Riley One-Point-Five. (1957-65)

The Riley One-Point-Five was originally intended as a replacement for the Morris Minor. However, the unfading popularity of the Minor changed BMCs Plans slightly! As such, the Wolseley 1500 and Riley One-Point-Five were created. Using BMCs 1489cc B-Series engine, with the floor pan, steering and suspension of the Morris Minor gave the car a unique character. It is interesting to note, that in Australia, the car was also marketed as a Morris Major, and Austin Lancer.
The car ran from 1957 until 1965, with 2 minor facelifts. In the Riley range, it was a belated replacement for the RME 1½litre Saloon, although much smaller. It was killed off after a production run of 39,568, in 1965, by one of BMCs rationalisation plans, and indirectly replaced with the Riley Kestrel 1100. Even so, it holds the position of Rileys best-selling model ever!

Links

  • Roger Flatt's One-Point-Five site

    ENGINE

    1489cc 4 cyl ohv
    Bore 73mm Stroke 88.9mm
    68bhp at 5,400rpm
    Max Tourque 83lbft at 3,200rpm
    Compression ratio 8.3:1
    Carburation 2SU

    TRANSMISSION

    Overall gear ratios.
    1st 13.56, 2nd 8.25,
    3rd 5.12 4th 3.73
    Reverse 17.73

    SUSPENSION

    Independent Torsion Beam Front
    Semi Elliptic at rear

    BRAKES

    Girling hydraulic drum brakes with wedge operated shoes
    9in front, 8 in rear.

    PERFORMANCE

    0-50mph 12sec
    Standing ¼mile 20.5secs
    Max Speed 87mph
    Fuel Consumption 27.2mpg
    Also see below.

    DIMENSIONS

    Wheelbase 7'2" (aprx 2180mm)
    Track 4'3" (aprx 1300mm)
    Length 12'9" (aprx 3890mm)
    Width 5'1" (aprx 1520mm)
    Height 5'1" (aprx 1520mm)
    Turning Circle 31'left 32'6"right
    Tyres 5.60x14 (or 5.0x14)
    Weight 18.5cwt

    PRICE

    1957-60 £575 plus £288 17s tax equals £863 17s
    1960-61 £575 plus £240 14s 2d tax equals £815 14s 2d
    1961-65 £580 plus £267 1s 5d tax equals £847 1s 5d

    Further Information

    Below is some extra information, specific to the Riley 1.5, supplied by Jeff Allen.

    Road Speed at: (Taken from a period road test)
    1st gear2nd gear3rd gear4th gear
    1000rpm5.08mph8.36mph14.8mph18.5mph
    3200rpm16.326.847.459.3
    5400rpm27.554.280100 (theoretical!)
    Max speed 29487587

    Acceleration through gears:
    0-30mph 5secs
    0-40mph 8.5secs
    0-50mph 12secs
    0-60mph 19secs
    0-70mph 26secs

    Engine Numbers located on the metal plate on the right hand side of the block:
    15R-U-H or 15RB-U-H

  • 15 = 1500cc.
  • R or RB = Riley
  • U = Central Gear Change
  • H = High Compression
    Starting from 15R-U-H101

    Chassis Numbers are located on a plate on the right hand A-post, except for the first 150 (Abingdon-built) which are located on a plate to the left hand side of the engine bulkhead.
    Body numbers are located on plates on the left hand side of the Engine Bulkhead (or in the centre on Abingdon cars).