The Riley Company's motto, “As old as the industry – as modern as the hour” summed up the product range very nicely, but their master-stroke came in 1926 when the Riley was announced.

The chassis, suspension and bodywork were the work of Stanley Riley, whilst talented engineer, Percy Riley, designed the brilliant 9hp engine.

This 1,087cc unit thrived on high revs, which it would happily and reliably maintain for long periods of time thanks to its clever design.

Twin camshafts were mounted high in the block, making for short and light pushrods which operated valves set at 45 degrees to the head and this, coupled with a crossflow-head design, enabled a remarkable amount of power (for the period) to be extracted from this willing unit.

The Riley Monaco saloon was one of the first models to take advantage of the new engine.

At first it was only available with fabric coachwork, but a semi-fabric body was soon to follow.

This, absolutely lovely, early high-waisted, fabric-bodied Monaco...