The Riley MPH is a small production, two-seat sports car made between 1934 and 1935 by the

Riley Riley may refer to: Names * Riley (given name) * Riley (surname) Places * Riley Park–Little Mountain, a neighborhood in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada * Riley Creek (Ontario), a tributary of the Black River in Central Ontario, Canada * Ri ...

company of

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

, England. Very few were made, and examples are now highly sought after. The chassis, with half-elliptic springs and rigid axles front and rear, was based on that of the car prepared for the 1933 TT races. To keep the height down to as low as possible, the side members were positioned under the axle at the rear. Large, fifteen-inch drum brakes were used. Elegant bodywork was mainly of aluminium built over a traditional wood frame and featured a long bonnet, front wings flowing into running boards and a short, rounded tail. The windscreen could fold flat to reduce air resistance. A choice of three sizes of the six-cylinder engine was available, 1458 cc, 1633 cc or 1726 cc fitted with triple or more usually twin SU carburettors. The engines had the traditional Riley arrangement of twin camshafts mounted high in the crankcase. Aluminium alloy connecting rods were used. The 1726 engine had an output of 56.8 PS (56.0 bhp) (41.8 kW) at 4800 rpm. Drive was to the rear wheels through a choice of either a four-speed manual "crash" gear box or an ENV

pre-selector gearbox A preselector gearbox is a type of manual transmission mostly used on passenger cars and racing cars in the 1930s, in buses from 1940-1960 and in armoured vehicles from the 1930s to the 1970s. The defining characteristic of a preselector gearbox ...

supplied by

Armstrong Siddeley Armstrong Siddeley was a British engineering group that operated during the first half of the 20th century. It was formed in 1919 and is best known for the production of luxury vehicles and aircraft engines. The company was created following ...

. The top speed of the 17 hp (1726 cc) engined version was approximately 90 mph (145 km/h). The exact number made is not known, but is believed to be around 15, and it was expensive at £550. Numerous replicas have, however, been made. Fourteen original cars are thought to survive.

References

{{commons category, Riley 12/6 MPH MPH Cars introduced in 1934