Riley Cars 12-18hp Information Pages

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Riley Cars 1907-14 12-18hp

Riley 12/18hp 1907

Engine:- 12 hp V two cylinder side valve, Bore 102, Stroke 127, Capacity 2035cc, Gearbox:- 3-speed gearbox. Weight:- 13.25cwt (chassis only), Sizes:- Wheelbase 7'6" / 8'9" (approximately 2250 / 2650mm), Track 4'2" (approximately 1250mm), Length 11'3" / 12'6" (approximately 3410 / 3790mm). Width 5'6" (approximately 1650mm). Tyres 810 x 90

Early motoring postcard (open source from ebay) showing man vs hill as a popular pursuit. This was postally used/printed 1905 so the dates in Styles (as started in 1908) do not match there must have been overlap between these later cars and the earlier models or the car is actually a SWB 12/18 as the rounded bonnet was mainly a 12/18 feature

Riley 12/18 1908-14

The 12-18hp, was available in two formats the long and short wheelbase plus as in anything Riley in a vast array of body designs.

Known body formats sold are :-

2 seater short wheelbase tourer (1907-10);
1907-1910 Short Wheel Based Two Seater 12/18 h.p. This was available with rear entrance or side doors cost £236.5.00 (225 guineas)

1909 Short Wheel Based Two Seater 12/18 h.p cost £241.10.00 (230 guineas) 1910 two seater cost £246.15.00 (235 guineas)

5 seater short wheelbase rear-entranced tourer (1907-09);
1907-1909 Short Wheel Based Five Seater 12/18 h.p cost £246.15.00 (235 guineas)

5-seater Long Wheelbase side-entranced tourer (1907-13; the most popular);

1907 five seater cost £283.10.00 (270 guineas). 1909 five seater cost £262.10.00 (250 guineas). 1910 five seater cost £309.15.00 (295 guineas)

This is described in the sales leaflet (in the archives) as :- " Side entrance car(9ft W.B.Chassis) 810x90mm grooved tyres on back wheels including cape cart hood,single adjustable screen,spare Riley wheel and grooved tyre, also five good quality lamps and horn " for 325 guineas in 1913

Landaulette Long Wheelbase (1909-12);

1909 Laundalette cost £367.10.00 (350 guineas) 1910 Laundaulette cost £367.10.00 (350 guineas)
This is described in the sales leaflet (in the archives) as :- "Laundaulette ( 9ft W.B.Chassis) 810x90mm grooved tyres on all wheels ,spare Riley wheel and grooved tyre, also five good quality lamps and horn " for 380 guineas in 1913

2 seater short wheelbase Torpedo

( survivor is AF 676); This is described in the sales leaflet (in the archives) as :- "Two seater Torpedo body (8 ft or 9ft W.B.Chassis) 810x90mm grooved tyres on back wheels including cape cart hood, single adjustable screen, spare Riley wheel and grooved tyre, also five good quality lamps and horn " for 285 guineas

2 seater Long Wheelbase Tourer (1911-13);

Medico Special Long Wheelbase Coupe (1913).
12/18 h.p. A two door enclosed plus dickey/boot see below This is described in the sales leaflet (in the archives) as :- "Special Coupe ( 9ft W.B.Chassis) 810x90mm grooved back tyres with complete equipment including spare Riley wheel and grooved tyre, also five good quality lamps and horn " for 370 guineas

The same 1913 leaflet adds a model npot in Styles the 4 seater long wheelbase Torpedo
This is described in the sales leaflet (in the archives) as :- "Torpedo Four Seater ( 9ft W.B.Chassis) 810x90mm grooved tyres on back wheels including cape cart hood,single adjustable screen,spare Riley wheel and grooved tyre, also five good quality lamps and horn " for 325 guineas

Translation :-

Guineas were a unit used for smart/posh transactions right up to the late twentieth century in the uk . £1 + 1 shilling. Derived from a Georgian coin loved by thieves as you could clip the metal which contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold

Laundaulette . A landaulet, also known as a landaulette, is a car body style where the rear passengers are covered by a convertible top. Often the driver is separated from the rear passengers by a division, as with a limousine. During the first half of the 20th century, taxicabs were often landaulettes, with models such as the Austin being a common sight in larger cities and the probable reason for so few five seater LWB Rileys surviving

The previous V twin was the first front-mounted engine in a four wheeled Riley and this followed this 'modern' pattern. The radiator was styled in the fashionable ellipse causing a more expensive to produce rounded bonnet behind which speedily evolved to a straight sided one. V-type engines were used although the 9 hp model had cylinders directional fore/aft and its crankshaft set transversely, the 12-18 and 10 hp reversed this configuration. They ceased using chain transmission and used a cardan shaft instead (A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft, propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano)) . All models were water-cooled V-twins with side valves, almost two litres for the 12-18. Victor Riley (sr) himself was among the marque's outstanding competition drivers. As early as 1911, the 12/18hp Riley used a carburetter which was not standard in may makes until decades later.

**All pre-war vehicles have an RAC horsepower rating, which was linked to the Vehicle Excise Duty, and a figure for brake horse power. When the horsepower tax was introduced on 1 January 1910 a formula, known as the RAC Rating, was used to calculate the horsepower Some manufacturers, such as Riley, Rover and Wolseley, used a double rating system and designated a car as eg. 10/25, where the 10 was RAC horsepower and 25 was indicated horsepower**

Known Survivors:-

AB1390. . . on 1907 Riley 9hp 1034cc ( in some places 12hp) in Gaydon listed as 10hp but included here as searches throw it up see Vtwin page

NS105 1908 Riley 12/18 Tourer @ Coventry Transport Museum. This museum is £4 for adults and if you ask very very nicely they allow Riley people to go over the string wall and look closer ( try not to leave any handprints as they hate re-polishing) . These are the people backing the archives so do support them click here

B1524 1911 Riley 12/18 V-Twin pictures from here base of the page now in the Netherlands unless moved also click here for 2014 pics

BY1963 a 12/18hp LWB 'Swing Seat' or Open Tourer Bodied by Hollick and Pratt of Coventry This one survives with a massive history file including original sales brochure and original Riley patent wheel spanner, also an early V5. In the RR as a 10hp two seater chassis number 2869. This was the 1907 Olympia Motor Show display stand car with the new 'detachable' Riley artillery wheels The SWB versions seem to have more surviving than the LWB ( excess passenger weight load + poor roads ?)

As this was for sale locally in 2020 I spent some time doing some pics of the places often unseen before it was sold out of the UK so click here and look how and what they drove over a century ago It is also on youtube as a video but remember in steam engine territory everything happens v e r y slowly but brave to throw it around a track . Also pictured here as a well used car

When for sale on Pre War Car.com . . . . .as taking pics of the whole car is difficult inside

AF676 12hp V Twin SWB Two Seater 'Torpedo' registered in 1911 in Cornwall Chassis number 2276. Also similar below as an advert. The Torpedo appeared to have a bonnet portion/bulkhead in front of the dashboard. Alive and well in Portugal

ZS6148 A V-Twin 12/18hp 'Sportsman' registered 1909 chassis number 2199 This uses a V-twin 90 Deg 2580cc engine numbered 2034

Known History :-. Around 1905 the original owner, a wealthy Ashburton (NZ) farmer, Company owner and Racing horse breeder, Harry Nicoll of Dunbar Lodge following a trip to England brought back into N.Z. a 9hp Riley twin. He had four sons who were continually using it so he decided to import another Riley in 1909 for his own exclusive use. When the car arrived it turned out to be a 12/18 two seater, not the 10/12 that he had ordered. He didn’t use it, leaving it in the packing case; he then contacted the Riley Company in the U.K. informing them of their error. Communication was slow in those days, but he eventually heard from them advising him that there had been a mistake and that the 12/18 he had should have gone to South Africa. Because of transport costs he was told to keep the car at no extra cost. What the customer in South Africa eventually got is not known.

This was rebuilt as a technically a special due to the lack of roads and general disintegration from aging ie has parts added not from the original car ( an honest owner !). Interestingly from the same source " three other 12/18’s that came into N.Z. from various old photos I have located, one in Christchurch 1907/8, one on the West Coast a 1912/13, and another in Wanganui a 1909, going by the engine and radiator that came from there.
Only seven 12/18 twins are known to have survived, Ramon Farmer’s. 1907, Coventry Museum 1907 (NS105 ), Chris Gillian 1908, P.Knight’s 1910, all in England Alan Tedder’s 1911, is now in Portugal (AF). And a recently discovered one in Spain (now in Germany) and my 1909.Sportsman."

This is in greater detail obtained from riley-prewar-special.com a site that details many early historic specials of which this is one good for pics less for every owner being straight (ie a historic make do and mend not created by chopping up a car for financial gain)

These images from here as nice engine pics

O4131 a possibly 1909 Torpedo (bulkhead as in AF above and as in the advert at the base of the page ) 12/18hp @ Kings Heath Birmingham see here

BJ966 1910 Riley 12'18 Tourer found as a postcard by Eileen Stokes ( on svvs.org ) . Not ***** who simply take the picture as opens source and then sell copies.

This wears a registration number from East Suffolk issued late 1910. . Very interesting home made circular 'shock-absorber' on front springs.

DU35?2 1910 SWB two seat Torpedo factory/sales photograph

AT368 1909 long wheelbase five seater tourer registered Kingston-upon-Hull another located on SVVS The 5-seater Long Wheelbase side-entranced tourer (1907-13) was the most popular model but few survived . This was taken by the local photographer Charlie Pinchbeck and the original belongs to the family

Engine:- 12hp V two cylinder side valve Bore 102, stroke 127, Capacity 2035 cc/18 bhp Carburation:- Longuemare, Riley or Zenith, Gearbox:- 3-speed Riley patent. Top gear ratio 4.25:1 Weight :-13/14cwt (chassis only), Sizes:- Wheelbase 8' / 9' (approximately 2430 / 2730mm), Tracking 4'2" / 4'3" (approximately 1250 / 1270mm), Length 11' / 12'6" (approximately 3340 / 3800mm), Width 5' / 5'1" (approximately 1500 / 1530mm). Tyres:- 810 x 90 on Riley detachable wire wheels

Another LWB c.1908 Riley 12'18 Long Chassis Four Seat Tourer, having V-twin engine of 2113cc, fitted with solid Riley Detachable wheels such Riley Wheels were an added extra, cost £247. This is online at svvs.org click here

Medico Special Long Wheelbase Coupe (1912/3) a.k.a Doctors Coupe

1910 Two seater short wheelbase tourer shown in a factory/sales photograph again on Riley patent detachable artillery wheels not the Riley factory wires so must have been another factory optional extra = b heavy and a pain to fit. (Looks to be the Colonial model of the preceding V twin page updated and re-named as the radiator type is by then 'old school')

Cost:-1907 270 guineas; 1908-09 @ 280 guineas 1910-12 @ 295 guineas (all 5-seater) 1913-14 @ 285 guineas (2-seater torpedo)

Links:- Riley Robs Page,

To give an idea of the factory growth by this time in1913 it recorded having built 1350 cars which would have been the 17 hp and the 12/18

DU2401 12/18 c. 1910 Riley car owned by William Beveridge, with Blackwell the chauffeur . (enhanced in photoshop to reveal badge) Source LSE (NOT any of the reprint sites)

1911 Riley described as 20/11 !

1907-11 Riley 9

1907 advert.... they were not cheap !