Page 17 - May2022

Cave , continued from page 16 the marketplace because they were not capable.
They had good success in Grand Prix racing and at
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Now, we?e looking at engines when, suddenly, LeMans but there were so few of them made most
Mike dives into a box , stirs ?stuff? around, and people of a post -war generation in America have
pulls out a mechanical 'thing'. never heard the name let alone seen one in the
?Do you know what this is? he asks, holding 'it' , wild.
with reverence, aloft. The Longs, however, have not one dashing Riley

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Fearful that it?s a test, I respond hesitantly, ? It?s a but three, all of them with stories. The one I didn?
carburetor (or as the Brits spell it carburettor)." see is a true, two-seater racing car, a Riley Sprite
now in Ohio ( below) , with a restoration story that
I worry that Mike, an engineer and a hands-on
spans 48 years.
mechanic, might try a pop quiz, asking me,
perhaps, to explain how the device mixes air with
a spray of gasoline to create an explosive mixture
in an internal combustion engine, as a condition of
sharing more of his treasures; thankfully, I am
mistaken about the quiz but not off the hook.
? Yes,? he says, with a twinge of challenge, ? but do
you know what kind of carburetor it is??

I stand with a blank look . He jumps in to spare me
the embarrassment of showing my ignorance.
?This,? he says, ?is a carburetor for an Aston Martin
used in 1934 at LeMans. I have two of them.? The short version: Mike paid $600 for the Sprite as
a project car. Recently, a Sprite sold for six figures
I am immediately reminded of the boxes of parts
at Bonham's Auction held in March. [You can watch
my father kept in his own Cave for a 1920
a short video on what it takes to replace a single piece
something REO fire truck, long since having
of missing piece of metal for the Sprite on page 35,
departed the confines of our backyard, headed on
then you can make guesses as to what it will cost to
to be someone else?s dream/nightmare. The spare
return the Sprite to its factory glory.] Both Mike and
parts, however, stayed with us based on the ?you
Carol have agreed you only live once and the racing
never know? theory of vehicle ownership.
Sprite is the designated recipient of their largesse.
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?But you don? own an Aston Martin, do you? ? I
At present, the Longs' in- residence rarities
asked gingerly, so as not to offend in case I?d
include a divine Riley Kestrel saloon car, its bent
missed an early model Aston in hiding.
-wood framed windows demonstrating the skill and
To which came the obvious reply, ? No!? he the style of long ago craftsmen.
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chuckled, ? but they?e great just the same.?
Crack the door, the tuck and roll maroon leather
Somewhere, I heard my late father laughing at the seats still give out a hint of the aromas of
reply of a fellow motoring memorabilia nut. Had I comfortable chairs found in a gentleman?s club;
learned nothing from the old man? imagine the warmth of the sun shining through

?Great just the same? ? sums up the time and the windows, heating up the aging leather to just the
right degree for comfort.
conversation that Mike Long and his wife Carol
were kind enough to give me, culminating in Settling into the Kestrel's cabin, with its overhead
viewing the cars I?d really come to see, The Rileys. magazine rack, I find myself imagining that I should
call for a newspaper and a whiskey to be placed at
There are lots of exotics hanging around in middle
my elbow. (I also find myself itching to recondition
Tennessee , but Rileys are rarities, a class that
its venerable, dried leather upholstery.)
supersedes exotics. Rileys didn? disappear from
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17 Continues on page 18