Wolseley Motors

Wolseley Marque
Product type	Automotive marque
Owner	SAIC Motor
Discontinued	1987
Previous owners	Vickers, Sons and Maxim(1901–1927); W R Morris (1927–1935); Morris Motors Limited (1935–1952); BMC (1952–1967); British Leyland (1967–1986); Rover Group (1986–1988); BAe (1988–1994); BMW (1994–2000); MG Rover (2000–2005); NAC (2005–2007)

Wolseley Motors
Industry	Automotive
Fate	Merged
Successor	British Motor Corporation
Founded	1901
Defunct	1975
Headquarters	Birmingham, England
Key people	Thomas and Albert Vickers; Herbert Austin; J D Siddeley; A J McCormack; W R Morris

Wolseley Motors Limited owned a British motor vehicle manufacturer founded in early 1901 by the Vickers armaments combine in conjunction with Herbert Austin. It initially made a full range topped by large luxury cars and dominated the market in the Edwardian era. The Vickers brothers died and without their guidance Wolseley expanded rapidly after the war, manufacturing 12,000 cars in 1921, and remained the biggest motor manufacturer in Britain.

Over-expansion led to receivership in 1927 when it was bought from Vickers Limited by William Morris as a personal investment and years later moved into his Morris Motors empire just before the Second World War. After that its products were “badge-engineered” Morris cars. Wolseley went with its sister businesses into BMC, BMH and British Leyland, where its name lapsed in 1975.

Founding 1901

Herbert Austin (1866–1941) in 1905

Colonel Thomas Vickers
(1833–1915)

Sir Hiram Maxim
(1840–1916) caricature by
Spy for Vanity Fair, 1904

Colonial tourer 1912

The Wolseley Tool and Motor Car Company Limited

Hiram Maxim, inventor of the machine gun that bears his name and by then a member of the combine Vickers Sons & Maxim, had consulted Herbert Austin at Wolseley in the late 1890s a number of times in relation to the design of flying machines, which he was developing and constructing. Maxim made use of a number of suggestions made by Austin in Maxim’s activities at his works in Crayford, Kent. Once the sheep-shearing company had decided they would not pursue their automobile interest an approach was made and agreement quickly reached.

The Wolseley Tool and Motor Car Company of Adderley Park Birmingham was incorporated in March 1901 with a capital of £40,000 by Vickers, Sons and Maxim to manufacture motor cars and machine tools. The managing director was Herbert Austin. The cars and the Wolseley name came from Austin’s exploratory venture for The Wolseley Sheep Shearing Machine Company Limited, run since the early 1890s by the now 33-year-old Austin. Wolseley’s board had decided not to enter the business and Maxim and the Vickers brothers picked it up. After his five-year contract with The Wolseley Tool and Motor Car Company ended Austin founded The Austin Motor Company Limited.

Austin’s Wolseley cars

10hp 2-cylinder tonneau 1903

20hp shooting brake 1903

Austin had been searching for other products for WSSMC because sale of sheep-shearing machinery was a highly seasonal trade. About 1895–96 he became interested in engines and automobiles. During the winter of 1895–96, working in his own time at nights and weekends, he made his own version of a design by Léon Bollée that he had seen in Paris. Later he found that another British group had bought the rights and he had to come up with a design of his own, having persuaded the directors of WSSMC to invest in the necessary machinery.

In 1897 Austin’s second Wolseley car,

the Wolseley Autocar No. 1 was revealed. It was a three-wheeled design (one front, two rear) featuring independent rear suspension, mid-engine and back to back seating for two adults. It was not successful and although advertised for sale, none were sold.

The third Wolseley car, the four-wheeled Wolseley “Voiturette” followed in 1899. A further four-wheeled car was made in 1900.

The 1901 Wolseley Gasoline Carriage featured a steering wheel instead of a tiller. The first Wolseley cars sold to the public were based on the “Voiturette”, but production did not get underway until 1901, by which time the board of WSSMC had lost interest in the nascent motor industry.

Thomas and Albert Vickers, directors of Vickers and Maxim Britain’s largest armaments manufacturer had much earlier decided to enter the industry at the right moment and impressed by Austin’s achievements at WSSMC they took on his enterprise. When Austin’s five-year contract officially ended in 1906 they had made more than 1,500 cars, Wolseley was the largest British motor manufacturer and Austin’s reputation was made.

The company had been formed in March 1901. By 1 May 1901 Austin had issued his first catalogue. There were to be two models, 5 hp and 10 hp. They were both available with either a Tonneau or a Phaeton body with either pneumatic or solid tyres. For an additional outlay of thirty shillings (£1.50) the 10 hp model would be fitted with a sprag to prevent it running backwards. “We recommend pneumatic tyres for all cars required to run over twenty miles an hour. Austin then provided a paragraph as to why his horizontal engines were better lubricated (than vertical engines) and that 750 rpm, the speed of his Wolseley engines, avoided the short life of competing engines that ran between 1,000 and 2,000 rpm.”

The association with Vickers not only helped in general design but in the speed of production and provision of special steels

The Wolseley range from 1901 to 1905.

8hp 2-cylinder tonneau 1904

Engines were horizontal which kept the centre of gravity low. Cylinders were cast individually and arranged either singly, in a pair or in two pairs which were horizontally opposed. The crankshaft lay across the car allowing a simple belt or chain-drive to the rear axle:

1902 The 5hp MC-Wolseley

1904 Wolseley 6hp Light Car, 5 hp, 6 hp from 1904

1903 Wolseley 7,5hp tonneau AC-Wols

1904 Wolseley 8 hp tonneau, 7½ hp, 8 hp from 1904

1902 Wolseley 10 hp tonneau WTC

1910 Wolseley 12hp-16 Town Car. 2,226 cc, 10 hp, 12 hp from 1904

1912 Wolseley 16-20hp Landaulette

from 1904 16 hp

1903 Wolseley 20hp tonneau 6seats reliable hill-climbing

1904 Wolseley 2 cyl 20hp shooting brake London to Brighton

20 hp, 24 hp from 1904

in 1904 Queen Alexandra bought a 5.2-litre 24 hp landaulette with coil ignition, a four-speed gearbox and chain drive.

Siddeley

Name plate: Vickers, Sons & Maxim
Wolseley Siddeley

2.6 litre 14 hp rotund phaeton (tourer) 1908

Austin’s resolute refusal to countenance new vertical engines for his Wolseleys, whatever his directors might wish, led to Austin handing in his resignation the year before his contract ended. Curiously in his new Austin enterprise all the engines proved vertical but there he had to suffer a new financial master. Vickers replaced Austin by promoting Wolseley’s London sales manager, John Davenport Siddeley to general manager. As Austin was aware Vickers had earlier built, in association with Siddeley, Siddeley’s vertical-engined cars at their Crayford Kent factory. The new Siddeley cars began to overtake Wolseley’s sales of “old-fashioned” horizontal-engined cars. In early 1905 they hired Siddeley for their London sales manager and purchased the goodwill and patent rights of his Siddeley car.

8.6-litre 40–50 hp limousine

for the Earl of Leicester 1909

Siddeley, on his appointment to Austin’s former position, promptly replaced Austin’s horizontal engines with the now conventional upright engines. With him he brought his associate Lionel de Rothschild as a member of the Wolseley board. Together they gave the business a new lease of life. At the November 1905 Olympia Motor Show, the first at the former National Agricultural Hall, two small 6 hp and 8 hp cars were still exhibited with horizontal engines but there were also Siddeley’s new 15, 18 and 32 hp cars with vertical engines. This switch to vertical engines brought Wolseley a great deal of publicity and their products soon lost their old-fashioned image.

However a tendency then arose for journalists to follow the company’s full-page display advertising and drop the first word in Wolseley Siddeley — “Siddeley Autocars made by (in smaller typeface) the Wolseley Tool . . .” Certainly it was true the new engines were named Siddeley engines. Meanwhile, under Siddeley Wolseley maintained the sales lead left to him by Austin but, now run from London not (Austin’s base) Birmingham, the whole business failed to cover overheads. A board member, Walter Chetwynd, was set to find a solution. It was decided the business operated from too many different locations. First the board closed the Crayford Kent works, moving the whole operation back to Birmingham and dropping production of commercial vehicles and taxicabs – a large number of which, 500+, were made during Siddeley’s time including an early 10 hp taxicab made in 1908 sold to a Mr W R Morris of Holywell St. Oxford who ran a garage there and hire car business as well as making bicycles. Then the London head office followed. After some heated discussions Siddeley resigned in the spring of 1909 and Rothschild went too. Ernest Hopwood was appointed managing director in August 1909. Siddeley was to go on to manage the Deasy Motor Company and a notable commercial career.

Wolsit racer 1907

Wolseley Italy or Wolsit

Wolsit Officine Legnanesi Autmobili was incorporated in 1907 by Macchi Brothers and the Bank of Legnano to build Wolseley cars under licence in Legnano, about 18 kilometres north-west of central Milan. A similar enterprise, Fial, had started there a year earlier but failed in 1908. Wolsit automobile production ended in 1909, the business continued but made luxury bicycles. Emilio Bozzi made the Ciclomotore Wolsit from 1910 to 1914. A team of Wolsit cars competed in motoring events in 1907.

The Wolseley range in 1909:

12/16 hp

16/20 hp

20/24 hp

24/30 hp

Stellite, a separate low-priced range designed by Wolseley 1914

30/34 hp

40 hp

40/50 hp

60 hp

After 1911 the name on the cars was again just Wolseley.

Chetwynd’s recommendations soon lead to a revival in profits and a rapid expansion of Wolseley’s business. The Adderley Park factory was greatly extended in 1912. These extensions were opened in 1914 but there was not sufficient space for the new Stellite model which was instead produced and marketed by another Vickers subsidiary, Electric and Ordnance Accessories Company Limited.

Machine tools, buses, rail engines etc

Wolseley was not then as specialised in its operations as members of the motor industry were to become. For other members of the Vickers group they were general engineers and they also handled engineering enquiries directed on to them by other group members. Wolseley built double-decker buses for the Birmingham Corporation. They also built many specials such as electric lighting sets and motor boat engines – catalogued sizes were from 12 hp to 250 hp with up to twelve cylinders and complete with gearboxes. Fire engines too and special War Office vehicles being a subsidiary of a major armaments firm. As befits a company with tool in its name they built machine tools including turret lathes and horizontal borers though chiefly for their own use or for group members. Very large engines were made to power railcars, those made for the Delaware and Hudson railroad powered a petrol-electric system.

Marine and aero-engines

HMA No. 1 Mayfly at her mooring, Barrow-in-Furness September 1911

While at first Wolseley supplied engines for launches, made for them by Teddington Launch Works, they moved on to small river craft and light coasting boats. The demand for engines for larger vessels grew. It was not uncommon for orders to be booked for 70-foot (21 m) yachts, racing launches and ferry boats to carry fifty or more passengers. These were manufactured by S E Saunders Limited at Cowes, Isle of Wight. Special engines were made for lifeboats. In 1906 horizontal engines of sixteen cylinders were designed and constructed for British submarines. They were designed to run at a low speed. High efficiency V8 engines were made for hydroplanes as well as straight eights to run on petrol or paraffin. Weight was very important and these engines were of advanced design. The airship Mayfly was fitted with Wolseley engines.

A Ferdinand de Baeder (1865–1944), Belgian holder of Aviator’s certificate No. 107, won Prix des Pilots, Prix des Arts et Metiers, Coupe Archdeacon, Prix Capitaine Berger at Châlons-en-Champagne in his Wolseley-engined Voisin biplane on 30 December 1909. By the summer of 1910 Wolseley were able to supply the following specially designed water-cooled aero-engines:

60 hp V8 aero-engine 1910

30 hp 4-cylinder, bore and stroke: 3¾ x 5½ inches, displacement 5.85 litres

60 hp V8-cylinder, bore and stroke: 3¾ x 5½ inches, displacement 11.7 litres.

They were soon followed by a 120 hp version

16-20 hp 1912
24-30 Colonial model 1912
Antarctic November 1911
1905 360 hp 12-cylinder marine engine

Caterpillar tracked tractors were designed and supplied to Robert Falcon Scott for his ill-fated second expedition to the Antarctic. Orders were also received for use by the Deutsche Antarktische Expedition.

In 1914 Russian lawyer Count Peter Schilowsky was supplied with a two-wheeled gyroscopically balanced car for use on narrow tracks in wartime.

Wolseley 120 hp V8 aero engine 1910

Schilowsky’s gyrocar

1924 1½-ton lorry

Commercial vehicles

From 1912 lorries and other commercial vehicles were supplied. Until the outbreak of war in 1914 Wolseley offered six types of commercial vehicle from 12 cwt delivery van to a five-ton lorry with a 40 hp engine.

Wolseley Motors Limited 1914

By 1913 Wolseley was Britain’s largest car manufacturer selling 3,000 cars. The company was renamed Wolseley Motors Limited in 1914.
It also began operations in Montreal and Toronto as Wolseley Motors Limited. This became British and American Motors after the First World War. In January 1914 the chairman, Sir Vincent Caillard, told shareholders they owned probably the largest motor-car producing company in the country and that its factory floor space now exceeded 17 acres.

First World War

Wolseley ambulance of

“The Madonnas of Pervyse”

Former Wolseley works, Ward End

Entering wartime as Britain’s largest car manufacturer Wolseley initially contracted to provide cars for staff officers and ambulances. Government soon indicated their plant might be better used for supplies more urgently needed. Postwar the chairman, Sir Vincent Caillard, was able to report Wolseley had provided, quantities are approximate:

3,600 motorcars and lorries including the equivalent in spare parts

4,900 aeronautical engines including the equivalent in spare parts

760 aeroplanes

600 sets aeroplane spare wings and tailplanes

6,000 airscrews of various types

Director firing gear for 27 battleships, 56 cruisers and 160 flotilla leaders and destroyers

1,200 naval gun mountings and sights

10 transmission mechanisms for rigid airships

2,650,000 18-pounder shells

300,000 Stokes’s bombs

Aero engines produced in wartime included:

Renault eight and twelve-cylinder Vee-type

“Maybach” six-cylinder water-cooled 180 hp developed from a Maybach Zeppelin engine

The Dragonfly nine-cylinder air-cooled radial

Boucier fourteen-cylinder air-cooled radial

Hispano designed V8 known as the Viper. By 1918 sixty of these engine were being produced each week

Airship engines for the British Admiralty

The Scottish Horse Mounted Brigade‘s Field Ambulance developed an operating car, designed by Colonel H. Wade in 1914, which enclosed an operating table, sterilisers, full kit of instruments and surgical equipment, wire netting, rope, axes and electric lighting in a Wolseley car chassis. This operating car was employed during the Gallipoli Campaign at Suvla, in the Libyan Desert (during the Senussi Campaign) and at Kantara in Egypt, before being attached to the Desert Mounted Corps Operating Unit in 1917. Subsequently, taking part in the Southern Palestine Offensive, which culminated in the Capture of Jerusalem.

In 1918, Wolseley began a joint venture in Tokyo, with Ishikawajiama Ship Building and Engineering. The first Japanese-built Wolseley car rolled off the line in 1922. After World War II the Japan venture was reorganized, renaming itself Isuzu Motors in 1949.

Postwar expansion and collapse

Wolseley Ten 1923

postwar Stellite

Fifteen tourer 1923

16–45 2-litre six-cylinder 6-light saloon admired by W R Morris

Thomas Vickers died in 1915, and Albert Vickers in 1919, both having reached their eighties. During the war, Wolseley’s manufacturing capacity had rapidly developed and expanded. Immediately postwar, the Vickers directors decided to manufacture cars in large quantities at relatively cheap prices. Demand was good. They would borrow money, purchase the whole Ward End site and further expand Wolseley’s works. Vickers also decided to consolidate their motor car interests in one company. Wolseley accordingly purchased from within the Vickers group: Electric and Ordnance Accessories Company Limited, the Motor-Car (Stellite Car) Ordnance Department and the Timken Bearing Department and announced Wolseley’s future car programme would be:

1. 10 hp four-cylinder two or three-seater touring car based on the Wolseley designed Stellite car

2. 15 hp four-cylinder four-seater touring car

3. 20 hp six-cylinder chassis to be fitted with a variety of the best types of carriage work

Examples of all these models were exhibited at the Olympia Show in November 1919. The design of the 10 hp and 15 hp engines closely followed their wartime Hispano aero engine using an overhead camshaft. The public considered the 15 hp was too innovative and a new “14 hp” car using the same engine was hastily created to fill the gap.

Debenture stock certificate issued 6 May 1922 Wolseley Motors Ltd

Wolseley duly took over the Ward End, Birmingham munitions factory from Vickers in 1919 and purchased a site for a new showroom and offices in London’s Piccadilly by the Ritz Hotel. Over £250,000 was spent on the magnificent new building, Wolseley House. This was more than double their profits for 1919, when rewarding government contracts were still running. Those contracts ended. The government then brought in a special tax on “excess wartime profits”. There was a moulders’ strike from December 1919 to April 1920, but in spite of that it was decided to continue the manufacture of other parts. Then a short, sharp general trade slump peaked in July 1920 and almost every order Wolseley had on its books was cancelled. In 1920 Wolseley had reported a loss of £83,000. The following years showed even greater losses. Next, in October 1922, W R Morris startled the whole motor industry by a substantial reduction in the price of his cars. In 1924, Wolseley’s annual loss would reach £364,000.

Ernest Hopwood had been appointed Managing Director in August 1909 following Siddeley’s departure. He had resigned late in 1919 due to ill-health. A J McCormack who had been joint MD with Hopwood since 1911 resigned in November 1923 and was replaced by a committee of management. Then, at the end of October 1926, it was disclosed the company was bankrupt “to the tune of £2 million” and Sir Gilbert Garnsey and T W Horton had been appointed joint receivers and managers. It was described as “one of the most spectacular failures in the early history of the motor industry”.

Morris

W R Morris

Hornet 1¼-litre open 2-seater 1931

initially a 6-cylinder development of Wolseley’s design for the Morris Minor

Wasp 1069 cc 1935

21–60 2.7-litre landaulette 1933

When Wolseley was auctioned by the receivers in February 1927 it was purchased by William Morris, later Viscount Nuffield for £730,000 using his own money. Possibly Morris acted to stop General Motors who subsequently bought Vauxhall.

Other bidders beside General Motors included the Austin Motor Company. Herbert Austin, Wolseley’s founder, was said to have been very distressed that he was unable to buy it. Morris had bought an early taxicab; another Wolseley link with Morris was that his Morris Garages were Wolseley agents in Oxford.

Morris had unsuccessfully tried to produce a 6-cylinder car. He still wanted his range to include a light six-cylinder car. Wolseley’s 2-litre six-cylinder 16–45, their latest development of their postwar Fifteen, “made a deep impression on him”.

Morris incorporated a new company, Wolseley Motors (1927) Limited, he was later permitted to remove the (1927), and consolidated its production at the sprawling Ward End Works in Birmingham. He sold off large unwanted portions of Wolseley’s Adderley Park plant with all his own Soho, Birmingham works and moved Morris Commercial Cars from Soho to the remainder of Adderley Park.

In 1919 Vickers had decided Wolseley should build relatively cheap cars in large quantity – as it turned out – not the right policy. Morris changed this policy before the Wolseley brand might have lost all its luxury reputation. After lengthy deliberation and re-tooling of the works he kept the 2-litre six-cylinder 16–45 Silent Six and introduced a four-cylinder version calling it 12–32. Then an eight-cylinder car was brought to market named 21–60. In September 1928 a six-cylinder 21–60 was announced primarily aimed at the export market and named Wolseley Messenger there. It remained in production until 1935. The Messenger was noted for its robust construction. A very deep section frame reached the full width of the body – incidentally providing the sill between running boards and body. The body itself was all-steel and its prototype was first in UK to have its whole side pressed in one.

Wolseley’s postwar engines were all of the single overhead-camshaft type, the camshaft driven by a vertical shaft from the crankshaft. The eight-cylinder 21–60 held the vertical shaft in the centre of the engine, and both crankshaft and camshaft were divided at their midpoints. Their smallest engine of 847cc was designed and made for Morris’s new Minor at Ward End with the camshaft drive’s shaft the spindle of the dynamo driven by spiral bevel gears. But it was relatively expensive to build and inclined to oil leaks, so its design was modified to a conventional side-valve layout by Morris Engines, which was put into production just for Morris cars in 1932. Meanwhile, Wolseley expanded their original design from four to six cylinders. That six-cylinder single OHC engine announced in September 1930 powered the Wolseley Hornet and several famous MG models. This tiny 6-cylinder SOHC engine eventually was made in three different sizes and its camshaft drive continued to evolve from the dynamo’s spindle to, in the end, an automatically tensioned single roller chain.

Morris Motors Limited

Morris transferred his personal ownership of Wolseley to Morris Motors Limited as of 1 July 1935 and shortly all Wolseley models were badge-engineered Morris designs.

10 1140 cc saloon 1939
(Morris Ten)

18 2¼-litre 4-door Saloon 1937
(Morris Eighteen)

25 3½-litre saloon 1938
(Morris Twenty-Five)

Wolseley joined Morris, MG and later Riley/Autovia in the Morris Organisation later promoted as the Nuffield Organisation

Post WWII

14–56 police car

registered March 1937
a Morris Fourteen Six in police uniform

After the war Wolseley left Adderley Park, Morris and Wolseley production was consolidated at Cowley. The first post-war Wolseleys, the similar 4/50 and 6/80 models used overhead camshaft Wolseley engines, were otherwise based on the Morris Oxford MO and Morris Six MS but given the traditional Wolseley radiator grille. The Wolseley 6/80 was the flagship of the company and incorporated the best styling and features. The Wolseley engine of the 6/80 was also superior to the Morris delivering a higher BHP. The car was well balanced and demonstrated excellent road holding for its time. The British police used these as their squad cars well into the late sixties.

BMC

Following the merger of Austin and Morris that created the British Motor Corporation (BMC), Wolseleys shared with MG and Riley common bodies and chassis, namely the 4/44 (later 15/50) and 6/90, which were closely related to the MG Magnette ZA/ZB and the Riley Pathfinder/Two-point-Six respectively.

In 1957 the Wolseley 1500 was based on the planned successor to the Morris Minor, sharing a bodyshell with the Riley One-Point-Five. The next year, the Wolseley 15/60 debuted the new mid-sized BMC saloon design penned by Pinin Farina. It was followed by similar vehicles from five marques within the year.

The Wolseley Hornet was based on the Austin and Morris Mini with a booted body style which was shared with Riley as the Elf. The 1500 was replaced with the Wolseley 1100 (BMC ADO16) in 1965, which became the Wolseley 1300 two years later. Finally, a version of the Austin 1800 was launched in 1967 as the Wolseley 18/85.

British Leyland

After the merger of BMC and Leyland to form British Leyland in 1969 the Riley marque, long overlapping with Wolseley, was retired. Wolseley continued in diminished form with the Wolseley Six of 1972, a variant of the Austin 2200, a six-cylinder version of the Austin 1800. It was finally killed off just three years later in favour of the Wolseley variant of the wedge-shaped 18–22 series saloon, which was never even given an individual model name, being badged just “Wolseley”, and sold only for seven months until that range was renamed as the Princess. This change thus spelled the end of the Wolseley marque after 74 years.

As of 2012 the Wolseley marque is owned by SAIC Motor, having been acquired by its subsidiary Nanjing Automobile following the break-up of the MG Rover Group. The Wolseley Sheep Shearing Machinery Company continued trading and is now Wolseley plc.

List of Wolseley vehicles

List of 1920s and 1930s Wolseley vehicles

Six open 2-seater 1904

12/16 limousine 1910

21/60 saloon 1934

Hornet Special open 2-seater 1933

Four-cylinder

1919–1923 Wolseley Seven

1919–1924 Wolseley Ten

1919–1924 Wolseley Fifteen

1922–1924 Wolseley Fourteen

1924–1928 Wolseley 11/22

1924–1927 Wolseley 16/35

1929–1930 Wolseley 12/32

1934–1935 Wolseley Nine

1935–1936 Wolseley Wasp

1936–1937 Wolseley 10/40

1936–1939 Wolseley 12/48

1939-1939 Wolseley Ten

Six-cylinder

1919–1924 Wolseley Twenty

1922–1924 Wolseley 24/30

1924–1927 Wolseley 24/55

1932 Wolseley Hornet 4-door saloon Wolseley Hornet six

1930–1936 Wolseley Hornet six OHC

1927–1931 Wolseley 16/45

1931–1932 Wolseley Viper (car)

Wolseley-vintage-12-32 1928–1930 Wolseley 12/32

1933–1935 Wolseley County

1933–1935 Wolseley Sixteen

1935–1936 Wolseley Fourteen

1935-1935 Wolseley Eighteen

1936–1938 Wolseley 14/56

1937–1938 Wolseley 18/80

1935–1937 Wolseley Super Six 16HP, 21HP, 25HP

1938–1941 Wolseley 14/60

1938–1941 Wolseley 16/65

1938–1941 Wolseley 18/85 (also produced in 1944, for the military)

1937–1940 Wolseley 16HP, 21HP, 25HP

Eight-cylinder

1928–1931 Wolseley 21/60 Straight Eight Overhead Cam 2700cc (536 produced)

1929–1930 Wolseley 32/80 Straight Eight Overhead Cam 4020cc (chassis only)

List of post-Second World War Wolseley vehicles

Wolseley often used a two-number system of model names. Until 1948, the first number was engine size in units of taxable horsepower as defined by the Royal Automobile Club. Thus, the 14/60 was rated at 14 hp (RAC) for tax purposes but actually produced 60 hp (45 kW). Later, the first number equalled the number of cylinders. After 1956, this number was changed to reflect the engine’s displacement for four-cylinder cars. Therefore, the seminal 15/60 was a 1.5-litre engine capable of producing 60 hp (45 kW). Eventually, the entire naming system was abandoned.

Four-cylinder

The 1961–69 Wolseley Hornet was based on the Mini.

Wolseley Six (BMC ADO17)

Wolseley (18–22 series)

1939–1948 Wolseley Ten (Morris Ten)

1937–1948 Wolseley 12/48 (Post war version was the Series III)

1946–1948 Wolseley Eight similar to Morris Eight Series E

1947–1955 Nuffield Oxford Taxi (Morris Commercial design)

1948–1953 4/50 similar to Morris Oxford MO

1952–1956 Wolseley 4/44

1956–1958 Wolseley 15/50

(MG Magnette ZB)

1957–1965 Wolseley 1500 (similar to Riley One-Point-Five, based on Morris Minor)

1958–1961 Wolseley 15/60 (Austin A55 (Mark 2) Cambridge)

1961–1969 Wolseley Hornet (similar to Riley Elf, based on Mini)

1961–1971 Wolseley 16/60 (Austin A60 Cambridge)

1965–1974 Wolseley 1100/1300 (BMC ADO16)

1967–1971 Wolseley 18/85 (BMC ADO17)

Vanden Plas Princess 1100 four-door saloon

1968–???? Wolseley 11/55 (South African variant of BMC ADO16)

Six-cylinder

1939 Wolseley 14-60 Series III 6-light saloon

1938–1948 Wolseley 14/60 (Post war version was the Series III)

1938–1948 Wolseley 18/85 (Post war version was the Series III)

Wolseley 25 Series III. The Wolseley Series III 25 was launched in 1938 mechanically very much as the Series II model (and therefore as the Morris 25). The Steel body was the new feature for the Series III and differed from Morris equivalents.

1938–1948 Wolseley 25 (Post war version was the Series III)

1948–1954 Wolseley 6/80 (Morris Six)

1954–1959 Wolseley 6/90 (Riley Pathfinder/Riley Two-Point-Six)

1959–1961 Wolseley 6/99 (Austin A99 Westminster)

1961–1968 Wolseley 6/110 (Austin A110 Westminster)

1962–1965 Wolseley 24/80 (Australian version of 15/60 and 16/60, but six-cylinder; similar to Austin Freeway)

1972–1975 Wolseley Six (BMC ADO17)

March–October 1975 Wolseley saloon (18–22 series)Also produced (dates to be confirmed):

Wolseley 16/60 Wolseley 4/60 (Dutch version of 16/60)

Wolseley 300 (Danish version of 6/99 and 6/110)

Aero engines

Wolseley also produced a number of aircraft engine designs, although there were no major design wins.

Wolseley 1908 30 hp 4-cyl.

Wolseley 1909 50 hp V-8 air-cooled

Wolseley 1909 54 hp V-8 water-cooled 3.74″ x 5.00″

Wolseley 1911 Type B 80 hp V-8

Wolseley 1911 Type C 60 hp V-8

Wolseley 1912 160hp V-8

Wolseley A.R.7 Aquarius I

Wolseley A.R.9 Aries III

Wolseley Aero Engines Ltd. was a subsidiary formed around 1931 to design aero engines. When Wolseley Motors Limited was transferred to Morris Motors Limited on 1 July 1935 this part of its business was set aside by W. R. Morris (Lord Nuffield) and put in the ownership of a newly incorporated company, Wolseley Aero Engines Ltd, and remained his personal property. By 1942 the name of that company had become Nuffield Mechanizations Limited.

They were developing an advanced Wolseley radial aero engine of about 250 horsepower, but the project was abandoned in September 1936 when W. R. Morris got the fixed price I.T.P. (Intention to Proceed) contract papers (which would have required an army of chartered accountants) and decided to deal only with the War Office and Admiralty, not the Air Ministry (see Airspeed).

Pictures from my collection, collected from the World Wide Web:

L0000762 Wolseley autocars, advertisment, 1913.
Credit: Wellcome Library, London. Wellcome Images
images@wellcome.ac.uk
http://wellcomeimages.org
Wolseley autocars, advertisment, 1913.
British Medical Journal
Published: 4th January 1913
Copyrighted work available under Creative Commons Attribution only licence CC BY 4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Wolseley Fourteen. Sold in 1935 and 1936

Wolseley 10/40 Series II. Soild from 1936-37, the Wolseley 10/40 Series II borrowed heavily from the Morris 10/4 Series II, sharing the same 1292cc ohv 4cylinder engine (which was also shared with the MG TA.

Wolseley 4/50. Launched at the 1948 Motor Show as a variant of the Morris Oxford MO, the Wolseley 4/50 used a 4-cylinder 1476cc version of its sibling’s 6-cylinder ohc engine

Wolseley 4/50. Walnut and leather inside gave the Wolseley 4/50 an upmarket feel over its Morris Oxford MO sibling.

The big Wolseley 6/110 became the 6/110 Mk II in May 1964 and, like the Austin equivalent, was the best of the three derivatives of this model range. The mechanical changes made to upgrade the Wolseley – of which the most important wre the fitment of a new four-speed manual transmission and the rejigging of the suspension settings – were identical to those made for the Austin, but no exterior styling changes. For eagle-eyed observers, the use of smaller-diameter (13in) road wheels gave the game away, and there was also a distinctive boot-lid badge.

Wolseley 18/85 Series III Police car. The 18/85 was a fast car and was liked by Police forces, as was its successor the Wolseley 6/80.

Notes

Jump up^ in 1914 and 1919 respectively
Jump up^ “The Wolseley Tool and Motor-Car Company Limited has absorbed the Siddeley Autocar Company Limited and has acquired Niagara Westminster for premises for a London office and garage. The two companies have long been associated, the Siddeley cars being made by the Wolseley company. The London Motor Omnibus Company has placed an order for 25 Wolseley omnibuses each with a seating capacity for 34 passengers.” The Times, Monday, 13 Feb 1905; pg. 9; Issue 3762

References

Jump up^ Vickers Sons And Maxim Limited. The Times, Wednesday, Nov 17, 1897; pg. 4; Issue 35363
^ Jump up to:^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r St John C Nixon. Wolseley, a saga of the Motor Industry, G T Foulis & Co, London, 1949
Jump up^ Baker, John. “Herbert Austin”. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
Jump up^ “The Wolseley Gasoline Carriage”. The Horseless Age. 8 (27): 562. 2 October 1901. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
^ Jump up to:^a ^b ^c RAC Rating
^ Jump up to:^a ^b ^c Bill Smith, Armstrong Siddeley Motors Dorchester, Veloce, 2006; p.55; ISBN 9781904788362
Jump up^ “City Notes”. The Times (44569). 30 April 1927. p. 18.
Jump up^ “Siddeley Autocar”. The Times (38805). 16 November 1908. p. 4.
^ Jump up to:^a ^b Baldwin, Nick “The Wolseley”, Shire, Princes Risborough UK, 1995. ISBN 0-7478-0297-1
Jump up^ Paolo Ferrari (ed.), L’aeronautica italiana: una storia del Novecento, FrancoAngeli Storia, Milan, 2004
Jump up^ Flight magazine 8 January 1910
Jump up^ The Rise and Decline of the British Motor Industry By Roy A. Church, Economic History Society, 1994
^ Jump up to:^a ^b “Wolseley Motors (Limited). Meeting of Debenture Holders”. The Times (42236). 21 October 1919. p. 23.
Jump up^ R. M. Downes, The Campaign in Sinai and Palestine 1938, in A. G. Butler’s Gallipoli, Palestine and New Guinea of Official History of the Australian Army Medical Services, 1914–1918 Part II in Volume 1 (Australian War Memorial: Canberra pp. 636–7
^ Jump up to:^a ^b “Wolseley Motors”. The Times (44389). 29 September 1926. p. 20.
Jump up^ James Leasor Wheels to Fortune, Stratus, Cornwall UK 2001. ISBN 0-7551-0047-6
Jump up^ “Wolseley House Sold. Purchase by Barclays Bank”. The Times(44294). 10 June 1926. p. 16.
Jump up^ “City Notes”. The Times (44416). 30 October 1926. p. 18.
Jump up^ Georgano, N. (2000). Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile. London: HMSO. ISBN 1-57958-293-1.
Jump up^ “Wolseley And M.G. Companies”. The Times (47090). 14 June 1935. p. 20.
Jump up^ Timeline 1968, www.ado16.info Retrieved on 26 September 2013

Lambert, Z.E. and Wyatt, R.J, (1968). Lord Austin – The Man. Altrincham: Sidgwick and Jackson.
Bird, Anthony, (undated but probably 1966) The Horizontal Engined Wolseleys, 1900–1905. London: Profile Publications Ltd.

Wolseley Super-Six brochure 1935 from the Bodleian Library

[1] Jump up^ in 1914 and 1919 respectively

[9] Jump up^ “The Wolseley Tool and Motor-Car Company Limited has absorbed the Siddeley Autocar Company Limited and has acquired Niagara Westminster for premises for a London office and garage. The two companies have long been associated, the Siddeley cars being made by the Wolseley company. The London Motor Omnibus Company has placed an order for 25 Wolseley omnibuses each with a seating capacity for 34 passengers.” The Times, Monday, 13 Feb 1905; pg. 9; Issue 3762

[2] Jump up^ Vickers Sons And Maxim Limited. The Times, Wednesday, Nov 17, 1897; pg. 4; Issue 35363

[SJCN-3] Jump up to:^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r St John C Nixon. Wolseley, a saga of the Motor Industry, G T Foulis & Co, London, 1949

[4] Jump up^ Baker, John. “Herbert Austin”. Retrieved 20 June 2014.

[5] Jump up^ “The Wolseley Gasoline Carriage”. The Horseless Age. 8 (27): 562. 2 October 1901. Retrieved 16 July 2011.

[RACHP-6] Jump up to:^a ^b ^c RAC Rating

[BS-7] Jump up to:^a ^b ^c Bill Smith, Armstrong Siddeley Motors Dorchester, Veloce, 2006; p.55; ISBN 9781904788362

[8] Jump up^ “City Notes”. The Times (44569). 30 April 1927. p. 18.

[10] Jump up^ “Siddeley Autocar”. The Times (38805). 16 November 1908. p. 4.

[NBTW-11] Jump up to:^a ^b Baldwin, Nick “The Wolseley”, Shire, Princes Risborough UK, 1995. ISBN 0-7478-0297-1

[12] Jump up^ Paolo Ferrari (ed.), L’aeronautica italiana: una storia del Novecento, FrancoAngeli Storia, Milan, 2004

[13] Jump up^ Flight magazine 8 January 1910

[14] Jump up^ The Rise and Decline of the British Motor Industry By Roy A. Church, Economic History Society, 1994

[WMDH-15] Jump up to:^a ^b “Wolseley Motors (Limited). Meeting of Debenture Holders”. The Times (42236). 21 October 1919. p. 23.

[16] Jump up^ R. M. Downes, The Campaign in Sinai and Palestine 1938, in A. G. Butler’s Gallipoli, Palestine and New Guinea of Official History of the Australian Army Medical Services, 1914–1918 Part II in Volume 1 (Australian War Memorial: Canberra pp. 636–7

[TT44389-17] Jump up to:^a ^b “Wolseley Motors”. The Times (44389). 29 September 1926. p. 20.

[18] Jump up^ James Leasor Wheels to Fortune, Stratus, Cornwall UK 2001. ISBN 0-7551-0047-6

[19] Jump up^ “Wolseley House Sold. Purchase by Barclays Bank”. The Times(44294). 10 June 1926. p. 16.

[20] Jump up^ “City Notes”. The Times (44416). 30 October 1926. p. 18.

[Beaulieu-21] Jump up^ Georgano, N. (2000). Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile. London: HMSO. ISBN 1-57958-293-1.

[22] Jump up^ “Wolseley And M.G. Companies”. The Times (47090). 14 June 1935. p. 20.

[23] Jump up^ Timeline 1968, www.ado16.info Retrieved on 26 September 2013


Type	Società per Azioni
Traded as	BIT: PINF
Industry	Automotive
Founded	Torino, Italy (May 23, 1930)
Founder	Battista Farina
Headquarters	Cambiano, Italy
Key people	Paolo Pininfarina, Chairman Silvio Angori, CEO Gianfranco Albertini, CFO
Services	Automotive design
Net income	€32.9 million (2012)
Number of employees	821 (2012)
Parent	Mahindra Group (76.06%)
Website	www.pininfarina.com

Years	Model	Factory	Quantity
1946–1949	Maserati A6 1500 Turismo	107 Corso Trapani	58
1947–1952	Cisitalia 202	107 Corso Trapani	170
1947–1951	Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Super Cabriolet	107 Corso Trapani	64
1948–1951	Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Super Sport Cabriolet	107 Corso Trapani	25-30
1948	Maserati A6 1500 Spider	107 Corso Trapani	2
1950–1952	Lancia Aurelia B50 Cabriolet	107 Corso Trapani	265
1950–1958	Lancia Aurelia B20 Coupé	107 Corso Trapani	2,640
1952	Alfa Romeo 1900 C Cabriolet	107 Corso Trapani	88
1952–1953	Alfa Romeo 1900 C Coupé	107 Corso Trapani	100
1952–1953	Ferrari 212 Inter cabriolet	107 Corso Trapani	2
1952–1953	Ferrari 212 Inter coupé	107 Corso Trapani	11
1952–1953	Lancia D20 coupé	107 Corso Trapani	7
1952–1954	Nash-Healey	107 Corso Trapani	402
1953	Ferrari 375 MM Spider	107 Corso Trapani	15
1953	Lancia D23 Spyder	107 Corso Trapani	4 (re-bodied D20s)
1953-1954	Lancia D24 Spyder	107 Corso Trapani	6
1954–1957	Fiat 1100 TV Coupé	107 Corso Trapani	126
1954–1955	Lancia Aurelia B24 Spider America	107 Corso Trapani	240
1954	Lancia D25 Spyder	107 Corso Trapani	4 (re-bodied D24s)
1954	Maserati A6 GCS/53 Berlinetta	107 Corso Trapani	4
1956	Lancia Aurelia B24 Spider	107 Corso Trapani	521
1956–1958	Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider	107 Corso Trapani	5,493
1957–1959	Lancia Appia Pininfarina Coupe 2 +2 Series II	–	302
1958–1960	Ferrari 250 GT Coupe Pininfarina	Grugliasco	335
1959–1962	Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider	Grugliasco	11,503
1959–1960	Cadillac Eldorado Brougham	Grugliasco	200
1959–1967	Lancia Flaminia Coupé	Grugliasco	5,236
1960–1963	Ferrari 250 GTE 2+2	Grugliasco	955 including prototypes
1961–1968	Peugeot 404 Coupé and Cabriolet	Grugliasco	17,223 ( 10,389 Cabriolets, 6,834 Coupés)
1962–1971	Lancia Flavia Coupé	Grugliasco	26,084
1962–1965	Alfa Romeo Giulia 1600 Spider	Grugliasco	10,336
1963	Ferrari 330 America	Grugliasco	50
1964-1967	Ferrari 330 GT 2+2	Grugliasco	1080
1966–1968	Alfa Romeo Giulia Spider Duetto 1600 Spider	Grugliasco	6,322
1966-1968	Ferrari 330 GTC	Grugliasco	604
1966-1968	Ferrari 330 GTS	Grugliasco	100
1966–1985	Fiat 124 Sport Spider	Grugliasco	198,120
1967	Ferrari 330 GTC Coupe Speciale	Grugliasco	3
1968–1972	Alfa Romeo Giulia Spider 1300 and 1600 Junior	Grugliasco	4,913
1968–1972	Alfa Romeo 1750 Spider Veloce	Grugliasco	8,920
1969–1983	Peugeot 504 Coupé	Grugliasco	22,975
1969–1983	Peugeot 504 Cabriolet	Grugliasco	8,191
1971–1972	Ferrari 365 GTC/4	Grugliasco	505
1971–1975	Lancia 2000 Coupé Berlina	Grugliasco	–
1976–1985	Ferrari 400	Grugliasco	1,808
1981–1984	Lancia Beta Coupé HPE	Grugliasco	18.917
1981–1985	Peugeot Talbot Samba Cabriolet	Grugliasco	13,062
1981–1986	Fiat Campagnola	Grugliasco	15,198
1984–1993	Ferrari Testarossa	Grugliasco / San Giorgio	–
1984–1986	Alfa Romeo 33 Giardinetta	Grugliasco	12,238
1985–1989	Ferrari 412 & 412 GT	Grugliasco	576
1984–1993	Peugeot 205 Cabriolet	Grugliasco	72,125
1986–1993	Cadillac Allanté	San Giorgio Canavese	21,430
1992–1996	Ferrari 456 GT	–	3289
1993–2000	Fiat Coupé	–	72,762
1993–2002	Peugeot 306 Cabriolet	San Giorgio Canavese	–
1996–1999	Bentley Azure Mark I Convertible	–	895
1996–2000	Lancia Kappa SW	–	9,208
1996–2004	Peugeot 406 Coupé	San Giorgio Canavese	107,633
1999–2005	Mitsubishi Pajero Pinin	Bairo Canavese and Grugliasco	68,555
2000–2004	Alfa Romeo GTV & Spider 916 series	San Giorgio Canavese	15,788
2002	Honda Pininfarina Argento Vivo	–	4–5
2002–2005	Ford Streetka	Bairo Canavese	37,076
2005–2010	Alfa Romeo Brera	San Giorgio Canavese	21,786
2006–2010	Alfa Romeo Spider	San Giorgio Canavese	12,488
2006–2010	Ford Focus Coupé Cabriolet	Bairo Canavese	36,374
2006–2013	Volvo C70 II	Uddevalla, Sweden	–
2006–2008	Mitsubishi Colt CZC	Bairo Canavese	16,695
1974–1981	Lancia Beta Montecarlo Cabrio	Grugliasco	4,375
1975–1981	Lancia Beta Montecarlo Coupé	Grugliasco	3,203
1981	Lancia 037	Grugliasco	220
1971–1976	Fiat 130 Coupé	Grugliasco	4,491
1966–1972	Fiat Dino Spider	Grugliasco	1,583
1976–1984	Lancia Gamma Coupé	Grugliasco	6,790

	frisianrhodesian on Bus and Coach builders STRACHA…
	frisianrhodesian on Bus and Coach builders STRACHA…
	David Mitchell on Bus and Coach builders STRACHA…
	educrasnz on Buses CHAUSSON France
	educrasnzErik Vermaa… on Buses CHAUSSON France

“As old as the industry, as modern as the hour”
Industry	Automotive
Fate	Acquired by William Morris in 1938 thereafter with Morris Motors Limited
Successor	Nuffield Organisation
Founded	1896 as The Riley Cycle Company
Headquarters	Coventry, England
Key people	William Riley (1851–1944) William Victor Riley (1876–1958) Allan Riley (c.1880– ) Percy Riley (1882–1941) Stanley Riley (c.1889–1952) Cecil Riley (c. 1895– )

Official marque logo, revised by current owners SAIC.
Product type	Automotive marque
Owner	SAIC
Discontinued	1987
Previous owners	Austin Motor Company (1905–1952) BMC (1952–1967) British Leyland (Austin Rover) (1967–1986) BA Rover Group (1986–1988) Rover Group (1988–2005)

	1906	1907	1908	1909	1910	1911	1912	1913
Turnover	14,771	84,930	119,744	169,821	209,048	276,195	354,209	425,641
Cars	31	180	218				1,107	1,500
Employees		270				1,500	1,800	2,300

AMBULANCES part XII Ambulances on Alphabet beginning with MB till N

Wolseley Motors

Founding 1901

The Wolseley Tool and Motor Car Company Limited

Austin’s Wolseley cars

Siddeley

Wolseley Italy or Wolsit

Machine tools, buses, rail engines etc

Marine and aero-engines

Commercial vehicles

Wolseley Motors Limited 1914

First World War

Postwar expansion and collapse

Morris

W R Morris

Morris Motors Limited

Post WWII

BMC

British Leyland

List of Wolseley vehicles

List of 1920s and 1930s Wolseley vehicles

List of post-Second World War Wolseley vehicles

Aero engines

Pictures from my collection, collected from the World Wide Web:

See also

Notes

References

Riley Motor

Riley Cycle Company

Riley (Coventry) Limited

Nuffield Organisation

British Motor Corporation

The future

List of Riley vehicles

Pre-World War I

Inter-war years

Post-war

Notes

References

Riley (merk)

Motorfietsen

Automobielen

Heropleving

Pininfarina

History

The days as a specialist coachbuilder

After World War II

The Ferrari partnership

The move to large-scale manufacturing

The second generation of leadership

Modernizing for a new world

New infrastructure and expansion

New economic realities

April 29, 2008

December 31, 2008

March 24, 2009

January 4, 2011

February 14, 2012

February 15, 2012

May 16, 2012

March 26, 2013

Acquisition by Mahindra group (2015–present)

Corporate Governance (2016)

The end of car production operations

Grugliasco factory

San Giorgio plant

Bairo Canavese

Uddevalla, Sweden Pininfarina Sverige AB

Designers

Vehicles

Past production

Notable car designs

Pre World War II

Concept cars, Prototypes and Individual commissions

Production Cars Designed by Pininfarina

Electric propulsion

Other vehicles

Nautical design

Mass transport

Other works

London Taxis1929–34 Austin 12 Taxicab High Lot1934–39 Austin 12 Taxicab Low Loader1938–39 Austin 12 Taxicab Flash Lot1948–58 Austin FX3 1958–97 Austin FX4—London Taxi