Topic: Solved NIC#705 - Tooley Monoposto Sprint Special (Riley Nine)

[nicanary]

What is this car, and what was the engine?

[nicanary]

Experts?

[FrontMan]

MG R-Type connection?

[nicanary]

MG R-Type connection?

No MG connection.

[Willie McCrum]

Is there some Riley in there perhaps ?
Driver looks a bit like Leslie Brooke, or rather, a bit like him a photo of him I've seen elsewhere.....

[D-type]

HRG powered by Singer?

[nicanary]

Is there some Riley in there perhaps ?
Driver looks a bit like Leslie Brooke, or rather, a bit like him a photo of him I've seen elsewhere.....

It's not an HRG, but it is Riley-powered. Leslie Brooke had his own Riley special at a similar time, but I don't think he had anything to do with the puzzle car. LOCKED for Willie McCrum to tell me what the car was called.

[Willie McCrum]

The only Riley Special I can thnk of which looked even remotely like this one - and the likeness is remote - was the Dobbs car. Possibly an early version, or more likely something completely different.
Unlock !

[nicanary]

The only Riley Special I can thnk of which looked even remotely like this one - and the likeness is remote - was the Dobbs car. Possibly an early version, or more likely something completely different.
Unlock !

OK, unlocked as you wish. It's nothing to do with the Dobbs Riley - it's all there on the internet if you know where to look  .

[gte4289]

What is this car, and what was the engine?

Tooley Monoposto Sprint Special, 1100 cc Riley 9.

[nicanary]

What is this car, and what was the engine?

Tooley Monoposto Sprint Special, 1100 cc Riley 9.

That's the car.  Apparently it had an Amilcar front end, and a GN rear, altough I doubt if it had chain drive.

Your first Expert point.

[D-type]

With a name like that, was it Irish?

[nicanary]

With a name like that, was it Irish?

I don't know. My source simply quotes the builder as C P Tooley. BTW it WAS chain-drive!

[Allan L]

With a name like that, was it Irish?

I don't know. My source simply quotes the builder as C P Tooley. BTW it WAS chain-drive!

Chris Tooley was English and a long-time Hertfordshire resident where he formed a successful rally partnership as co-driver for John Gott (a senior Hatfield policeman, later Chief Constable of Northamptonshire) in HRGs and then in a works MG MGA. Chris did sprints & hill-climbs in various cars including the single-seat Steyr-Allard, but I can't say I remember this special. He's dead now so can't ask him. I see your source says the special is pre-1939 but that'll be the parts as I think Chris became a DH Apprentice in 1943 when he'd have been 16 or so. It was described as a Riley-engined GN which put a con-rod through the side during practice for the 1948 VSCC Luton Hoo Speed Trials.
Chris moved to the Cotswolds in retirement, "by chance" finding a house in the village of Gretton. He worked as a volunteer at the Bugatti Trust at Prescott.

[nicanary]

Thanks. That's terrific additional information. I can't say the name means anything to me so you've filled in some gaps.

[Carnut]

Well done with your first Expert point gte 4289.
I note you actually joined AutoPuzzles in 2009; where have you been for the last 7 years?!

[gte4289]

Well done with your first Expert point gte 4289.
I note you actually joined AutoPuzzles in 2009; where have you been for the last 7 years?!

I've just stumbled across this comment more than three years on. Because only an idiot would post a reply at this point, that's exactly what I'm going to do.

First, thank you for your comment. My history with AP up to that point looked something like this:

2009: Joined (don't remember why), immediately disappeared.

2015: Dropped in to solve a particular puzzle, commented on another while here, disappeared again.

2016 Nov - 2017 Jan: Dropped in again, stayed around long enough to achieve Expert status (this puzzle was my 50th point), disappeared again immediately afterward.

And since:

2018 Sep: Dropped back in and haven't disappeared yet!

[Carnut]

Ah - I wondered if you'd retired in the meantime and were fed up of sitting twiddling your thumbs...
You obviously like setting and solving puzzles as you seem to be on the site 24 hours a day and your points tally shoots up on a daily basis!