A replica of the first Riley car ever made has been unveiled in Coventry.
The authentic recreation of a car built in the city between 1896 and 1898 by automotive pioneer Percy Riley had the wraps lifted off it at Coventry Transport Museum.
The car will be on display at the museum and at the Classic Car Show before the second phase of a painstaking project that has been more than 20 years in the making is undertaken.
That involves creating a working engine to power the vehicle.
The plan is for the replica Riley to be completed by 2021 and for it then to go on show permanently in the city.
It is believed Percy Riley’s original Riley model was only the second car to take to the streets of Coventry.
The project is a hugely ambitious one as the original Riley car - which was built by Percy in the 1890s, when he was still just a schoolboy - no longer exists.
The Riley family can lay claim to having been involved in five of Coventry’s great industries - weaving, watch making, bicycle , motorcycle and car making.
The Lord Mayor of Coventry, Cllr Linda Bigham, removed the wraps from the replica Riley.
She said: “The unveiling of a replica of the first Riley car is a fantastic event for our motoring city - a slice of our rich automotive past.
“Coventry is very proud to be the home of the British motor industry
“Our city is built on the ingenuity of people like the Riley family and their ground-breaking designs.
“That reputation is still there today through autonomous and connected vehicles.
“How fitting that we continue to pay tribute to the brains that built that good name.
“The name Riley is a key part of our city - the first home of the Riley company - the city that gave the world that little blue diamond that is so loved by car enthusiasts around the world.
“That history will always be celebrated by Coventry - particularly in 2021.”
Victor Riley, a nephew of Percy Riley and whose grandfather William Riley Jr got the Riley automotive ball rolling , said: “The Riley family has had a long association with the city of Coventry - back to the reign of Elizabeth I and of course the trades for which Coventry is famous - weaving, watch-making, bicycles , tricars, motorcycles and cars.”
Mr Riley admitted the project had been an arduous and challenging one.
“The gestation of this project has been approximately 20 years and the setbacks have been enormous,” he added.
Mr Riley paid tribute to the efforts of Geoff Haviland, based in Bedfordshire, and Hertfordshire-based restoration specialist Philip D’Archambaud - thanking them for their “sustained commitment to see the project through”.
He concluded: “It would be marvellous to meet again in 2020, when hopefully we will have the Riley moving with its own power source.
“But I think we can say today that Riley has returned to Coventry.”
Mr D’Archambaud, who runs Vintage Automobile Fabrication, said: “Geoff Haviland was heavily involved in the car and we had done quite a bit of work.
“He said would we be prepared to take on the project, which we did.”
Mr D’Archambaud said the replica project came with a fair few challenges.
“We only had two or three grainy black and white photographs of the original,” he said.
Although work started five years ago, Mr D’Archambaud said he understood the project was first mooted 21 years ago.
He added: “The most satisfying thing was when Victor came in and saw it for the first time.
“That was very pleasing. His face was a picture.”
The Riley family’s first foray into car making dates from well before Coventry became the epicentre of Britain’s car industry.
William Riley Jr, who was involved in the weaving industry, had seen the potential of bicycles.
He bought the Bonnick Cycle Company of Coventry, which had been founded in 1890 and in 1896 incorporated a company to own it named The Riley Cycle Company Limited.
Based in King Street, Coventry, it branched out into automobiles courtesy of Riley’s middle son, Percy.
Percy started building his first car aged just 16 in 1896.
It was the start of a two-year project, undertaken secretly, because his father did not approve.
It featured the first mechanically operated cylinder valves later developed by Benz and a feature which would become commonplace across the car industry.
By 1899 Percy Riley moved from producing motorcycles to his first prototype four-wheeled quadricycle.
On Percy Riley’s original car Victor Riley said: “The original was built by my uncle when he was still at school.
“He used to go into the Riley Cycle Company toolroom when he was on holiday and at weekends, working away. It took him two years.
“It is alleged this was the second car on the streets of Coventry.”
The replica is one of a number of special Riley activities in the run-up to 2021.
The Riley Archive Project is another. It is setting-up home in Coventry at a unit in the city’s Canal Basin.
Mr Riley said the fate of Percy’s original car remains a mystery.
“Somehow or other the original went from Coventry to Belfast,” he said.
“I gather my father woke up one day and realised the value of holding on to it."
He added: “He offered a £50 reward in the 1930s to get it back but there wasn’t any reaction.
“I think he kicked himself over letting it go.”
The Riley replica project relies on charitable donations. Anyone wishing to contribute to it can contact Victor Riley on 01743 340582.”
History of Coventry carmakers
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