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Riley 9 Falcon. (1933)

1933 Riley 9 Falcon Prototype

While the Kestrel body was the sporty model, and the Monaco was the cheaper model, the Falcon was aimed at the more traditional market. The body was more upright than that of the Kestrel, although much lower than many of its rivals. This was done by dropping the floorpan either side of the transmission tunnel.
In order to give reasonable access to the low seating position, 1933 models had special mechanisms which lifted part of the roof over the front doors to give better clearance, however this was dropped for 1934 as it became clear it was damaging the structural integrity of the body. The prototype also shows that the shrunken running boards and the leading edge of the rear wing were attached to the doors, however, the production model returns to the normal procedure where the running board and wing were separate, fixed panels.
Another curious feature of the prototype which did not make production was the shape of the front doors. In a manner similar to the original Biarritz in 1928, the front door met the bonnet side without a scuttle panel. In the Falcon this was acheived by a squared up projection beneath the windscreen, rather than the more stylish straight diagonal of the older model. The scuttle panel was reintroduced for production cars.
This innovative design seems to have perhaps been too much for the buying public, particularly on the small 9, and less than 100 were built during the 1933 model year, and indeed some of these may have been the revised 1934 model.