Coventry car company’s rare classic to go on show in museum
A rare classic made by the iconic Coventry car company Riley is to go on show in a motor museum. The 1962 Riley 4/72 will have a new home at Great British Car Journey in Derbyshire, after it was donated by the daughters of its former owner. The Riley 4/68 and its successor the Riley 4/72 were produced by BMC from 1959 to 1969, under the Riley marque.
They are closely related to the Pininfarina-designed MG Magnette Mark III and Wolseley 15/60 and the simpler Austin A55 Cambridge Mark II and Morris Oxford V. The Riley, which shared the MG’s rear styling and engine, was the most expensive car in that series. Only 25,000 of the rarest variant of the Pininfarina-bodied cars were produced by BMC for over a decade from 1959.
: Tributes paid to former boss credited with creating the foundations for Jaguar Land Rover’s success Today, only 100 of the 14,151 Riley 4/72s that were built survive. Although Riley is a company that is forever associated with Coventry, the 4/72 and other similar models were produced at BMC’s factory in Cowley, Oxfordshire.
The classic two-tone car was acquired in 2002 by former mechanic and British Made Car Club member John Jones MBE from Erith. Prior to John’s ownership, the Riley 4/72 had four owners and more than 70,000 miles on the clock and continued to be regularly driven by John until 2020. Richard Usher founder of Great British Car Journey described the car, which is in excellent condition, as ‘a huge credit to John’.
It is now on display at the Derbyshire classic car visitor attraction alongside more than 130 classic British cars dating from 1902 to present day.
The Riley 4/72 that has been donated to Great British Car Journey (Image: Great British Car Journey)
John Jones died in 2020 but it was his wish that the Riley, and also a 1964 Austin A60 Cambridge saloon, should be appreciated in a museum and were donated to Great British Car Journey by his daughters. Both cars were used regularly as family transport whilst in John’s ownership and each has well over 100,000 miles on the clock and both are in full working order. Describing the Cambridge Saloon back in 2019, John said: “The car is quite heavy, so performance is not that great by modern standards.
However, the ‘old girl’ has lapped the Silverstone Motor Racing Circuit on two separate occasions subsequent to completion of the Norwich Union Classic Car Run. She has also negotiated the test hill at Brooklands on many occasions with the full load of school children and ‘Miss’ on board.” Mr Usher from Great British Car Journey said: “We are immensely grateful to John’s daughters Christine and Mary-Anne for choosing us to be the custodian of two such fine cars.
They have both been excellently maintained by John and we are very proud to have them as part of the Great British Car Journey collection where they will be enjoyed for many more years to come.”
Tickets to see the Riley 4/72 and more than 130 classic British cars that chart 100 years of motoring history in the UK at Great British Car Journey can be booked here.