1929 Riley Brooklands Sports Roadster

This Riley Brooklands racing car originated as a very early chassis with Thompson and Taylor at Brooklands in England. The Riley Works charged the workshops of Thompson and Taylor with the task of developing the first Brooklands chassis which was a significant departure from the standard Riley automobile chassis. This chassis was later shipped to the Riley works and re-stamped as chassis number 8046. Riley Brooklands Production would eventually total approximately 90 of the very special speedsters. Chassis 8046 subsequently received a Riley-Works race engine of specific order in specification for the works race team entry at the Phoenix Park Irish Grand Prix in 1930/1931. 8046, registered GJ18 in 1930, was sold to Whitney Straight in 1931 and became his first proper racing car. During 1931 Whitney Straight campaigned GJ18 at several events at Brooklands and Shelsley Walsh.

In time Whitney Straight sold the Riley Brooklands as it came under the ownership of Denis Jenkinson. He drove and raced the car from the late 1930s through the 1940s. During his ownership, Jenks wrote an article in 'Autocar Magazine, in July 1943' describing his driving experiences with GJ18. The Brooklands continued to campaign through the 1950s and was subsequently sequestered away during the 1960s with the intention of returning 8046 to her former glory. GJ18 was taken apart and only partially restored languishing in a garage for the next 40 years with the restoration project never being completed. The Brooklands was finally sold in unrestored but very complete condition to Greg Johnson in 2003. After 3 years of comprehensive research and restoration, GJ18 is in the same condition as when it was raced by Whitney Straight in 1931.