1936 Riley Kestrel 15/6

This a Riley 15/6 Kestrel, a car that’s so rare it is thought that no more than eight or nine remain.

Finished in black-over-blue with a tan leather interior, it was first registered on the 31st of December 1936 by Jordan’s of Godalming in Surrey, the dealer whose plaque can still be seen on the bulkhead.

Its originality is further bolstered by the presence of its original registration number ‘DPF 336’, and it also benefits from a pleasing and slowly developing patina thanks to it never having been fully restored.

It has also been very well maintained over the past nine decades – and has the paperwork dating back to the 1980s to prove it. As you might expect, a few minor concessions have been made for life in the 21st century and these include a spin-on oil filter conversion and an electric fuel pump for the silky-smooth straight-six engine.

It’s been in the seller’s care for the past four years, during which it’s been “as sweet as a nut!” and singling out the pre-selector gearbox for praise, remarking on how easy it makes the Riley to drive.

The black-over-blue coachwork looks excellent, even when you’re close up – and what a profile it offers! With a long, louvred bonnet, a wheel at each corner, flowing wings linked by a running board, and a curved rear roofline, it’s a car Cruella de Vil’s altruistic sibling would drive.

It’s in good shape too: The bonnet louvres run straight and true; the running boards still have their original finish rather than the modern anti-slip trim and right-angle metal edging we’re starting to see; wing-mounted rearview mirrors eliminate the blindspots we’ve become accustomed to driving around; and the slim and elegantly curved front and rear bumpers remain as pleasing under close scrutiny as they are from a distance.

And they’re very far from being the only elegant feature on the car. Take the front doors, for example, whose rear-hinged design allows for far more graceful entry and egress than the front-hinged versions that elf ‘n’ safety now demands.

The sliding black fabric panel offers nigh-on convertible levels of fresh air when it is slid rearwards, yet seals snugly when it is closed, thereby giving the discerning owner the best of both worlds. It also slides fore and aft smoothly, and is absent any rips, tears or other damage.

Speaking of being discerning, the wheels, including the spokes, have been painted rather than chromed, thus avoiding the (admittedly small) risk of hydrogen embrittlement.

It’s also a period-correct finish, but regardless of matters of taste, we can all surely agree that the Primrose Yellow wheels suit the car very well indeed. The paint finish is in good shape too, and the tyres are matching 4.50/5.00–18 Excelsior Comp H. These are old now – they were fitted in 2010 – and are heavily cracked and perished, so will need to be replaced.

Nonetheless, we will never get tired of telling you that experience shows that matching high-quality tyres are an infallible sign of a caring and mechanically sympathetic owner who is prepared to spend the appropriate amount in maintaining their car properly.

Other fetching features include a roll-up radiator muff with no fewer than two separate sections to help you precisely control how much cold air flows across your cooling system; twin chromed horns from Lucas that are operated by a huge ‘KLAXON’ button on top of the dashboard; and Lucas’s King of the Road collection provides the front sidelights, the Bi-Flex Long Range headlamps, and the central driving light.

Small touches like the presence of a window sticker for the South Hants Vehicle Preservation Society and an enamel badge on the badge bar for the Riley Register offer the reassurance of an owner whose interest in the curating his vintage car is engrained, something that also makes itself known by way of pliable and plump rubber window seals.

As for flaws, given it’ll be expecting a telegram from the King in a few years and has only been the recipient of localised repairs over the years, including having had its nearside doors painted in the seller’s time, its condition is testament to the quality of the curation over the years.

Because all we spotted are some touched-up paint to the nearside front wing and front door, slightly faded paint on the bonnet, slightly rough paint on the nearside roof, and cracks in the nearside headlamp glass, nearside front door glass, and nearside rear wheelarch.

It also shows microblistering to the boot lid, above the fuel filler cap, the offside front wing, and under the handle on the driver’s door.

While we’ve got our critical cap on, we should say that the interior is also lightly patinated – but must follow that up by clarifying that we consider this a positive as it is still very presentable and pleasingly authentic; few things look worse on a vintage car than an overly restored interior, a place where originality is crucial.

The gently rumpled seats are, therefore, as easy on the eye as they are the buttocks. They also slide fore and aft via A.W. Chapman’s patented Leveroll system.

Soft and sumptuous, they’ve developed the distressed finish that only age and use can endow; if they were armchairs you’d be paying a significant premium for their patina in a Chelsea antique shop.

With tan facings, the leather on the rear of the seats, the door cards, and the rear quarter panels have faded to olive green, while the carpets are a muted ochre. It’s a pleasing colour combination that Farrow & Ball would do well to offer.

The rear window has a pull-up blind to shelter its occupants from the sun, and a pull-down central armrest gives them somewhere to rest their pale-but-interesting arms.

Other agreeable features include adjustable fresh air vents in the front footwells, individual Bakelite-and-chrome ashtrays dotted throughout the cabin, hefty chrome levers and handles on the doors and rear quarterlights, elasticated pockets in all four doors, and a very good headlining.

Of course, Riley didn’t neglect the driver: The instruments are ivory-faced jobbies from Jaeger that cover coolant temperature, fuel and oil levels (in the same instrument, no less!), battery charge, oil pressure, road speed, time, and distance covered.

A modern tachometer has also been fitted, and the dashboard is a full-width slab of proper wood rather than the thin smear of veneer lesser marques would have settled for. More chunks of wood can be found on the top of the dashboard, around the doors, and up the A-pillars.

The gearchange for the pre-selector gearbox is mounted to the right of the steering wheel. With its positions neatly painted, the steering wheels’ controls also includes an advance/retard lever and a switch for the external lighting.

The spare wheel is concealed behind a cover that keeps it safe from road dirt and rain, and the entire assembly can be tilted forward to give access to a good-sized and well-carpeted luggage compartment.

As for flaws, the seating’s patinated condition includes a few localised patch repairs. More repairs have been made to the steering wheel, and the pre-selector lever mount is cracked.

And yet, perhaps the only job we might be tempted to do is to restuff the seats – and even the need for that will depend on how much padding you bring to the game.

The rest of the cabin is, to our eyes at least, pretty much perfectly judged.

We understand the following restorative work has been carried out:

· 2013 – its previous owner, a doctor, had both rear hubs stripped and cleaned, replacing oil seals as necessary

· 2011 – more than £1,500 was spent on having new front shackle pins, rear shackles, pins and tail bushes fitted

· 1996 – 2000 – substantial mechanical work was carried out, including a new crown and pinion for the differential, re-lined rear brakes, new wheel bearings, and new pinion thrust bearings

The engine was also rebuilt and this included regrinding the camshaft followers to match the Sprite-specification camshaft, gas-flowing the cylinder head and refitting it with new cylinder head studs, fitting new cylinder block liners, resizing the centre main bearings, which were also subject to white metaling. Also converting the con-rods to take shell bearings, and fitting new small end bushes. The bottom end was also balanced, and the engine was reinstalled with a re-conditioned clutch, rebuilt carburettors, and a new inlet manifold and six-branch exhaust manifold.

· Invoices are also present for reconditioning the speedometer and work to the propshaft and kingpins

· The preselector transmission is thought to have been rebuilt prior to 2012 at a cost of more than £4,000

The carburettors were rebuilt and tuned in 2024, and the sparkplugs were replaced. It’s little surprise then that it starts so well, showing both healthy oil pressure and a good charge to the battery.

It also makes a lovely noise through the six-into-one exhaust manifold that leads to a flattened megaphone-style exhaust tailpipe.

The combination of a pre-selector gearbox and that perfectly balanced engine layout also makes for a wonderfully satisfying driving experience, helped by the fact that the steering box was adjusted in May 2023.

However, we note that it doesn’t idle or rev as well as we would have expected. It only seems to be an issue when it is cold as the seller tells us this has never been a problem once it has warmed up.

The engine bay is the usual pleasing blend of brass, copper, aluminium, steel, chrome, rubber and Bakelite. It also features a Luvax-Bijur ‘Automatic Lubricator’ and a Donald Sessions jack in addition to a modern Lucas battery and the spin-on oil filter conversion and electric fuel pump we mentioned in the introduction.

Everything is nicely accessible and easy to comprehend; the budding DIYer keen to expand their knowledge could do far worse than buy a car like this to develop their skills on.

The underside comprises the sort of sturdy engineering that Brunel would understand, and if there is some oil and grease dotted around, that has played its part in keeping it rot-free; as we’ll see in the next section, no MoT tester has ever flagged up structural rust as an issue since records begin in 2005.

The Riley’s MoT certificate expires at the end of the month but given you’ve got to go all the way back to 2017 to find an advisory, getting a fresh ticket might not prove to be too much of a challenge.

The recent Vehicle History Check is clear, and the V5 Registration Certificate shows six previous keepers.

The Riley’s history file includes a variety of communication from the Riley Register, what looks like its original Instruction Book along with a modern reproduction, a photocopy of a buyer’s guide from Classic Car Weekly, an article dated 1937 on maintaining your Riley from The Motor Trader, exploded parts diagrams, a wiring diagram, a number of expired MoT certificates and tax discs, a typewritten history of the car’s previous owners, period photographs, and invoices dating back to 1981.

Plus, the all-important VSCC Eligibility Document from 2004 that is reputed to have cost its owner £4,000 to acquire.

The Vintage Sports-Car Club offers a huge range of sporting and social events, catering for everyone from the gregarious and the introverted. We really cannot emphasis enough the pleasure you will gain from being a member if you’re lucky enough to own a VSCC-eligible car.

As Hilary Mantel put it, “There are some people in this world who like everything squared up and precise, and there are those who will allow some drift at the margins.”

We’re in the latter camp – and if you are too then we can’t think of a better way of dipping your toe into the vintage world than this wonderful Riley Kestrel.

Fastidiously fettled yet bearing a thoroughbred’s patina, it offers the best of all worlds; better than average reliability with oodles of character.

Of course, above all, the Riley’s pedigree is obvious whether you’re a passenger or the driver, something that’s as true now as it was when the car was new.

And all this could probably be yours for between £18,000 and £23,000, which is a very modest amount considering the years of fun you’ll be able to enjoy together.

Viewing is strongly encouraged, and this lot is located at THE MARKET HQ in South Oxfordshire. Viewings are STRICTLY BY APPOINTMENT and we are open weekdays (apart from Bank Holidays) between 10am - 12pm or 2pm - 4pm. To make a booking, please use the ‘Enquire About This Vehicle’ button on the listing. Feel free to ask any questions, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.