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The Riley Register caters only to Prewar Riley cars
and owners. They have a four -bulletins- a- year
publication, do six newsletters a year, and run an
online website with new parts for sale, as well as
offering books, apparel etc. There is also an on-line
member?s forum and, recently, a scanned series of
their bulletins going back to 1953, I believe, was
posted.

I try to keep folks informed about Riley parts and
cars that are available and I?ve become known to
non-club folks as well through my activities. I know Above: Mike was able to take a 20 mile drive in this fully restored
of about 70 cars here in the USA and only half are Sprite racer , owned by Peter Ellison in the leather jacket, during
one of Long's trips to the UK. Now deceased, before his death
Register folks so I?m working on that.
Ellison had constructed a pipe rack that fitted to the back of
Q. Is your wife Carol a car person or just a saint? this car to take his coffin to his resting place, which was done by
his family just as he wanted
A. Carol is far from a nuts and bolts type, though
Q. You told me that people who have Rileys believe
she?l not hesitate to hammer a nail into any wall if
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the cars have ghosts. Explain that, please, and then
something MUST hang there. She is a secretary by
tell me how it applies to your discovery of a numbers
training and that was her career at Bridgestone and
Firestone. She?s clearly patient, competent, and a matching engine for your Sprite racer.
hard worker. Her last 15 years were as the A. My friend John Golder relayed his beliefs to
administrative assistant to three CEOs of the me that Riley Sprites take care of themselves and
Bridgestone America's company. She is perhaps the those that they love. As evidence, he starts with
most dependable person I?ve ever known, as well their incredible survival rates wherein 90% of the
as the least likely to change a spark plug. cars still exist despite being designed for sporting
work, located mostly in the UK during a war,
She loves to go to beautiful places, seeing beautiful
being 85 years old, and not being a well- known
cars, and she is not mechanically minded in the
?name? brand.
least. Going to car shows, socializing with car
people, and working hard to make club activities I'll summarize his personal experiences:
work is her forte'. She loves the Lynx and the 1. John is a genius-level electronics engineer, not
Bug-eye because we?ve done so much in them over a flaky background. When he stopped motorcycle
time and she?s even driven them occasionally by racing he started racing Riley saloons and Sprites
herself. She also respects the Model A?s history and were his dream car. Almost by accident a parts
the Sprite racer's place in my heart.
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Left; A UK Riley Register meeting ended at a pub
dinner in Winchester. Carol, third from left, reports
she had always been an American car owner until
Mike took her to Pebble Beach and she saw the
"most beautiful cars I'd ever seen." Now she drives a
hot red Mazda Miata, a light year away from her
former Cougar, and still delights in beautiful cars.
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