RILEY - BMC PRODUCTION FIGURES

as Old as the Industry, as modern as the Hour

Total BMC model production.

As with the RM series cars, identifying annual production figures is not so easy as with prewar cars. This was made more complex by the introduction of BMC-standard chassis numbers.
  • The Riley 2.6 continued with a similar system to the Pathfinder, except that a 'U' was used in place of the 'M' to identify a 2.6.
  • However, the 1.5 used a new system - standard across the BMC range. The prefix was initially HSR1/ simply indicating Riley (R) model 1! numbering ran from 501-18121 for the MkI, and on to HSR1/27897 for the MkII.
    However, the MkIII had a different prefix (both to mark it as a different model, and because BMC were changing all prefixes!). The new numbers ran from R/HS2/101-12184 (The R again indicates Riley).
  • The 4/68 Used R/HS1/101-11084, and the 4/72 R/HS3/11101-25291.
  • The Mini based Elf had it's own prefix, but the actual numbers ran in sequence with all Mini-based models. The MkI ran from R/A2S1/156851-310706. The MkII started at R/A2S2/369601, and the MkIII ran from R/A2S3/930221-1337993. Total production is estimated at just under 31,000 units.
  • The Kestrel range started at R/AS1/101 for the Kestrel 1100, ceasing at R/AS1/13421. However, the Kestrel 1275 and Kestrel 1300 cars had used the same numbers, with the Kestrel 1300 having the prefix of R/AS4. production ran from R/AS4/12224-16714.
    The 1300 saloon (the Kestrel name being dropped) ran from R/A4S5/16715-21629.
  • For all cars, the A is thought to identify an A-series, the H a B-series? and the S a Saloon. Quite why the Elf is A2, when it started production before the Kestrel is unclear!

    Total production figures were therefore:

    YearsModelTotal
    1957-9Two point Six2,000
    1957-65One point Five39,568
    1959-614/6810,984
    1961-94/7214,151
    1961-9Elf30,912
    1965-9Kestrel / 130021,529