Off the road since the late 1960s, this kestrel saloon was bought in 1996 from a collection of ‘barn find’ Rileys on Hayling Island and restored over the course of the succeeding two and a half years.

The owner’s detailed record of the project (available on CD) reveals that careful consideration was given to rust proofing during the rebuild, all the steel parts being sand blasted, hot zinc sprayed and etch primed before refinishing.

The chassis frame itself was galvanised and the missing centralised lubrication system reinstated using that from another of the barn finds: a Monaco.

A new stainless exhaust system was fitted together with new rubber engine mountings; unleaded-compatible valve seats were used to rebuild the ’head and a Scintilla magneto installed.

The latter was not on the car when acquired, but as the Kestrel is a Special Series (S66K), may well have been part of the original fit.

The electrics and lighting were sensibly updated with a new much-modified wiring harnes...