
Toby Wilson
Head of Department
LOT 233
1937/1951 Riley 'Treen' 2.0-Litre Racing Special Registration no. 300 RPJ Chassis no. SYCC4514337
John Treen made a number of Brooklands-type Riley specials after the war, and this car has a tubular chassis that aped Riley's Brooklands model, being under-slung at the rear and with the step-down around the engine. This car was acquired by a Canadian called Frank Allwood at some point, at which juncture it had a two-seater sports body with a Manx tail and spare wheel on the back, together with road equipment. It was a Nine at that time.
Barry Gillies raced the car in this form a few times in the late 1970s and eventually bought it from Frank, who was returning to Canada. When he set up Barrie Gillies Limited in 1980 or thereabouts, he came up with the bright idea of turning it into an out-and-out racer, fitted with a six-cylinder engine, and got permission from the VSCC to do so. The VSCC had previously 'grand-fathered' the tubular-chassis Treens as pre-war. The body is essentially the same style that it came with, except remade and with the long tail it has now.
Barry's son Mark raced the car on and off from 1984 to 2005. It ended up with a full 2.0-litre works-style engine running on a Dixon-type slide-throttle six-SU set-up; a works-style racing manual 'box; limited-slip differential; stronger half-shafts; and ERA-style alloy/cast-iron brake drums. Mark's best lap times were:
Silverstone National: 1:13 / Donington Park: 1:31 / Mallory Park: 57s / Silverstone International: 1:52 / Oulton Park: 2:09.
According to Mark: "The car always handled really well. At Mallory on a couple of occasions I was among the quick ERAs, and a 57-second lap in a pre-war car there is fast: my best in R3A is a 54.6 and I believe Martin Stretton holds the record in a 4CL at 54.5."
Acquired by the vendor in 2006, the Treen Special raced regularly at VSCC meetings from 2006 to 2019. It has benefited from considerable engine development, including conversion to a dry-sump lubrication system in 2017. Rebuilt in 2020, the engine now runs on 90% methanol/10% Toluene. Bonhams would like to thank Mark Gillies for his assistance in preparing this description.
Please note the chassis number could not be checked at the sale.










































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