Monte Carlo or Bust on a prewar Riley Nine

The Riley Nine has the honour of being the first light car to complete the torturous Athens to Monte Carlo route of the famous endurance rally. In 1932, with the appropriately-named Rupert Riley at the wheel, a specially prepared WD tourer was one of only six teams that completed the notoriously tricky route. In 1934, he repeated the feat and this time came 2nd in the 1500cc class, beaten in the final driving tests by Donald Healey in a Triumph Dolomite. His performance also earned him seventh place overall – a remarkable performance in a remarkable car.

With these historic drives in mind, the owners of marque specialists Blue Diamond Riley Services decided to try and re-live some of the glory (if not the hardship) in a restored WD tourer prepared by themselves. Taking the less strenuous, but still challenging, John O'Groats route of the newly inaugurated Monte Carlo Rally Classique, the team covered more than 1600 miles in four days in their 84-year old Riley. It would make for a much more dramatic story if they had suffered breakdowns at every turn, but in fact the car didn't miss a beat during the entire trip and the team arrived triumphantly in Monaco, tired but unscathed.

You can read both sides of the story – Rupert Riley's 1930s attempts and John Lomas and Gordon McAllan's recent jaunt – in the latest issue of The Automobile, which is out now.

(Photographs from BDRS/Motoring Picture Library, Beaulieu)