I had a 1960. Was also associated with others in the late 60's. I beg to differ on the rear wings, the sills on all the ones I saw went first, rusting from the inside, so don't ever use the plug into sill side jack. The Wolsely 1500 and the Riley 1.5 differed quite a lot. The 1500 being single inch and a quarter, the Riley twin inch and a half, not just one or two carbs. I was told that the Riley had MG type bore honing that the 1500 lacked. Lots of trim and dash differences. Mine had two colour leather seats, grey and deep red. They were supposed to be the replacement for the Moggie 1000 but buyer pressure for the smaller more economical engine, etc meant they were sold in parallel. The Mk2 had finer spaced grille work that did not wrap into the wing flares, and to my mind never looked as good. Mine had custom paint, birch grey with jaguar opalescent metallic maroon lower side panels and a painted gold coach line. That, a slight front torsion bar etc tweak, anti-roll bar and the non standard much wider 14" wheels (there was a trend at the time to fit 13", which IMO spoiled the look) made it look longer and lower. Paired fogs over the bumpers, paired spots back mount either side of grille. Kept mine near five years, adding 55k miles with only servicing, good car!
One of these was my first car way back in 1966,well actually the Australian version called the Morris Major. In Australia the Riley !.5 was always very rare and desirable, then there was the Wolseley 1500,and most common and cheaper versions were the Morris Major and the Austin Lancer.
My uncle had the Riley 1.5 litre twin carb from new and took it almost twice round the clock!! It was a leaf green single colour exterior with green and white leather seats that he bought see through seat covers for and kept the interior in mint condition. He eventually passed it on to my eldest sister who drove it in Oxford until the entire front end almost dropped off with rust despite the application of plenty of filler and mesh. It was pretty nippy for it's time and I remember my uncle driving us into the Lakes and to the Cumbrian coast to go sailing for the day from Manchester. It was my favourite BMC car until my Dad bought an Austin Westminster with plenty of power.
I drove several of these cars back in the day and they had a nice quality feel about them. I certainly didn't realise and surprised they shared the underpinnings of a Morris 100 as they drive nothing like a moggy.
Wouldn't it be great to feature one of these or the Wolseley 1500 in one of their "Banger and Cash" shows, very much an underrated classic and still very affordable.
I'm currently splicing together new wheel arches on my Morris Elite (Australian variant) and it has required pieces from a wreck that I chopped up. Another point that rusts badly is under the water deflectors located under the front wings at the bottom of the windscreen - it's a rubber block that traps moisture. If it has gone through there then you will likely have rotten floors and side rails, too.
I lovingly restored my beautiful Riley 1.5 in the eighties. Later sold it to a guy from Classic & Sportscar magazine who I thought would look after it. He didn't! :-(
The best thing about them is that the DO'NT have the cabin air intake just in front of the windscreen, the later Riley 1300 (ADO16) rusted terribly because of the double firewall that didn't drain properly, that air box needs a hose and filter down near the radiator. A Morris Minor specialist can uprate the suspension front and back to make this handle like a modern car. A lovely car.
I drove a 1958 Riley 1.5 which had been my late father's. Damask Red, HTS 284, sold in 1969 with 57k miles on it. I tried to buy it back years later, but it wasn't running. Biggest regret, or at least one of them, that I didn't keep it.
Cars of this era had a character all their own. Not like today's offerings. A mate of mine had the Wolsely version and it was comfortable and a nice car to ride in.
I learned to drive in one of these way back in the 1960s having said that I started off driving a Wolseley then the Instructor upgraded it to the Riley version that made hill starts much simpler as they have the rev counter so you new exactly what you engine speed was as a new driver it was harder to judge by ear I passed my test the second time after just 10 lessons it would have been first time if he had not Forgotten to teach me how to do hand signals the young ones do not now what they are..
I remember these being banger raced back before the ford escorts were old enough. They went like stink and were really solid. Sad to think how many Riley and jags died that way.
Hello I was speaking to Derek earlier today I'd been to view lot 52 We had a good natter Here's video link to what we do he was interested to see the tractor I mentioned Many thanks ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-NXLnGuv3CGE.html
So it's a Morris 1000 floor pan and running gear apart from it's not a Morris 1000 floor pan and the running gear is actually a B-series. The same story with the fibre glass panels which were actually steel. How can you allow the silly old fool to talk on the videos? Keep him on car cleaning duties.
