Banking on Success: The Story of the Riley Brooklands

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One late summer day at Brooklands in 1927, a phenomenally low, fast-revving little sports car appeared suddenly from out of the blue and rapidly darted its way into the lead of the 90mph Short Handicap race, which it won ‘in absurdly easy fashion’. The car was a 9hp Riley, but not a bit like the Nine saloon which had recently gone into production, and its driver and designer was the celebrated Reid Railton.

At just 36 inches high and with a highly-tuned prototype engine, the boat-tailed racer was without equal. Percy Riley was convinced of his new Nine’s sporting potential and Railton’s result confirmed it. With a few refinements, the Riley Brooklands went on sale in 1928 and at last the English had a car not just to rival France’s sporting 1100cc voiturettes, but to resolutely outdo them.

The Brooklands was an expensive car by comparison, however, and by 1932 just 93 chassis had been completed, many of them for racing, but a number were supplied in road trim, with full windscreen, hood and rakishly-angled front wings. Of those, several have been substantially altered, but one highly original 1930 car survives in the hands of a young enthusiast. Chassis 8079 has had a racing career,but has nevertheless been preserved as per its correct factory condition. Zack Stiling meets its newest custodian in the April issue of The Automobile, on sale now.

Words by Zack Stiling
Photographs by Rob Cooper
 

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