Riley was a household name between 1890 - when William Riley Jr purchased the Bonnick Cycle Company in Coventry - and the end of the line in 1969. William named his initial company the Riley Cycle Company in 1896. However, running alongside his cycling manufacturing, which catered for the cycling crazy customers of the era, his son Percy, was tinkering with the development of automobiles and secretly built his first car in 1898. By 1913, Riley Motor Manufacturing was launched, growing sufficiently to be bought by the Nuffield Organisation in 1938, later merging again with British Leyland. The last Riley-badged car rolled off the production line in 1969. The Riley marque is now owned by BMW. The Kestrel 12/4 had a very short life, being made solely between 1934 and 35. This light saloon had a top speed of 73.6 mph and could reach a speed of 50 mph in 19.2 seconds. The fuel tank held 10 gallons and fuel consumption was 28.3 mpg. Costing £345 back in 1934, surviving examples are now being auctioned at around £25,000.