There's nothing like an `All British' day to bring out the not-so bashful Poms driving the remnants of a long-lost car industry. While we like to lampoon the Yanks and their car manufacturers, at least they have a motor industry, albeit debt laden and, until recently, direction-less. We attended the All British Day in Brisbane a few weeks back and when you look around at the marques you realise what a vibrant, exciting industry the Brits had in their heyday.

Now, of course the Rolls Royce name is owned by BMW, Bentley by Volkswagen, Mini by BMW, Land Rover and Jaguar by the Indian Tata Group, MG Rover by the Chinese ... my, what is the world coming to? What next: The Queen trades the corgis in on Australian Kelpies? Given the above brands maybe a German Shepherd would be more in keeping.

“The 2.5 litre cars did that all the time as the axles had a weak point. Most of them were replaced with a tapered axle that no longer gives any problems.”

As I glanced down the Riley entourage at the All Brits Day I was treated to a show within a show. Magnificent Rileys all in a row: 2.5s, 1.5s a Pathfinder (No, not a Nissan 4WD ,a Riley), 12/4s, convertibles, hard tops. My eyes fell on a 1937 Lynx 1.5 litre. The Lynx name denoted a four seat convertible. I glanced at the rego sticker. Chassis No. 27L5636. The 2 stands for the engine: 12/4 as it was known or the 1.5 litre. The 7 stood for the year of manufacture: 1937. The L stands for Lynx, the body style. And the 5636 stood for the chassis number.

It is a pretty car with large head lamps, big curved mudguards that protrude way ahead of the grille, a curved chrome bumper bar and long bonnet leading to a single flat piece of glass for a windscreen. Vents are the main feature along each side of the bonnet. What gives the car it's sporty edge is the doors are cut low, unlike a sedan that are straight, and the curved rear fender dropping away at the same angle as the boot, which also carries the spare wire wheel.

The overall effect is of a handsome pre-war sports sedan – perhaps the type of car famous British war hero Sir Douglas Bader may have driven at some stage after losing his legs. The 1937 12/4 or 1.5 litre Lynx came immediately after Riley's most successful car, and probably one of the most successful cars made by the British industry between wars. This was the Riley Nine. The Nine was produced in a variety of body styles between 1926 and 1938. It came about as the produce of Percy and Stanley Riley, two of the five sons of Riley founder William Riley.

Percy designed the engine while Stanley was responsible for the chassis, suspension and body style. But, it was the engine that gained all the plaudits. It was a 1087 cc capacity four cylinder with hemispherical combustion chambers and valves inclined a 45 degrees in a crossflow head. The valves were operated by two camshafts, one either side of the block, through short pushrods and rockers. It was an innovative design that would eventually appear in Austin Healeys after Riley was taken over by Lord Nuffield in 1938.