Racing Rileys

Logically yes. By the same token the independently suspended offset single seater should be what became the Maclure car which as described earlier evolved into the ERA/Riley. However Works Rileys were ingeneously engineered to allow one competition model to be used in a variety of formats thus a 1.5 litre 4 cylinder sports car could relatively easily become a six cylinder 2 litre offset single seater if the next event in a hectic racing calendar demanded it, so which car was used in which format where is always going to be tricky to figure out entirely.

Did we ever get to the bottom of the histories of Hector Dobbs three late thirties 6 cylinder single seater Rileys? Dobbs was a wealthy motor trader who raced Riley cars for many years. The white single seaters he is best known for had relatively rudimentary bodies, after having gone to enormous lengths to produce a streamlined body for his earlier 9hp engined single seater (including I think testing a model of it in a windtunnel) he had been dissapointed by the improvement in performance it gave. Thereafter he resolved to make bodies for his cars simply as light and easy to work on as possible.
I believe he constructed three 6 cylinder cars from competition parts supplied by the works, with engines of 1500cc 1700cc and 2 litre, Dobbs used these cars with a good deal of succes. Until following Rileys going into receivership and therefore withdrawing its assistance to his programme he regretfully retired and sold the cars. As regards there subsequent whereabouts I only know of the 2 litre car which was in the Davie family for many years and was recently sold to France. I would be very interested to hear the current whereabout of these very distinctive and effective cars, since it would seem rather a shame if this was the sole survivor.

I think we've already posted all we know earlier in the thread (Page 1)

I've just seen that in the February Motor Sport a Belgian dealer is advertising an offset Riley single seater with Atovia V8 engine. It is appears to painted in the 'Bira' colour scheme (blue with yellow chassis). Where does this one fit in to the scheme of things?

It's a special built in the 1970s by Colin Clifford.

It is referred to in this thread http://forums.autosp...horace richards

Fairman photos. One at Easter '49 Goodwood, the other at the '49 Manx Cup Isle of Man.
 

Edited by 275 GTB-4, 25 November 2014 - 22:01.

Mick, thank you for posting the Fairman photos for me. These may raise as many queries as they solve!

Thanks very much to Mick and David for posting the images of Fairmans Riley. These to me do appear to support this car being built up by Fairman and Dixon out of racing bits and pieces based on a touring car. Since the body isnt really to the shape of a TT Sprite being rather too truncated and angular to my eyes, it is not fitted with the doors which they had to have for the the 1930s sportscar racing regulations they were built for and which to the best of my knowledge they all retained at least on the drivers side, also it appears to be fitted with the always rather unsatisfactory Riley cable operated brake system which for the TT Sprite Riley replaced with rod operated Girlings.

today i frist seen the side racing rileys.My father and I we race riley here in germany since some years.
First we both have two riley specials. Since the end of the ``90 may father owned the ex workscar CWK 171
in which we did some runs here in germany. We bought the car from Rodney Green form SouthAfrica true
Barrie A. Gillies.The car was at this time full restored by Mr. Jarvis and the engine was made by Tony Merrick
in 96/97. By the first run out in the hands of my father the frontaxel was broken down. A new axel was
put in and the car was change to normal petrol and refixed by Mr. Danaher. all is fine and the car is a easy
driver.In future I will make some new photos and will send them.
nice eastern monday to all the riley friends.

Originally posted by marc stefan
today i frist seen the side racing rileys.My father and I we race riley here in germany since some years.
First we both have two riley specials. Since the end of the ``90 may father owned the ex workscar CWK 171
in which we did some runs here in germany. We bought the car from Rodney Green form SouthAfrica true
Barrie A. Gillies.The car was at this time full restored by Mr. Jarvis and the engine was made by Tony Merrick
in 96/97. By the first run out in the hands of my father the frontaxel was broken down. A new axel was
put in and the car was change to normal petrol and refixed by Mr. Danaher. all is fine and the car is a easy
driver.In future I will make some new photos and will send them.
nice eastern monday to all the riley friends.

Thank you Marc...good luck racing such an historic vehicle

Found this - unattributed - press cutting of Freddie Dixon and Fay Taylour on t'internet. I suspect it comes from a non-motoring magazine source - Picture Post or the like - and I think it may show the car Fay Taylour raced in South Africa in early 1939.

Looks very much like this one: http://encarsglobe.c...y-tt-sprite/11/

Any thoughts anybody?

Could the car Fay raced in SA be the TT Sprite later run by Edgar Hoal?

Looks very much like this one: http://encarsglobe.c...y-tt-sprite/11/

I disagree - the Dixon cars were lower-slung and had long tails

Could the car Fay raced in SA be the TT Sprite later run by Edgar Hoal?

I believe Hoal's first Riley was an ex-Dobbs single-seater, though he later raced an ex-Dixon TT Sprite (not one of the pukka 'Dixon-Rileys')

I can find no record of Fay Taylour racing a Riley in South Africa in 1939 (which doens't mean it didn't happen)

Fay Taylour indeed raced a Dixon-prepared Riley in the 1939 SAf GP, although she did not finished. I don't know if it was one of the 2 special Dixon-Rileys (one of which ended around that time in SAf I think) or a "regular" TT Sprite.

Fay Taylour indeed raced a Dixon-prepared Riley in the 1939 SAf GP, although she did not finished. I don't know if it was one of the 2 special Dixon-Rileys (one of which ended around that time in SAf I think) or a "regular" TT Sprite.

Exactly. This is the odd thing about it. Given Fay's aptitude for self-publicity, it seems extraordinary that so little is known about what she drove on that visit: my bet would be a TT Sprite, but there don't even seem to be any pictures - all the snappers seem to have concentrated on the ERAs and Maseratis!

I just found out there actually is a partial picture in the second edition of "Sun on the Grid", page 131. Looks to me like one of the two TT Six Dixon Special but I am 100 % confident.

Just to put the record straight, which I do with sadness now that neither David is still with us, the Reeces of Blakes of Liverpool namely Peter &Jackie, were cousins, not brothers as DV stated in Post 39.

Anyone know who now owns the Dobbs 2.0L Riley. I have to write something on it although there seems to be more than enough online for my purposes.

 

Would  Bonhams 2008 sale information be reliable?

 

T

Is that the one driven by Thierry Chanoine at Goodwood and Monaco as well as several other places in recent years ? The last time I saw it mentioned in any results was in the Bolster Trophy race at the 76th Members Meeting at Goodwood in 2018. Not sure it wasn't damaged in that race and possibly is still being rebuilt ?

Is that the one driven by Thierry Chanoine at Goodwood and Monaco as well as several other places in recent years ? The last time I saw it mentioned in any results was in the Bolster Trophy race at the 76th Members Meeting at Goodwood in 2018. Not sure it wasn't damaged in that race and possibly is still being rebuilt ?

 

Could be - I have an idea it might be or have been in French hands. I'll follow through with a French contact - thank you.

 

T

Something called www.driverdb.com has him in the Dobbs Riley 2010 onwards.

 

T