1965 Riley Elf MkII [ADO15]
1965 Riley Elf MkII [ADO15] in Goodbye Pork Pie, Movie, 1980
Class: Cars, Supermini — Model origin: 
— Built in: 
![1965 Riley Elf MkII [ADO15]](/i879795.jpg)
01:17:00 ![[*]](/res/star.png){kind=small}
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Comments about this vehicle
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◊ 2016-01-23 00:40 |
Another repost after the Phantom Deleter removed it. I know it's a crappy capture, but is distinctive and visible on play-through (and definitely Elf rather than Hornet). As previously posted, it attracted some interesting discussion about local Elf/Hornet assembly which we did not have anywhere else - this is our only NZ example of either car, and those comments and info have been lost. However, retrawling t'interweb picked up the following: 1] "1964 Dominion Motors added the Riley Elf to their line-up. At NZ£847, it was NZ£130 dearer than a standard Mini. It had its best sales in 1965, with 695 registrations or 8.7% of the small car market. A total of 1,975 Riley Elf cars were assembled between 1965 and 1970, with 1970 production being a mere 56." - Link to "www.aronline.co.uk" 2] "Hornet in New Zealand - Mon Jun 09 2014 About 109 MkIII hornets were CKD (assembled from parts) in NZ .....The NZ assembled ones did not have leather seats, a covered top dash rail and most seemed to be on one colour. Mine is Dresden blue and the paint is still in excellent condition. It is mint inside and very original. There are some other Hornets in NZ and also quite a few Elfs. Seems to me that the Elf was a more popular option in NZ back them as my observation is that there are more Elfs than Hornets (I may be wrong though - I have no stats to back that up)." - http://elf-hornet.4forum.biz/t2055-hornet-in-new-zealand?highlight=new+zealand 3] (blog from an NZ Elf owner) "….the British Heritage people responded by telling me that the car was a "CKD"(complete knock down) car and was sent in pieces to New Zealand where it was assembled at the New Plymouth plant in NZ. It was then sold in Oct. 68 by Moller Motors in Auckland …… It is done to original specs. It was painted "Olive green" with OEW roof. These colours were not offered on cars built in the UK. It originally had a dove grey leather interior with porcelain green stitching and piping. Grey carpet. All that was made in the UK and shipped over here." - http://minicityltd.com/mikeriley/.PREVIEW-index.html So NZ assembly of Elf Mk2 and 3 is definite - 1,975 is a fair number compared to 30,912 made in UK - and may have continued for a few months after Riley name dropped in UK - did NZ make the world's last Rileys??. Wolseley Hornet needs more info - were there any CKD Mk2s?? It seems a strange decision to only make 109, if that was all. |
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◊ 2026-01-27 22:22 |
New info source from a book confirms most of the above. However they give the total number of Dominion Motors-assembled Elfs as 1997. Mk3 transition occurred in late 66 when the UK-supplied kits changed over. Late 1969 and early 1970 cars used up the last of the UK kits after Riley stopped making anything new in mid-69. So the last ever Riley production in the world happened in NZ in 1970 using up 1969 stock with possible shipping lag, rather than being full builds. The 109 figure for Hornets is confirmed, with a suggestion they happened at the end wjich means they were all Mk3. Maybe Longbridge cleared their final production to NZ to make way for the Clubman launch in Oct 69?? If so, it explains why only 109 happened. |
