The Riley RM Series is an executive car which was produced by Riley from 1945 to 1955.

It was the last model developed independently by Riley prior to the 1952 merger of Riley’s still new owner Nuffield, with Austin to form BMC.

The RM series was originally produced in Coventry, but in 1949 production moved to the MG works at Abingdon.

The RM models were marketed as the Riley 1½ Litre and the Riley 2½ Litre.


There were three types of RM vehicles produced.

All used Riley engines with four cylinders in-line, hemispherical combustion chambers and twin camshafts mounted high at the sides of the cylinder block.

The RMD (drophead) was a traditional 2-door cabriolet, the last cabriolet to wear the Riley name.

It used the same 2.5 L 100 hp (75 kW) engine as the RMB, on which it was based.

Just over 500 were produced between 1949 and 1951.


This new body was first displayed in October 1948 at London’s Earls Court Motor Show.

The name Riley, as popularised by the famous book, “As Old...