Hillman and Riley both started off in the Victorian era building bicycles. The first Hillman car appeared in 1907, but Riley produced its first in 1898, leading to the company motto: ‘As old as the industry. As modern as the hour.’ Since Riley is therefore the elder statesman of the two, we will start with a quick recap of their story.
After 1898 the company went on to develop some fine cars right through to the second half of the 1930s, many of them highly regarded for their sporting prowess and with engines that included fourcylinder and six-cylinder units, as well as a 2178cc V8. That V8 contributed to the company's loss of independence after the Autovia marque that had been set up in 1937 to produce luxury cars powered by it proved to be a failure. Factor in the complex range of lesser models on offer and not even the good reputation their cars enjoyed could stave off receivership in 1938.
Riley was snapped up by Morris and initially left to plough their own furrow, but their Foleshill factory was badly damaged by bombing during the war. However, in 1945 they introduced their new RMA 1.5-litre, a stylish and well-finished sporting saloon that featured traditional construction of steel panels over an ash frame. This was followed by a bigger 2.5-litre RMB, neither of which shared much with other cars from William Morris's Nuffield empire. The RMA evolved into the RME in 1952, while the RMB became the RMF.
That was of course the year that Austin and Morris merged to form BMC, and this signalled the beginning of the end of Riley's relative independence. In 1953 the Pathfinder replaced the RMF, stillengine but sharing much of its sheet metal with the Wolseley 6/90. This was not a resounding success, and when it died in 1957, the successor Riley Two-point-Six was powered by the same C-series engine as the Wolseley.
