# Riley 12/4

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The **Riley 12/4**, or from 1936 the **Riley 1½-litre**, is a range of cars made from 1935 to 1938 by the British [Riley](/source/Riley_Motor) company available with [saloon](/source/Saloon_(automobile)), [touring](/source/Touring_car), and sports/[racing](/source/Racing_cars) coachwork,

## Engineering

The car is powered by a four-cylinder 1,496 cm3 (91.3 cu in) "12/4 Engine" with one or two Zenith carburettors. Designed by Hugh Rose, it was based on the [Riley Nine](/source/Riley_Nine) engine but with some significant changes including the cylinder block and crankcase being cast as one unit. It was advanced for its day with twin [camshafts](/source/Camshaft) mounted high in the engine block, cross flow head on some versions, and Zenith or twin [SU](/source/SU_Carburettor) [carburettors](/source/Carburettor).

Production of the engine continued until 1955 and also powered cars sold under these model names in these model years:

- [Riley 12](/source/Riley_12) 1939 to 1940
- [Riley RMA](/source/Riley_RM#Riley_RMA) and then [Riley RME](/source/Riley_RM#Riley_RME) 1946 to 1955
- [Riley One-Point-Five](/source/Riley_One-Point-Five) 1957 to 1965 used a [BMC B-Series engine](/source/BMC_B-Series_engine)

The chassis had half-elliptic leaf springs all round and drive was to the rear wheels through either a four-speed [preselector](/source/Preselector_gearbox) or manual gearbox.[2] Girling rod brakes were fitted. Three different wheelbases were made and two track options of 48 in (1,219 mm) on most versions or 51 in (1,295 mm) on the 1936 Adelphi, Continental and Kestrel saloons.[1]

## Coachwork

At launch three body styles were available: the Kestrel 4 light fastback saloon, the Falcon saloon and the Lynx open tourer. In 1936 the Kestrel became a six light, the Falcon was replaced by the Adelphi six light saloon and the Continental touring saloon was introduced.

## References

1. Sedgwick, M & Gillies (1989). *A–Z of cars of the 1930s*. UK: Bay View Books. ISBN 1-870979-38-9.

1. Culshaw & Horrobin (1974). *Complete Catalogue of British Cars*. London: Macmillan. ISBN 0-333-16689-2.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Riley 12/4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riley_12%2F4) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riley_12%2F4?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.