Bob Riley, who left an indelible mark on IndyCar and sports activities automobile racing via automobiles comparable to Coyote Indy automobiles for A.J. Foyt, front-engine Mustang GTPs, the high-downforce Intrepid RM-1, the dominating Riley & Scott Trans Am automobiles and Mk III prototype, and the Riley Daytona Prototype chassis, has handed away on the age of 93.
A 2024 inductee into the IMSA Corridor of Fame in addition to a member of the Motorsports Corridor of Fame of America, Riley’s profession as an engineer and automobile designer stretched throughout a number of racing disciplines. A mechanical and aeronautical engineer, he labored within the plane trade and Chrysler’s House Division Saturn rocket program, whereas constructing race automobiles at house, notably the legendary Lynx System Vee. Constructing race automobiles would quickly change into his calling.
Riley-designed Coyote-Foyt Ford was an IndyCar superpower within the Seventies and carried A.J. to his fourth Indy 500 win in 1977.
As an engineer for Ford, Riley contributed to the Le Mans-winning Ford GT MK IV program. Just a few years later, he was designing Coyote Indy automobile chassis for A.J. Foyt, together with the automobile which carried Foyt to his fourth Indianapolis 500 win. The 1981 Coyote, Riley’s first full ground-effects Indy automobile, produced a lot downforce the group couldn’t discover springs sturdy sufficient, and needed to lower holes to bleed off a number of the strain.
Riley’s first solo effort in sports activities automobile racing was the front-engine Ford Mustang GTP, an uncommon design in 1983. (See beneath video). Making its debut late within the season at Highway America for Zakspeed, the automobile was a right away success with a 1.7-liter Ford Cosworth BDA engine, carrying Klaus Ludwig and Tim Coconis to victory, whereas Bobby Rahal and Geoff Brabham completed third. The automobile’s subsequent outings principally resulted in failure, nevertheless, because of the fragility of the two.1-liter engine that went into the automobile for the 1984 IMSA GT season.
Riley’s subsequent GTP automobile was the Intrepid RM-1, designed with son Invoice and produced by Pratt & Miller. The automobile was notable for its exceptionally excessive ranges of downforce, which gave it the quickest cornering speeds of any of the GTP automobiles of the period. Powered by a Chevrolet engine, Wayne Taylor received with the automobile on the streets of New Orleans throughout its 1991 debut season, the chassis’ solely victory.
In 1990 Riley teamed up with Mark Scott to kind Riley & Scott. The primary automobile the corporate developed was the Mk I Trans Am chassis that scored quite a few victories within the collection, and in addition discovered success in IMSA competitors. However it was the Mk III World Sports activities Automobile chassis that made the corporate’s title and dominated the WSC class within the late ’90s, commonly besting even the mighty Ferrari 333SP. Wayne Taylor and Doyle Racing took the primary championship with an Oldsmobile-powered Mk III, adopted by 4 straight championships for Dyson Racing with Ford energy, Butch Leitzinger with two, adopted by a pair for James Weaver.
The Mk III took three of 4 Daytona 24 Hour general victories from 1996-99, one with Doyle and two for Dyson. The chassis would take almost 50 victories, and in addition grew to become the idea for the Cadillac Northstar LMP, and the up to date Mk III C that raced till 2005.
Riley & Scott additionally constructed an Indy Racing League chassis, the Mk V that scored a victory with Buddy Lazier at Phoenix, earlier than the corporate was acquired by Reynard in 1999.
The present firm created by Bob and Invoice Riley in 2001, Riley Applied sciences, constructed the Riley Mk XI. That automobile and its successors received the Daytona 24 Hours 10 occasions from 2005-15 within the arms of Wayne Taylor Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing, Brumos, Motion Categorical and Michael Shank Racing. These victories got here with totally different powerplants, together with Pontiac, Lexus, Porsche, BMW and Ford.
Different notable sports activities automobile racing tasks for Riley embody creating the SpeedSource RX-7s and the Viper GTS-R that ran in ALMS and IMSA GTLM competitors from 2012-14, as effectively the Viper GT3-R.
“It’s onerous to condense his profession into one thing quick and candy,” famous IMSA Senior Director of Competitors Mark Raffauf on the event of Bob Riley’s induction into the IMSA Corridor of Fame. “He most likely was instantly concerned or personally conceived at the very least 20 vital [designs].
“For my part, he’s the only most vital American race automobile designer in historical past. I might dig up a listing of what he made in IMSA and it’s simply mind-boggling.”
Riley Motorsports continues to compete below the course of Invoice Riley within the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in LMP2 and in GT World Problem America. Chris Dyson is racing with Riley Applied sciences chassis in Trans Am, and the corporate has taken over Kar-Kraft and is constructing a MkIv continuation.
