Early History
Concept and Design.
This story really begins with a bit of background history … In 1952, Nuffield (of which Riley was a part) and Austin merged to become the British Motor Corporation. Although a good idea in principle, it led to many problems that are often associated with the combination of two large companies. Many departments were merged, including the two design departments, which were combined into the ADO (Amalgamated Drawing Office). Unfortunately the marriage of different ideas and design philosophies was not always smooth and eventually led to the departure of Gerald Palmer, renowned designer of the Pathfinder, Jowett Javelin and MG Magnette, among others.
The 1.5 was never an original concept in its own right – more the morphing of ideas and policies that shaped a new car. Its roots lie in the idea of a replacement for the Morris Minor. As early as 1951 a ‘new’ Minor had been envisaged by Alec Issigonis and in the mid-50’s he was working on re-modelling the structure and workings of the Minor.
The ‘New’ Minor design was actually being worked on by two different departments within BMC – Gerald Palmer and his team, and Ricardo ‘Dick’ Burzi, who held favour with Leanard Lord (ex-head of Austin). Sadly politics played quite a part and one day Lord turned up at Palmers office to announce “here you are, Dick Burzi and I have designed the new Minor at Longbridge”. From then on the project became a ‘Longbridge’ baby and Gerald Palmer left BMC shortly afterwards.
The ‘new’ Minor – with subtle differences from the Riley 1.5 and Wolseley 1500.
Dick Burzi headed up the project from then on, with the help of the ADO team, including stylist Sid Goble. Burzi was an Argentinean designer who had come to Austin via Lancia before the war and stayed at Longbridge after the war, eventually becoming Head of Styling at Longbridge in the early 50’s.
However as development continued on the ‘new’ Minor it became obvious, to those in charge, that there was no need for a Minor replacement, as sales had continued to grow through the 1950’s. So, rather than scratch the design, which had already reached an advanced stage, a new idea was conceived and the design was developed into a small sporting saloon with more power and luxury than the popular Minor. The Wolseley 1500 and Riley One-Point-Five were born.
The final product was firmly based on the Morris Minor – with a floor pan and monocoque construction carefully reworked by Issigonis and his team. Suspension was the same as the Minor, but brakes, engine and gearbox were all new to the Wolseley/Riley – albeit taken from different parts of the BMC empire.
An early prototype – the ‘White Car’ – with a different front grill and trim.
Launch and Early Production.
Initial production began at the beginning of October 1957 at the MG factory in Abingdon. It’s a mystery why the early cars were built at Abingdon, especially as Wolseley 1500 production was already at Longbridge. Perhaps tooling was not ready at Longbridge and the BMC hierarchy were keen to get the new model into production? Anyway, the result was a rather stuttering start and production continued until 18th November. Only 150 cars were built at Abingdon and they are more commonly referred to as the ‘Pre-Production’ cars and were given a different chassis numbering system to the main production run.
On 10th December production of the 1.5 began in earnest at the Longbridge factory, commencing with the familiar chassis numbering – HSR1. There were a few, very minor detail changes made to the car at this stage, but basically the cars were the same as the pre-production model. Despite this, production was still slow to get going, and relatively few numbers were built until April/May 1958 – when production stepped up to between 700-900 a month.
The 1.5 was officially first shown to the public at the Scottish Motor Show in Glasgow on 7th November 1957. To the writer, it seems odd that the car was not released at the much more prestigious Earls Court Motor Show that was held only a few weeks earlier. Surely they would have got more coverage and exposure for the car if it had been released there? Perhaps politics and/or production issues had forced this decision.
The first showing of the Riley One-Point-Five at the Scottish Motor Show – the car is middle right.
The motoring press were able to get their hands on a couple of cars in late October and both The Motor and The Autocar had road-tested them in time for the launch in Glasgow. There were also a number of factory demonstrator/press models in circulation, which, to the historian, can be very hard to track – BMC had a habit of changing registration numbers around to suit their requirements. There appear to have been approximately 5 ‘press’ cars doing the rounds – including the Glasgow show car.
Amazingly the Glasgow show car has survived – the fourth car ever built. It is now in the safe care of an enthusiast and has recently undergone a nut and bolt restoration to a very high standard, yet still retaining its original features and character.
Press reaction.
When initial details of the car were released to the press, reactions were very favourable. Every magazine praised it for its sportiness, compact design and superior fittings. The Motor concluded that the 1.5 “emerges as an out-of-the-ordinary car of moderate cost which many people are certain to regard as highly desirable” – how true!
The Autocar were just as enthusiastic and commented that the “moderate price, sparkling performance and roadworthiness should assure it a healthy future”.
One of the pre-production models used as a press demonstrator and road test car.
However all was not perfect and a number of comments were made that some of us can relate to even now! … the slightly awkward driving position for tall drivers, noticeable lean when ‘spirited’ cornering is attempted and a woefully small fuel tank, especially when touring.
Despite these shortcomings, it is fair to say that the 1.5 was very well received by the motoring press and was well placed to dominate the compact, reasonable priced, sporting saloon category.
Riley One-Point-Five 