Tag: Riley

Riley was a British motorcar and bicycle manufacturer from 1890. The company became part of the Nuffield Organisation in 1938 and was later merged into British Leyland: late in 1969 British Leyland announced their discontinuance of Riley production, although 1969 was a difficult year for the UK auto industry and so a number of cars from the company’s inventory are likely to have been first registered only in 1970.
Today, the Riley trademark is owned by BMW.
Riley began as the Bonnick Cycle Company of Coventry, England. During the pedal cycle craze that swept Britain at the end of the 19th century, in 1890, William Riley Jr. purchased the company and in 1896 renamed it the Riley Cycle Company. Later, cycle gear maker Sturmey Archer was added to the portfolio. Riley’s younger son, Percy, left school in the same year and soon began to dabble in automobiles. He built his first car at 16, in 1898, secretly, because his father did not approve. It featured the first mechanically operated…