Some of the old car names were being gobbled up by the big corporations, yet us Brits being the sentimental souls we are could not bear to see them drive away to oblivion.
One such brand was Riley which in years previous had been among the favourite wheels of the sporting gent who used to cut a dash in his checked cap and string-backed driving gloves happily smoking his pipe at the wheel.
But when the BMC took a firm grip of Riley this rather typecast image was forced out as the brand conformed to the rigorous regime of badge engineering that pervaded BMC at that time.
It was amazing how the company could mould a particular platform into versions with quite different characters.
One such was the Riley One-Point-Five which shared a similar base with the Wolseley 1500, but in truth it was a very different car.
The Wolseley was a very upright and conservative British 1500 that was a hit with family and business drivers, but the Riley was a different animal that could not rein in the sporting grit of the old days.
Launched in November 1957 some months after the Wolseley, the One-Point-Five was quite a bit faster with its twin carburettor set-up providing 60bhp compared to the Wolseley's 53.
This translated into 85mph top speed and an easy cruise of 70mph.
Again better than the single carb Wolseley which, although still able to cruise at 70mph could not struggle above 78.
But the Wolseley was better on fuel - I remember it returning around 33mpg with the Riley trailing a bit at about 31 and sometimes lower if you put your foot down.
For the time they were both interesting in their concept.
The Wolseley in particular was designed to be a replace ment for the Morris 1000 but although carrying through many of the Moggie's components and parts the two created a little niche all of their own being the 1950-60s equivalent of the modern premium compact.
The B series engine of 1,489 cc with an 8.3 compression ratio gave a tasty turn in acceleration, but the floor-mounted four-speed gearbox selector was a bit archaic.
With a lot of chrome and walnut veneer trim plus some attractive colour options, the £702 (1964 price) Riley became one of the the real characters of the classic years.
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