Registration No: AWD 503
Chassis No: 26L4909
MOT: Exempt

• Owned by two families since 1972
• Treated to a 'chassis up' restoration in 1985/6 and a respray during 2017
• Uprated with a more powerful 'Sprite' specifcation engine and taller back axle ratio
• History file includes a continuation buff logbook from 1960, assorted correspondence, restoration bills / photos etc.

Introduced in 1936, the Riley 1½ Litre Lynx Tourer was an evolution of its 12/4 predecessor. Riley’s only open four-seater offering at the time, its four-door coachwork was undeniably rakish and well proportioned. Based around a ladder frame chassis equipped with all-round semi-elliptic leaf-sprung suspension and four-wheel drum brakes, the newcomer was powered by an advanced 1496cc four-cylinder ‘twin cam’ engine allied to four-speed transmission. Reputedly capable of 70mph and 27mpg, it was a rawer proposition than the drophead coupes catalogued by rival manufacturers and outsold by its ‘tin top’ siblings. Indeed, just 225 Riley 1½ Litre Lynx Tourers are thought to have been sold during the 1936 model year.

Belonging to the Cleare family from just after WW2 until the end of the 1950s, ‘AWD 503’ then passed through the hands of Richard Pingree, W.M. Riley, George Giles and Maurice Doe before being bought by Sylvia Keogh in August 1972. Garaged alongside her husband’s Riley Special, the Lynx gained its stablemate’s tuned ‘Sprite’ specification engine (estimated to develop 75-85bhp) and pre-selector transmission plus a higher ratio back axle before being sold to Juergen Golisch during August 1983 who went onto become the Keoghs’ son-in-law. Treated to a photographically documented, body off / chassis up restoration in 1985/86, the Riley subsequently completed the Mittwochs-Runde Berlin event. Sparingly used after its 1991 return to the UK, the Tourer had not had its engine turned over for five years prior to entering the current family ownership during 2011 for £22,425. Returned to running order, ‘AWD 503’ was despatched to Hungary to be repainted in Red Over Black some six years later. Not started or run for quite some time, this handsome Lynx is now in need of recommissioning / re-restoration. A very worthwhile project, it is accompanied by a continuation buff logbook, green logbook, V5C Registration Document, assorted correspondence and numerous restoration photos / bills.