1935 Riley 12/4 Kestrel
No Reserve

Registration No: RD 7007
Chassis No: 22T 2112
MOT: Exempt

• Known history back to the 1960s with a buff logbook evidencing ownership to 1962
• Acquired as a basket case by the vendor many years ago and painstakingly put back together
• In need of final finishing-off work cosmetically although it has been used recently on the road by the vendor
• Supplied with the original twin-SU carburettors

Among the best-looking pre-WW2 British saloons, the Riley Kestrel debuted in 1933. Boasting a `double dropped' chassis with inter axle seating and `Aero Line' styling, the newcomer was powered by a variety of four and six-cylinder engines ranging from 9hp to 15hp. Highly capable and stylish, the 12/4 Kestrel was capable of over 70mph with many enthusiasts preferring the Four-Light `22T' version over the later and heavier Six-Light model.

First registered on the 15^th June 1935 as ‘RD 7007’, chassis 22T 2112 was first registered in the Reading area. It is understood that the first registered keeper when the car was new was Sir Arthur Russell, who is noted to have curated one of the greatest collections of British Isle minerals extant, now housed in the Natural History Museum.

The recorded history starts with the accompanying 1962 dated buff logbook, which records that it was by then in the ownership of Sir Arthur’s son, Christopher. Christopher sold the Riley in 1964 to Peter Howell of Harlow, Essex who kept it on the road for just three years before it was stripped to its component parts for restoration. The Kestrel remained forgotten for many years prior to being purchased by the vendor in 2003, and over the next twenty years he painstakingly pieced the car back together to the state it presents in today.

Today, ‘RD 7007’ is described by the vendor as being ‘95% there’ but will take some finishing off. When viewed by the consigning specialist, it was presented in running order and moving happily under its own steam. The overhauled 12/4 engine – which breathes through a single SU carburettor currently - sprang into life very easily and the vendor describes it as ‘not even having been run in yet’.

Now offered for sale as the vendor ‘struggles to get underneath the car to work on it’, this rare and attractive Riley should make an enjoyable and relatively straightforward project for any prospective owner and is supplied with its original twin carburettor set-up, the aforementioned 1962 buff logbook, some photographs of the works undertaken by the vendor, V5C and an attractive AA document folder dating from the 1930s.

For more information, please contact:
Lucas Gomersall
lucas.gomersall@handh.co.uk
07484 082430