RILEY - ENGINES

as Old as the Industry, as modern as the Hour

Use of the Riley 9 Engine as a marine engine is well known, and other Riley engines were also used in the marine industry, powering boats of a variety of shapes and sizes.
What is perhaps less well known outside Riley circles is that Riley engines were also used to power other vehicles and machinery:

Lorries

1906-c1919

In 1906 the Riley Engine Co moved from Cook Street Gate to Aldbourne Road in Coventry, and to help with the move they built a 2 Tonne lorry around a 9hp V-Twin engine to help with the move. It is perhaps testament to the simplicity of the machinery involved in the early days of motoring that the Riley Lorry was able to carry everything!
In later years, other lorries were built to help around the factories, and a few were also built to special order for customers in and around Coventry. However, by the 1920s production was entirely focussed on cars and no further commercial vehicles were built by the company.

Railcars

1904-07

The History of the Riley powered rail cars built for Tasmania is increasingly well known, but what is perhaps less well known is that similar vehicles were also built for South Africa.
In Tasmania, there appear to have been 4 rail cars which were built locally using specially ordered Riley 9hp V-Twin power units. They operated on a number of light rail lines in Tasmania over the years, providing a reliable lifeline service for remote communities. Little is known of the South African units.

Electricity Generators

c1918-20

Shortly after World War 1, a number of Riley built engines were used to generate Electricity. Unfortunately, little more is known at the moment.