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
Bridge Classic Cars have the absolute honour of restoring one of 3 1905 Riley 9hp’s left. And for that, we’ve managed to get some plans. These appear to be copies of the original drawings made for the car. These are
Bridge Classic Cars has the honour of beginning the restoration on this incredible 1905 Riley 9HP, believed to be one of just three remaining in the world. Our in-house restoration teams have this once in a lifetime opportunity to work
The brass parts of the 1905 Riley 9HP are in need of a clean and refurb. So, these are being carefully catalogued and packaged to be sent off to a specialist to come back as good as new. These parts
As the story goes; the car was discovered having been stored in what looked to be a purpose-built building to hide the car during wartime. Whether this was to protect the car from any war damage or to hide it
Bridge Classic Car’s Directors, father and son team Gordon and Craig visited the British Motor Museum this week on one very specific mission – to learn all about their 1905 Riley 9HP. The museum is home to what is believed
Recently acquired by us here at Bridge Classic Cars with the intention of carrying out a full and well deserved restoration. Our car features in the Riley Motors V Twins article Source: Riley Motors V Twins “Also in the Register
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 a number of projects and their attention to detail mirrors our own. Parts of the original body/frame have been kept as they are still structurally solid but other places have been remade and expertly grafted into the now 117-year-old body of the classic Riley.
This is all part of the journey in restoring this beautiful antique Riley and getting it back on the road. In every part of the process, the team (and our trusted specialists) are using a mixture of state of the art and traditional methods to bring this rare and unique piece of history back to life.
Bridge Classic Cars have the absolute honour of restoring one of 3 1905 Riley 9hp’s left. And for that, we’ve managed to get some plans.
These appear to be copies of the original drawings made for the car. These are crucial for our lead restoration technician Dave to work from. They give our team chassis measurements and tolerances of several key pieces of the car. As with all our restorations, we do try and keep the originality of the car but we ensure the car is safe first and foremost.
With these original schematics, Dave can begin to measure the chassis and components to make sure they are safe but also meet the original specifications.
It is truly an honour to work on such a rare and unique car as our 1905 Riley 9hp.
Bridge Classic Cars has the honour of beginning the restoration on this incredible 1905 Riley 9HP, believed to be one of just three remaining in the world. Our in-house restoration teams have this once in a lifetime opportunity to work on this amazing project.
The rebuild and assessment of the project will be headed up by our most experienced technician, Dave. Daves wealth of knowledge and experience across all eras of classic and vintage cars makes him our strongest team member to assess the car. Using reference photos from our visit to the National Motor Museum, which houses the only complete car publicly accessible, Dave and Gordon could begin to go through the parts and components we have amassed for this very special project.
It’s a very exciting prospect of working on such a rare and unique piece of automotive history for us all here at Bridge Classic Cars. So, expect to see some more updates on the 1905 Riley 9HP soon here on the Bridge Classic Cars newspage.
The brass parts of the 1905 Riley 9HP are in need of a clean and refurb. So, these are being carefully catalogued and packaged to be sent off to a specialist to come back as good as new.
These parts are over 100 years old so special care is needed with the refurbishment of them. Bridge Classic Cars works closely with a series of trusted and well-respected specialists for jobs such as this to ensure the best long-lasting results on the parts that are sent away from us here.
As the story goes; the car was discovered having been stored in what looked to be a purpose-built building to hide the car during wartime. Whether this was to protect the car from any war damage or to hide it away from sight. Bought recently by Bridge Classic Cars to restore at leisure is our 1905 Riley 9hp. Let’s face it, it is never going to happen without a new owner eager already secured and a definite date in the diary for us to start.
One of only three in existence; one being in Gaydon Motor Museum, our one and one other. Gaydon Motor Museum was kind enough to give us access to allow us to extensively photograph their car to assist us in this relatively simple restoration project.
Simple as there is not much to it and we have as far as we can see most parts to complete. The main part known to be missing is the superb brass radiator. Which can be re-manufactured.
Amazingly, the car benefits from many brand new parts; five newly manufactured wheels, cycle mud guards, top bonnet area, crown wheel and pinion etc. The wooden body is remarkable for its age and only requires repair and sympathetic restoration. This is not destined to be a new 1905 car. It should be restored, original parts repurposed to show the history and origins of the car. We will use all existing parts that we can.
We have running lights, trembler etc and everything to make her what she was then. The engine has good compression and the gearbox appears to function as we would expect.
The interior will need to be totally renewed but we do have the original to copy and the old will be preserved and framed as a valuable part of her 116-year existence.
We have a current V5 in our name. Three folders of superb history and manuals. This is totally unrepeatable build and history has already proved that a car such as this is very valuable and a growing asset for any collector, enthusiast, but more importantly a major part of any classic collection.
This is as classic as you can get and the only thing missing (well, the main thing) is an owner. We understand that to most people interested in this timeless classic will also want to follow through on the process of restoration. This is why we’ve set the price as POA (Price On Application). We encourage curiosity about this charming motor and would like to hope that an individual who’s interested in purchasing it, would also want to have it fully restored with us.
You can enquire here or send us an email at info@bridgeclassiccars.co.uk
Bridge Classic Car’s Directors, father and son team Gordon and Craig visited the British Motor Museum this week on one very specific mission – to learn all about their 1905 Riley 9HP.
The museum is home to what is believed to be one of only three 1905 Riley’s in existence. Gordon and Craig were invited for a private viewing to get up close and personal with this unbelievable piece of history.
“The Riley 9HP we have here at Bridge needs a full build and restoration,” Gordon describes. “It arrived to us as little more than a truck full of loose parts, so to see the car as it should look is a real treat.”
The visit certainly got Gordon and Craig excited to see what their Riley should look like. They took an array of photo’s to bring back to Bridge HQ that will give our experts some valuable insight into the cars mechanics, electrics and aesthetics. There’s a long road ahead as the technical team start to piece together this extraordinary vehicle. But for now – here’s a flavour of the museums Riley in all it’s glory.
The British Motor Museum is a glorious day out. It’s home to the largest collection of historic British cars in the world and boasts over 300 classic and vintage cars dating right back to the beginning of the 20th century.
The enormous purpose built premises is nestled within 65 acres of Warwickshire countryside. The museum was awarded a Heritage Lottery grant of 1.3 million pounds in 2006, which was used to enhance the displays and build a stunning mezzanine viewing platform.
“I especially liked seeing Fab 1,” expressed Craig. Which is Lady Penelope’s iconic pink car, redesigned by Ford in 2002 from the original 1960’s Rolls Royce featured in Thunderbirds. Bridge Classics are proud to work with Project Plastics in Colchester, who produced the windscreen on Ford’s new Fab 1.
“The James Bond Landrover was also a great sight,” described Craig. “007 cars are always a firm favourite of ours.”
Working with classic cars every day is such a privilege. These cars bring back such special personal memories and nostalgia, it’s been brilliant for Craig and his Father Gordon to see some of the best examples around. Special thanks go to curator Cat Griffin for being such a wonderful host, we shall be back for sure!
Recently acquired by us here at Bridge Classic Cars with the intention of carrying out a full and well deserved restoration.
Our car features in the Riley Motors V Twins article
Source: Riley Motors
“Also in the Register membership CW151 a 1905 1200V Twin. Engine bears the number 20850/860 cast into the side so probably engine number 850 considering 846 above. This has appeared for sale in May 2020 after according to the advert. This car has spent the last 50 years stored in a old garage. One of 3 in the world the engine will run. The car is semi stripped. New wheels tyres mudguards and bonnet. Car is missing radiator and some other parts. About 90% complete. Comes with a V5 registration document and lots of paperwork books instruction manuals, so after so long it is back out and ready for its rebuild.
Data/Stats: Showing how much was actually Riley design or patent. Duplex parallel tubular main frame with front and rear cross members using a single parallel tubular rear subframe, with tubular cross member at rear. This gave a 6′ 8″ Front Track: 4’1″ Rear Track : 4’1″Riley tangentially spoked wire wheels with forty spokes front and rear on beaded-edge rimmed tyres. Braking System: Foot brake to 8″ internal-expanding shoe brakes to rear wheels only, also hand-ratchet hand brake so quite an improvement from the block brake of the tricar. Gearbox: Riley patent 3-Speed constant mesh 1st – 3.33:1, 2nd – 1.5:1, 3rd – 1:1 using a right hand sliding gear leaver to select the gate using the Riley leather-faced cone clutch. Final Drive: was chain driven from transverse engine with the gearbox quoted as 3.55:1, but with 50:14 chain wheel and sprocket, actual ratio is 3.57:1. Still showing the development from motorbikes and semi transitional. Engine: was a Riley 9hp water-cooled “V”-twin producing the hp rating: 9.00 The tax horsepower rating was computed not from actual engine power but by a mathematical formula based on cylinder dimensions. At the beginning of the twentieth century, tax power was reasonably close to real power; as the internal combustion engine developed, real power became larger than nominal taxable power by a factor of ten or more. The system introduced a somewhat progressive way of taxing higher value cars more than low-cost ones but was also introduced to protect the domestic British motor industry from foreign imports, especially the Ford Model T. Fuel: 5 gallon gravity feed, dash-mounted under metal tonneau. Cost: 160 Guineas (£168) Optional Extras: Riley Detachable Wire Wheels which became standard specification from 1907 @12.10s. Spare wheel & tyre @ 7 Guineas (£7.35) Pair of headlights: 9 Guineas @£9.45. Electric tail-light set: @ £2.25 so the standard car was fine if you drove only in daylight and on the flat and we moan re modern ‘optional extras’?
