1937 | Riley TT Sprite Specia

1937 Riley TT Sprite Recreation
Chassis Number: S6722578
Registration Number: Belgium Plate applied for & EEC taxes paid. Formerly UK reg DNF795
Engine no. GA772• Built using the Riley Special 'DNF 795' as the basis

• Incorporates many pre-war Riley Competitions Department components
• Considered by many to be the most accurate TT Sprite re-creation ever produced
• VSCC Buff Form

This Riley 'TT' Sprite Re-creation Special has been constructed using the Riley Special 'DNF 795' as a basis and combining many pre-war Riley Competitions Department components collected over many years. Based on the builders previously owned original factory Riley TT Sprite 'AVC 19', this car is considered by many in the Riley world to be the most accurate re-creation ever produced, due in most part to the many original factory competition department parts used in its construction. Original components used in its construction are as follows:

• Front axle, including hubs
• Racing steering box with reduced oil volume.
• Rear axle, including factory lightened banjo, magnesium nose piece and carrier
• 4.75:1 crown wheel and pinion
• Factory lightened prop shaft
• French instrumentation, reputedly from Riley's French agent (Eudel)
• Steering wheel and hand controls
• Headlights (Marchal), reputedly from Riley's French agent (Eudel) and sidelights
• Twin 1.375" bronze 'tulip' SU carburettors
• Body and wings (removed from Riley TT Sprite 'AVC 19' when its original 1935 body was acquired) The tub and birdcage grille are reputed to have come from 'AVC 17' some years ago
• Twin Zenith bronze fuel filters
• Dynamo
• Starter
• Water pump
• Refurbished magneto
• Bronze engine mounts
• Front André Hartford shock absorbers
• Racing specification Riley12/4 engine fully refurbished and sleeved back to standard with cross-flow cylinder head boasting large valves; race cams; high-compression pistons; new con-rods; re-profiled and balanced crankshaft; and magnesium racing sump and sub-sump
• Close-ratio gearbox with remote gear change (restored by Steve Hughes)
• Lightened flywheel

• New components:
• Front and rear springs
• Borg & Beck clutch
• All bushes, bearings, seals, shackle pins and kingpins
• Rear André Hartford shock absorbers
• Front and rear 14" magnesium brake backplates
• Front and rear 14" cast-iron and steel ventilated brake drums
• Front and rear 14" brake shoes
• 19" Front and rear wire wheels shod with 5:50x19" Brockley tyres and racing tubes
• Stainless steel four-branch exhaust
• SU fuel pump
• Racing 'Red Top' battery
• Wiring and plumbing
• Rear axle magnesium trunnion mountings

The builder confirms that the car has a VSCC Eligibility Document (Buff Form) No. 124457 and is road-legal on Belgian Plates having previously been registered on UK plates DNF795.
This little Riley benefits from having plenty of leg room allowing larger drivers to easily fit in it. I am 6ft 3" & able to slide in under the stering wheel & easily drive the car. The driving experience is a revelation for a man more used to Vintage Bentley's & the like. It is fast light tactile & allows one to miss roundabout kerbs by milimeters rather than inches, so precise is the steering. Make no mistake this is a car with serious perfomance for a pre war vehicle from the race tuned engine. We drove it up to 80 MPH (in Germany of course????) & it still had plenty more to go. Where it really comes into its own however is on fast traffic free B roads & lesser used A roads where the light weight & precise steering allied to a very close ratio racing gear box make the car a laugh a minute to drive.
The car is in effect brand new having covered just a few hundred shakedown miles since being built. We are in the process of Belgian registering the car & paying EEC taxes on it allowing it to be purchased & used anywhere in Europe. If coming back to the UK then Registration will need to be applied for.