History
The vehicle was purchased by me in 1972 from the original owner, Lady Monica Brain. It was at that stage rather run down, { the brakes failed completely om the way home },and in true form, "was only driven to church on Sundays." "RC220" was subsequently brought back to a usable roadworthy condition and provided my first car "on the road " until the engine required a complete rebuild. I decided that this was the time to do the job properly, and a complete restoration was undertaken, the motor's performance enhanced, and the twin leading shoe brakes from a 2 1/2 litre car installed .
Motor improvements comprised of High compression pistons { 12.5 : 1 }, bored out to 1620 cc. 1/8' oversize inlet valves ,1/16" o/size exhaust valves. Head shaved 20 thou. and ported & polished,. twin S.U. 's, Brownrigg hand made & tuned extractors. Fully balanced, lightened flywheel. Apart from these modificatios, the car remained standard, but the performance certainly didn't, now having a top speed in excess of 100 MPH, and taking 10 seconds off the original 1/4 mile time, even with 4 peope on board.
This car despite it's performance was to give me daily transport for nearly 10 years, during which time it not only carried myself and our new family but was frequently attached to a tandem trailer and used to haul other Rileys into our workshops, on one occaision, even towing 2,2 1/2 litre Rileys & the trailer, simltaneously.
RC is currently awaiting a well deserved second restoration, and I am looking forward to experiencing the unfogetable sound of the beast. Perhaps even a second appearance in Restored Cars or an introduction to Fletch !
