2.6
Riley · on record 1994 to 2025
The Riley 2.6 was a large BMC era saloon related to the Wolseley 6/90, using a 6 cylinder engine and traditional Riley trim to sit above smaller family models. It belongs to the period when Riley had become a badge within a wider corporate range rather than an independent manufacturer. Production was limited, so survivors are uncommon examples of the marque's transition into postwar badge engineering.
ENDANGERED
Red List classification, from population, five year trajectory and survival against peak. Reviewed each census.
26
licensed vehicles
2025 census
2025 census
74.3% of the peak fleet remains licensed
12
declared SORN
total surviving
peak 35 in 2002 · −0 vehicles a year, five year trend
Population history
Licensed and SORN vehicles at each census. The filters below apply to the family population, MOT and registration figures. They do not alter the generation history above.
Licensed
SORN
Latest census observation
At the average decline recorded over the latest five years, the licensed fleet would reach zero around 2111.
Illustrative projection only; vehicle populations rarely decline linearly. Late fleets typically flatten as surviving examples enter preservation.
Inside the surviving fleet
AutoCensus parses every DVLA variant description, so the fleet can be read by fuel and specification rather than as one number.
First registrations by year
When surviving examples first joined the British fleet.
Recent UK first registrations
This family is no longer sold new. These figures are imports and historic vehicles joining the British register for the first time.
MOT reliability
DVSA test results for this family, 2006 to 2025.
Pass rate by year
| Failure reason | Failures | Share of all tests |
|---|---|---|
| The horn inoperative | 2 | 7.1% |
| A point on the rim of the steering wheel moves, without the road wheels moving for more than 75mm for non rack and pinion | 2 | 7.1% |
| Any deliberate modification, excessive corrosion, damage, cracks or inadequate repair of a load bearing body or chassis member which seriously affects its strength within 30cm of the body mountings | 2 | 7.1% |
| The braking efforts at the road wheels do not increase at about the same rate when the service brake is applied gradually | 2 | 7.1% |
| Significant braking effort recorded on a road wheel, even though the brake is not applied, indicating that a brake is binding | 2 | 7.1% |
| An obligatory lamp shows a light other than red to the rear and white to the front (or yellow if a front position lamp is incorporated in a yellow headlamp) | 2 | 7.1% |
| Little or no braking effort is recorded from the brake on any wheel, indicating clearly that the brake is not functioning correctly | 2 | 7.1% |
| An obligatory headlamp inoperative, excessively damaged or deteriorated or has a product on the lens or light source so that the light output is well below that required to illuminate the road ahead | 2 | 7.1% |
Counted across every recorded test, 2006 to 2025. Advisories are excluded.
Where the 2.6 remains
Based on MOT test locations, 2025. Test location is a proxy: a vehicle is counted where it was last tested, not where it is kept.
| Postcode area | Vehicles tested | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| RH | 1 | 100% |
How this record was calculated
LATEST CENSUS2025
POPULATION SOURCEDVLA VEH0220 annual
HISTORY SOURCEDVLA VEH0120 GB · to 2013
MOT SOURCEDVSA results · to 2025
FAMILY DEFINITIONRILEY 2.6
PROCESSED20 Sep 2026
Full methodology
Population history combines DVLA VEH0120 Q4 census observations through 2013 with the annual VEH0220 census from 2014 onward. Figures before 2014 cover Great Britain only. Historical VEH0120 is used only when its overlapping UK observations reconcile to the current canonical family definition. Vehicles are grouped into this family using the DVLA GenModel together with durable routing rules for known inconsistencies.
Variant figures are parsed from raw DVLA model descriptions and the original string is always retained. Configuration is only assigned where the model description explicitly identifies it; a blank configuration is not treated as a two door Wrangler. Blank transmission fields are shown as manual because DVLA records the field for automatic vehicles.
MOT figures count tests, not vehicles, and geographic figures count each vehicle at its most recent test location. The decline projection is a straight line fitted to the latest five years and is illustrative only.