1938 Riley 16/4 Special Classic Cars for sale

1938 Riley 16/4 Special Hants, United Kingdom

Trade : £72,500

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1938 Riley 16/4 Special

1938 Riley 16/4 Special

built on 12/4 Adelphi chassis 28AX7593 shortened and underslung at the rear similar to a Sprite. Runs on the 1938 Riley wide-track axles with large light-weight Hartford friction dampers. Brakes are the effective original type Girling rod system with the 13” drums. Currently running on 600x16” Avon Turbospeed tyres.

A very rare 1939 Riley16hp 4-cylinder engine number 230 is fitted. Rebuilt in 2018 with new white-metal main bearings, new con-rods with shell-bearings, new high compression 4-ring domed pistons at +0.060”. Reground camshafts by Newman with the Big-4 oil pump and sump. The 1939 cylinder-head has twin 1½” SU carbs fitted. It has a Nuffield gearbox, a short cardan shaft and torque-tube with 4.1:1 cwp ratio fitted into the 1938 rear-axle banjo. Just 300 miles have been covered since the engine rebuild and the car will require running in.

The body-frame is steel tube panelled in aluminium. The aluminium cycle wings are to the standard mid-thirties Riley competition style. Two aero-screens are fitted and there is a tonneau to cover to the cockpit and two bucket seats. The fuel tank is fitted in the tail, and is of about 9-galls capacity. A lockable boot is in the tail behind the seats.

Electrics are 12-volt with belt driven dynamo. The battery is fitted behind the passenger seat. Flashing direction indicators are fitted and there is an electric cooling fan.

The rolling chassis was acquired by the owner in 1973, with the rebuilding works taking many years to complete. The rebuilt 16hp engine was fitted in 2018 along with new clutch, cardan-shaft and re-cored radiator.

The car handles extremely well, being well balanced and low-slung. The 16hp engine pulls as you would expect, giving very lively performance. It has been driven to Prescott and Silverstone many times, and climbed Kop Hill a few times managing the steep hill in top gear.

Current V5C and VSCC Buff Form.