WHY IT’S JESSE’S PICK ‘LASHINGS OF WOODOD AND LEATHER WITH PLENTY OF SPACE, THIS IS A PRACTICAL IF LEFT-FIELD OPTION’
£5-10k TO SPEND
I’ll admit, this is an odd one to pick as a family car, a luxury saloon from the 1950s, but I think this is a sensible choice. Inside you have comfortable seating for four and a decent sized boot slung behind. Up front, it’s a well understood mill driving through a conventional gearbox, so helming the car with a family in tow isn’t a stressful affair – quite the opposite if anything; laid back and luxuriant. It might be short of modern luxuries, but with respectful craftsmanship; radios and better heaters can be fitted. A well stuffed set of chairs will provide a comfortable throne to ooze about the place.
The RME is the final iteration of the smaller-engined variant of the RM series, the penultimate series of cars coming from the then-independent Riley marque, followed by the Pathfinder which while released by Nuffield, was penned by Riley before joining. With camshafts mounted high in the block (a novelty at the time) this Riley was a bit of a different choice compared to Rover, Austin or Wolseley in period. The RME followed on from the RMA but now with an open prop shaft, hydraulic brakes and a larger rear window. Disappointingly, sales were flat, the RME’s dated styling at odds with the more traditional three-box saloon styles that were emerging in the early 1950s. There were mutterings of an RMG to follow on, but this was dropped in favour of the Pathfinder and more effort being put into the Farina saloons.
Very good RMEs can be had for around the £6000 mark if you shop around at auction. Spend a bit more and a wise flutter could even bag a 2.5 litre RMF.
With the ‘E’, Mathewsons recently saw a tasty white and black example away for £6500 along with all its paperwork and buff logbook. A yellow and black RME estimated at £10,500 to £11,500, which had been in the same family since 1985 and was a concours winner in 2008 after a 2006 total restoration failed to sell at Brightwells in December 2023. Buy with the view to fettle and fix, you can get them for a fair chunk less.
This really is a buyers’ market and a lot of car for the cash. A guaranteed head-turner and a true classic. It might not appreciate, but it’ll be appreciated at shows and events.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
❚ Rotten steel and timber are common, so scrutinise the base of each A- and B-post, the rear window surround, the sills and the roof frame. All of these are timber and in the case of the latter it can be tricky working out what’s going on because the r
