9HP has returned and has been put in place on the chassis of this potential prototype vehicle. After finding out that our Riley is likely even rarer than we initially thought, it’s great to be able to preserve so much of the original bodywork as we work to […]
Our 1905 Riley 9HP has continued on its way to being restored and rebuilt. Classic car technician Monty has been working on repairing the exhaust of this prototype car. He was unable to completely finish his work as he is waiting for some extra parts to arrive before he can fully repair and refit the […]
The new wheels and tyres for our 1905 Riley 9HP have arrived at the Bridge Classic Cars workshop. Now that they are here, they can be prepared and fitted to our very special Riley. Since it now seems that our Riley is a prototype for the first car to have removable wheels, the arrival of […]
Since being started for only the second time in several decades, our 1905 Riley 9HP continues to make progress. With so little information about the vehicle available, our team of classic car technicians are working extremely hard to recreate, rebuild, and bring this rare classic back to life. Recently, some of the wooden bodywork was […]
Our 1905 Riley 9HP recently came back to life for the second time. Back in December, classic car technicians Dave and John got our Riley started for the very first time in decades. Recently, they fired it up one more time and, like before, it was a special moment to see a car that is […]
Considering our 1905 Riley 9HP likely hasn’t been started since the 1940s, classic car technician Dave has been working extremely hard to get it back up and running. At more than 100 years old, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the days of our ultra-rare Riley HP running are long gone, but we are incredibly […]
Classic car technician Dave has been continuing his work on our extremely rare 1905 Riley 9HP. After recently trial-fitting the wooden bodywork, Dave has, once again, turned his attention to getting our Riley 9HP up and running. Dave has installed a new (and much improved) ignition coil set up into this very special classic car. […]
Our 1905 Riley 9HP has been going through a big transformation over the last few weeks. A big step towards this ultra-rare car looking more like it should was when the wheels were fitted. This was a great opportunity to see much more clearly how our finished Riley will hopefully look. However, classic car technician […]
Classic car technician Dave has been continuing work on our 1905 Riley 9HP. He has recently added the wheel hub nuts and the nut locking ring. As work continues on this truly classic car, it has already come a long way since it first arrived at the Bridge Classic Cars workshop. With quite a bit […]
The original wooden body of the 1905 Riley 9HP has been sent off to our local, trusted specialist joiners to begin the work of both restoring the body and conserving as much of its originality as possible. For a lot of our woodwork, we use Darren at Ashobocking Joinery. We have worked with them on […]