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The Riley 9 was launched at the 1926 Motor show, and went on sale early in 1927. The First body avaliable on this new chassis was the Monaco. The new car was first seen as a prototype at the Shelsey Walsh Hill Climb in the summer of '26, and recieved numerous enquiries. Between then and production there were a number of changes in the appearance of the car, including deeper side windows and a squarer profile to the rear doors. Nevertheless, it remained an innovative offering in the car market of 1927.

The Monaco was launched to fill a precieved gap in the British Motor Industry - that of a small, luxury, light saloon car. Several unique features, for it's class, were a low centre of gravity, built in boot, fabric body and, of course, a Saloon rather than tourer bodystyle. The boot was, compared to modern standards, a very small appendage to the rear of the car, but still more than most models offered.
The mechanicals were also innovative, with Overhead valves, twin Camshafts, hellical gearbox, with constant mesh on 3rd & top, and a single UJ at the front end of the torque tube.

All in all, the Riley 9 set the standard for all light cars until the outbreak of WW2. The design was so good, in fact, that it took 3 years for Riley to better it, in an era where most cars were updated annually. In that period over 3500 were built, over a third of total Nine production. It was replaced for 1930 with the new, improved, Plus Monaco