One of my very favourite cars. It has a charm and understated elegance that few modern cars can match. This is probably the best example I’ve evert seen.

Just a excellent designed 50's car............Now it is in my Garage!!!!! OVER THE MOON!!

@simonblake5563

2 жыл бұрын

lucky you!

Lovely car. I remember they were distinguished by the right hand gear lever - a rarity.

My first car was a RILEY 1.5😇 but this PATHFINDER is amazing, a truly Beautiful car .......

Congratulations on the excellent condition of this beautiful Riley - "Magnificent Motoring" was the catchphrase back in the day and how true.

What a fabulous car ! Has to be one ,if not the best example out there . Had l have seen this before now l would have been very tempted to buy and bring her back to the UK . Super !

Beautiful Riley Pathfinder, rare as hen's teeth in the UK now, sadly. Mum says my dad had one in late fifties, reckoned it the best car he ever had.

@admiralbeez8143

3 жыл бұрын

They say it had “Ditch Finder” suspension and understeer.

@stephenjames5731

3 жыл бұрын

@@admiralbeez8143 They do indeed say that Admiral. As I understand it, Leonard Lord of BMC rushed the development of the car, insisting that it was on sale before the designer, Gerald Palmer, and his team were fully satisfied with it. Another case of BMC letting the customers do the development work? One of the problems that showed up was faulty welding of the panhard rod mountings, which could shear under load. This was apparently due to poor workmanship by an outside contractor. All of the issues were addressed during the early months of production, but the damage to the reputation of the car stuck. Had Palmers design had the proper, and thorough testing it deserved, the Pathfinder might have been a serious rival to the Mk 1 Jaguar

@paulvenn7598

3 жыл бұрын

@@admiralbeez8143 A very interesting video; regarding the problems with the coil sprung rear suspension, it seems to be promoting a “myth and legend” regarding the problem that caused the intense criticism at the time but the cause of which was simply one bad batch of Panhard rods. How do I know this? Well in the 1960’s I ran a couple of Riley Pathfinders which shared this suspension and I used to source my parts at Boon and Porter, a Riley agent in Hammersmith. I got to know the chief storeman (I seem to remember he was called Stan). He had worked at Abingdon and was to me a great source of knowledge re post war Riley’s and in particular gave me lots of details about the record breaking Pathfinder that averaged nearly 105 mph for an hour with a car that had a published top speed of 101 so I was keen to know what changed (156bhp to start with!). Anyway during a press road test of the Pathfinder a Panhard rod broke causing a major accident to a car leading to the nickname “Ditchfinder”. The cause was quickly identified by the factory when the “offending wreck” was returned for examination. It turned out that a weld on the end of the rod had failed causing substantial rear wheel steering! Investigation with the sub contractor identified the problem, an apprentice had been given the job, and the foreman went to the dentist so the batch was not inspected! On such frailties do reputations fail! He told me that at the time the batch order quantity for the part was 32 pieces, he thought that about a dozen broke in service and the rest were “picked up” by the agents. Having driven Pathfinders with both the coil and cart sprung rear suspension my opinion is that the ride and handling of the coil sprung car is much superior to the cart version. However the word on the street blighted the sales of both the coil sprung cars the 6/90 and the Pathfinder. Mr Palmer was VERY upset. 1 Paul Bennell

A very bright 'Ditchfinder'

Beautiful example,congratulations

My dad owned one of these between 1962 and 1966 when it was unfortunately scrapped. A lovely car with upmarket interior. A quirk of these cars was the gear-stick down the right hand side of the driveing seat.Our car was a two-tone, cream roof with grey body. I can not remember the reg. number completely, it had 3 letters which I've forgot but the numbers were 711.

Wow. Exquisite. I assume it is a restoration with a change of colour.

This Riley has such an elegant design. Riley was a great combination between interior luxury and nimble performance. Such a shame they had lost reputation from the design fault in the rear axle suspension causing a bolt shearing and resultant accidents. Far better than the crude Wolseley setup. I wish vehicles today were designed with such simplicity and comfort instead of the same computer generated model with minor tweaks on the outside and dark plastic inside.

My father had one in the late fifties. Loved it - the last one with the real Riley engine. Had no problems with it. I keep seeing these daft "Ditchfinder remarks. Nonsense

@jazzfan6

2 жыл бұрын

Early examples had a Panhard rod that tended to shear, destabilizing the rear axle -- hence the "Ditchfinder" nickname. Once BMC addressed that defect, they were fine. Overall a lovely design from the talented engineer who also was responsible for the Jowett Javelin (Gerald Palmer).

Super

Gerald Palmer was an artist.

Superb

wow, never saw these in the US...

Lovely! Can you still get mains for it?

By this time I am assuming that the original Pathfinder body had given way to the Wolseley 6/90 body, however I am wondering if the Pathfinder name went any longer and I assume at some stage it may have become nothing more than a Wolseley in Riley "clothes" i.e. Badge engineered. Did not expect to see the 4 pot engine so late, just shows how BMC had lots of left overs after the merger to find a body for.

@afreeman1980

2 жыл бұрын

They also did a Riley 2.6 in the Wolseley 6/90 body. Lovely cars as I had one of each, not at the same time though.

@adoreslaurel

2 жыл бұрын

@@afreeman1980 I once saw a Riley on youtube with a column gear shift which made me wonder if this enabled the pathfinder to have the right hand floor shift, always wondered if the same gearbox went into the 6/90 floor shift, Often wondered if the bolt pattern on the 6/90 "C" series engine matched the 4 pot block so that they were interchangeable but now, if a 4 pot could have had a column shift, the gear boxes and bell housings may not have had any commonality. Interesting that even though the two bodies looked very similar, that their underpinings were so much different.

@afreeman1980

2 жыл бұрын

@@adoreslaurel My 6/90 was a 4 speed column change which got so sloppy that I lost half the gears and had to replace clevis pins and bushes but after that it worked lovely. The Riley was a 3 speed automatic and although sluggish gave me no problems but the fluid had to be kept up to level otherwise changes were jerky. Lovely cars both of them.

@afreeman1980

2 жыл бұрын

@@adoreslaurel The Riley 2.6 and Wolseley 6/90 were the same shells and mechanics, just a badge exercise but the Riley 2.4 was an entirely different car and I doubt if any mechanicals were readily interchangeable.

@adoreslaurel

2 жыл бұрын

@@afreeman1980 So what you are calling the 2.4 was considered the 2 and a half litre? I assume, I know the rear suspension was different on the first Pathfinders, with a panhard rod.

Great car - still available, at what price? thanks

@BgsClassicCars

3 жыл бұрын

Hi Andrew, please visit www.BgsClassicCars.com.au for more information.

@admiralbeez8143

3 жыл бұрын

JMFC. Every time there’s a vid on a car for sale there’s a post asking if still available and what price. Here’s a hint.... look at the intro to the vid, they’ll be a link for the info you seek.

Its nickname in the UK was 'Ditchfinder' due to the weight of the 2.5 litre Riley engine and poor steering geometry.

@paulripley2178

3 жыл бұрын

That is what they say now.

@adoreslaurel

3 жыл бұрын

I think it was something to do with a weak panhard rod on the back end.

@edwardsmith8129

2 жыл бұрын

A

@jazzfan6

2 жыл бұрын

@@adoreslaurel Yes! On early examples the Panhard rod (which played a critical part in managing the location of the rear axle) had a tendency to shear during hard cornering, causing a serious and immediate loss of stability.

@iantheo1424

Жыл бұрын

Yes called the ditch finder as the rear trailing arm bolts would shear off ( happened twice to me ) and body would drop onto rear wheels. Clutch rods would also snap at the most inconvenient time. Spare parts may be more common now but sold mine in the mid 70s as could not get steering joints or boots

How much is the car thatch you