Riley 12/4

The Riley 12/4, known from 1936 as the Riley one and a half litre, is a range of cars made from 1935 to 1938 by the British Riley company and offered with saloon, touring and sports or racing coachwork. It is powered by a four-cylinder 1,496 cc engine with one or two Zenith carburettors, designed by Hugh Rose and based on the Riley Nine engine but with a cylinder block and crankcase cast as one unit, twin camshafts mounted high in the block and, on some versions, a cross flow head. At launch three body styles were available: the Kestrel four light fastback saloon, the Falcon saloon and the Lynx open tourer. The chassis had half-elliptic leaf springs all round, Girling rod brakes and drive to the rear wheels through a four-speed preselector or manual gearbox.