Riley's Rare Bird: Sampling a 12/6 Lincock

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It’s a strange thing that one of the loveliest members of the prewar Riley family is also one of the least-encountered. So overlooked, in fact, is the Lincock coupé that even a former owner of this car had no idea just what a special machine he had when he bought it in 1959. That’s not to say that he didn’t appreciate it – he wrote about it in the most affectionate terms – but he was then a cash-strapped 21-year-old and had to sell it after a year when the big-end bearings failed.

In total, only about 400 Lincocks were ever produced, and almost all were on the little Nine chassis. The beautiful, bullet-shaped chrome dynamo which protrudes through the radiator gives away that this is a six-cylinder. In fact, it’s a 12/6, with the 1458cc engine shared with the Riley MPH which so nearly won the 1934 Le Mans.

This Lincock was completed just a few weeks before the MPH’s remarkable 24-hour performance, but any sales boost that resulted didn’t do much for the 12/6’s longevity. Customers were mainly interested in either the cheaper Nine or the speedier 14/6, and the Lincock body, for all its good looks, was somewhat superfluous in a range which contained far more body styles than it really needed.

Still, the few that survive have become very desirable machines, and this example is surely one of the nicest. John Mayhead assesses its many fine qualities in the February issue of The Automobile, on sale now.

Words by Zack Stiling
Photographs by Tony Baker

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