KEITH JONES was the Patron of the Riley Motor Club of Australia and a legend in Round Australia trials. He competed in three events spanning a quarter of a century.
Keith Jones’ entry of his 2.5 litre Riley sedan was not so strange in 1953 when it was just three years old but in 1970, when he entered it in the Ampol Trial, people started wondering. However, Jones was a staunch Riley enthusiast and believed in the British cars all the way down to their timber frames.
Then an alderman on Auburn Council in Sydney, and a transport company operator, Jones entered the Riley one more time in the 1979 Repco Trial.
He brought the car home in 75th place accompanied by his son, Kim, and mate Peter Webber, beating many of the newer machines. Some sages proffered that Jones was lucky that the Repco was run at such a blistering pace, the speed of the event meaning that the famous termites of the Australian outback being offered little chance of taking hold and dining on the Riley chassis”
Keith Jones and the Riley Motor Club of NSW
This is a condensed story of the late Keith Jones, our Senior Member and his beloved Riley Saloon.
Born in Kurrajong, 1919 in the days of horse and carts. He learned to drive on a friend’s 1929 Chevrolet Six during trips up the North Coast at the age of ten. He started to work in a garage in 1933 and his boss sold him a 1929 Willys Overland 4. He then left the garage and entered an apprenticeship for Fitting and Turning. Later on he purchased a Triumph motor cycle and one dark night at Parramatta he was run over by a truck. This demolished the bike and very nearly Keith. Next thing he knew he was in hospital and they were preparing to remove a badly mangled leg. Luckily, his mother refused this, and so, for the rest of his life the leg remained with a slight limp.
However, this stopped him “joining up” during the war so he stayed in Fitting and Turning. He next purchased a 1929 “Ducks Back” (Alvis) which is now owned by Mike Menzies of the Alvis Club. Mike resides in Mittagong.
In 1949, Keith traded up to a 23/60 aluminum Vauxhall of about 1927 vintage. It may have been a trade “down” because the Vauxhall was large and heavy. Particularly, heavy on petrol. Next came a much smaller 1938 Singer “Le Mans”. To make extra money on weekends he purchased a 1939 Chevrolet 2 ton truck and so began a move to the trucking business which he followed for the next forty years.
So now with a family and money in his pocket he went looking for a new car. Along William St., Keith cruised, checking out American, English, and European cars, of which there was a much larger selection and greater variety than there is today. He narrowed his selection down to the new Holden and a car he did not know at all, a Riley. There was really no comparison, a Holden tin can for 450 pounds or a luxury imported Riley sports saloon for 950 pounds. The sleek lines, the smell of leather and timber, the technical features, do I need to say more? And so began a lasting relationship.
In 1952 came his first race at Mt.Druitt. It was only an airstrip, then, up and down with two very sharp corners. A clutch slip cost him the race. He came second to an Austin A90. Stronger clutch springs were then fitted and they are still in the car.
1953 was the first Redex Trial round Australia, but through Alice Springs. On the six hundred mile horror stretch, Townsville to Mt. Isa, Keith moved up seventy-four places. So many cars were crashing or breaking gear on the very rough bush track as the road was then. Up to Darwin and down to the Alice, a great run -95 to 98 MPH on the “Bitumen”. At this point the Riley was one of twelve cars that had not lost points.
But – a couple of hundred miles south’ going over a deep sandy creek, both back wheels collapsed. Fortunately, they had two spares, but they lost a lot of time and came into Sydney in 74th Place. The Peugeot 203 won and Peugeots have sold in Australia ever since.
Later on, Riley put heavier wheels on the 2 1/2 Lt. Keith competed in the 1954 Redex in a new Morris Oxford from Nuffield as a sort of pro-release test with two well known drivers – Gordon Stewart and John Crouch. The car was a disappointment and needed a lot of cobbling together to get it around, but they came second in class.

During this time, Keith was racing the Riley in sprints like Castlereagh and Marsden Park and hill climbs such as Foleys (Mona Vale) and Springwood.
Next came the 1970 Ampol Round Australia in the Riley, but with only two crew. They had a good time but became very tired. In the elimination section in Victoria, at night, with no navigator they became lost, very lost. But, at least they finished.
He, also, raced the car at “Gnoo-Blas” Orange and had several wins.
In 1956 (Olympic Games Melbourne) he was offered a drive of a 250 FM Ferrari. A great race and he came second to Tom Sulman in an Aston Martin.
1979 was the Repco Rally round Australia with Peter Brock and a three car team of “New” Commodores with full factory backing. The old Riley went round again. The oldest car. They did very well, came 59th out of a field of 200 +. Only 91 finished.
There were various 24 hour Castrol Rallys and the large S. A. State Rally of 1996. So the car and driver have earned a place in the Competition History of Rileys in Australia. We were proud to have Keith as our Patron. The grey RMB now lives in W.A. and is still being used.