1966 British-New Zealand Riley Kestrel 1100, like the MG1100

For sale is my 1966 Riley Kestrel 1100. This car was imported from New Zealand in 2011 and sold to me by the importer based in Charleston. SC. Without seeing the car first. I won it in an eBay auction. flew down to Charleston and drove it back to Virginia without any problem. While on the return trip I entered the car in its first of many US antique car shows and other events. The seller claimed that the ~23. 00 miles showing when I picked it up in Charleston were original. It now shows ~28. 5K miles. I believe there are no more than one or two other Riley Kestrels in the United States. The pictures show the car at venues as disparate as the Virginia International Raceway. where it did one parade lap. and the Appomattox. VA Christmas Parade. It has crossed the Blue Ridge Mountains and appeared at the annual Old Dominion Meet as well as the Museum of the Confederacy. It's a great car for just having old car fun!

I found a New Zealand six pence coin under the seat of the Riley when I got it home from Charleston. That yielded the Riley Kestrel's pet name. "6P. "  The Riley Kestrel was the "sporting - luxuory" model of the ADO 16 series [The MG 1100 was "sporting" only while the Vandenplas 1100 was pure luxuory]. 6P's engine has the dual carb set up of the Mini Coopers. Unlike the Minis. it is a very comfortable car to drive long distances. It accelerates reasonably well and is very happy at 60 to 65 miles per hour. The "Hydrolastic" suspension system give both a very comfortable ride over bumps and remarkable handling as well. The four speed transmission shifts smoothly and the clutch grips nicely. I rebuilt the rear drum braking system due to a wheel cylinder leak. I replaced the rear brake hoses at the time. just because I was "in there. " The front disk brakes are good as well. Steering is quick and easy. even with the smaller after-market wheel I installed to accomodate my 6'1". 225 lbs frame. The original steering wheel will be installed on the car when it is sold.  The car still wears the Australian/New Zealand radial tires which it had when I bought it. They have many miles left. All of the lights and the heater/defroster work. 6P sports the Antique Automobile Club of America's mileage award. which goes with the car. You will add markers to this badge as you accumulate more miles.

The body has absolutely no rust except for miniscule surface corrosion underneath. The front fenders show some tiny dents on their tops. said to be from placing stuff on the car while it was in storage in New Zealand. I'm sure the car was repainted at some time before coming to the United States. The paint is good overall. with a small nick here and there. The interior is upholstered in Vinyl. apparently a quirk of Australian or New Zealand assembled Rileys since UK cars had leather seating. The driver's seat has been covered in reasonable matching vinyl while the front passenger's seat has a ~3" split in an original seam. The rear seat is perfect. The original carpets are good but show some wear. The wood dash board has slight seperation in the varnish in places.  All glass is good and all four door windows fully retract smoothly.  Amazingly enough. with all four windows all the way down no water blows in. even during the thuderstorms I encounterd while driving back from Charleston. Note. if you have never driven a right hand drive car before. be not afraid. You will very quickly learn to keep close to the gutter. just like a rural US mail carrier.

British Motor Corporation [BMC] made many English cars in 1966. Jaguar. MG. Austin. Morris. Wolseley. Van Den Plas. and Riley were some of them.  "Badge engineering" had become endemic and BMC sold many of their designs under different names. trim level and state of tune being the primary differentiators. aside from their badges. of course. One design group is known as the "ADO 16" cars. ADO stands for Austin Design Office. The ADO 16 design was a follow-on to the highly succesful Morris and Austin Mini. ADO 16s were sold in the US as MG 1100s and. later. Austin Americas. Of course. by 1966 Volkwagen and the Japanese had pretty much captured the small car market in the USA and the ADO 16s did not do well here.

Note: For reasons beyond my understanding. eBay insists that 6P is an "Other Makes. Kestrel. " It is a Riley Kestrel!

Also published at eBay.com

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