Rochdale man and family heirloom Riley RMF feature in Car S.O.S restoration

Date published: 06 April 2023

A man from Rochdale and his beloved antique Riley RMF feature in tonight's episode (6 April) of National Geographic’s car restoration show, Car S.O.S.

Episode 5, airing on Thursday 6 April features Richard from Rochdale, who has his beloved Riley RMF, inherited from his motor-loving father William, made over by the team.

The car has remained in the family since 1953 and everything on it is original, including the old valve radio. There’re even some handwritten notes in the car from William, and it’s only done 30k miles from new.

The Riley was originally bought by William who was something of a local celeb in Rochdale in the 1950s, what with him being an undertaker and bodybuilder.

He bought the Riley as a second car – a bit of a status symbol – only to be used on Sundays for taking the family out on picnics, or days to the seaside.

As the family grew up and William got older, the car inevitably got used less and less. When he died in the 1990s, the car was handed down to Richard.

Although being a petrolhead and loving the Riley to bits, Richard had no idea what to do with it. He religiously turned the engine over on its starting handle every few months until, after a few years, it refused to turn.

Ambitions to get the car back on the road always seemed to get pushed down the line by life, but more recently, with retirement looming, Richard decided he would make restoring the car his ‘project’.

Richard’s plan to finally take the car on in retirement (and hopefully pass it on to his own sons), has now also taken an unforeseen blow as he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

His son, George thinks that the one thing that will take his dad’s mind off the situation – and also give him a positive new direction – would be to get the Riley up and running.

Richard fondly remembers sitting in the back of his dad’s swanky motor. Cars were a topic he and his dad bonded over, they went to car shows together and William left notes for Richard about how to maintain and drive his beloved Riley.

As important as the Riley is to the family, surprisingly, Richard has never actually driven it.

With the car, he also inherited a shed load of problems; the engine was seized and will need a full rebuild and conversion to non-leaded petrol, and the brakes were locked solid.

Rust has eaten into the floorplans along the sills, the once much-polished paintwork is cracked and peeling and will need a respray, whilst the copious amount of chrome on the car is pitted in places and rotted through in others.

The electric cables are past the point of no return and the dynamo has been removed: the only positive point is that the vinyl roof is in good repair.

With so much personality to the car, Car S.O.S will have to be very selective about how far the team goes in order to keep the memories held within this unique family heirloom.

Episode 5 of Season 11 of Car S.O.S airs at 8pm on Thursday 6 April on National Geographic.