Category Archives: Wolseley

Model and the Inspiration – 5

By Dave Turner

Text and photographs copyright of the Author(s) unless otherwise stated.

Wolseley 1500 Mark I

The one-time ownership of a real Mark I Wolseley 1500 led to the acquisition of a kit of parts for a Mark 11 example from Richard at MiniMarque 43, who I worked for at the time, with the intention of turning it into a Mark I. However, many years later I was presented with the then new Lansdowne model Mark I in order to review it for the Lansdowne Collector magazine.

Once we get used to the absence of the essential illuminating Wolseley badge in the grille of the Lansdowne model we can enjoy the models many interesting and good points. The licence plate reads UOH 882, a Birmingham issue from 1957 and one that appeared on one of BMCs press cars, albeit a two-tone example. That pattern of colour split is limited to a few other early Wolseley 1500s and it followed closely the scheme that subsequently became familiar on the Riley One-Point-Five but included the lower body sides with the roof colour.

Dimensionally Lansdowne’s 1500 is a fraction over 1:43 but the proportions are correct – the wheelbase and overall length being to a consistent scale. the Island Green paint is beautifully applied, the entire surface on the example to hand being like glass while there are no less than 36 separate plated parts carefully and cleanly applied. These vary in size from the minute boot lid and bonnet hinges to the one-piece grille and side grilles and bumpers. The grilles would have benefited from a black wash while the hub caps have the big ‘W’ in place and are totally free from casting lines – not always the case with model hub caps. The wheels themselves might be a tad small but with their realistically sized tyres their overall effect is spot-on.

The body side and bonnet top strips are neatly set into their locations, the former are a trifle over-scale and also extend slightly too far forward. In front of the bonnet top strip is the tiny flying “W” casting and look carefully behind the plated door handles and the subtle recess in the door panels can be seen….just. From above the model captures the distinctive plan view – tapering to a noticeably slim tail end, that just might be a fraction too slim. The rear licence should extend noticeably wider than the plinth for its light, but is too small while the tail lights should be slightly sloping but are too close to vertical. Beneath the paint to the right side of the licence plate is the “Wolseley 1500” badge, while the plated tail lights are given the appropriate amber and red lacquer.

Both front ‘nd rear screen ‘glass’ is commendably flushed into their respective apertures while the clear windows all round allow the well detailed interior to be admired. The dash casting is finished in all-over ‘wood effect’ but should of course match the trim along its upper surface, have black faced instruments and radio plus a cream speaker grille. All these are well-detailed in the casting and could easily be given an appropriate colour if needed. The three spoke steering wheel should be dished and its spokes should be silver to represent the plated wires while the short gear lever between the seats is given a black finish (opportunity for more careful painting here?) The seats and door panels are finished in a light tan and given plenty of pleated detail.

A tiny exhaust pipe drops down from the black base in front of the left side bumper over rider but the now ubiquitous bright assembly screw head sticks down from beneath the boot area.

Shortly after the Morris Minor had been put into production, there were plans to eventually offer a new larger Morris, and utilise the same body for a Wolseley and an MG. In the event the Morris Minor was re-launched in slightly modified form as the Morris Minor 1000 in October 1956 the proposed larger version eventually going on to be produced in Australia as the Morris Major along with a companion Austin Lancer.

New and slightly larger Wolseley and MG saloons were launched in October 1952 (Wolseley 4/44) and October 1953 (MG Magnette) but in May 1957 another new Wolseley appeared as the 1500 employing the body originally planned for the proposed larger Morris.

The 1,489cc ‘B’ series engine employed in the relatively small and light body of the Wolseley 1500 provided excellent performance while relaxed cruising speeds were possible by the use of high gearing. At the same time some a luxury flavour was provided by the provision of leather upholstery and walnut cappings, much use of existing engineering allowed the price to be a modest £752.

The relatively short body resulted in a comfortable upright driving position and the positive rack and pinion steering gave similar handling characteristics to the Morris 1000. The new Wolseley 1500 had a top speed of 80 plus and gave 32mpg while an even livelier performance came with the Riley One-Point-Five version in November 1957 as that was provided with twin carbs bigger valves and other engine upgrades.

In January 1959 a slightly less luxurious version of the Wolseley 1500 was launched and called the Fleet Model, for £47 less the leather and walnut was replaced by leather cloth while the better equipped version then became known as the Family Model. In April 1959 the tyre section was increased to cope with the weight of the engine and a slightly re-styled Mark II came along in May 1960 after a total production of 46,438 Mark Is.

7205 KH was a less expensive Fleet Model and began life in Hull in January 1960. By the time it became the writer’s family car a few years later it was still in excellent condition and a pleasure to drive. The lusty ‘B’ Series engine, even in its single carb form gave a satisfying thrum when the accelerator was pushed to the floor and compared to its contemporaries the Wolseley could certainly be described as entertainingly lively.

Illustrations:


1960 Wolseley 1500 Fleet model when it was nearly new.

2 & 3 Lansdowne 1:43 metal from UK; LDM 71, Wolseley 1500

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Egeskov Castle – 1961 Wolseley

By Eugen Pedersen

Text and photographs copyright of the Author(s) unless otherwise stated.

Here we have a rather dusty unrestored Wolseley from the Castle’s collection. The Wolseley shown is either a late production 6/99 or an early 6/110. The 110 has a longer wheelbase and a slightly more powerful engine which cannot be determined here.

‘Big’ Wolseleys were one of BMC’s premium self-drive ranges with only the Vanden Plas Princesses offering more luxury on this chassis and a larger engine if you paid for the R version which was fitted with a six cylinder Rolls-Royce B series engine rather than BMC’s straight six.


Author’s Photograph

Period Advertising for the ‘BIg’ Wolseley from Transpress NZ website

Although the advert claimed that the car could be had at a ‘modest cost’ the purchase tax alone was more than the average yearly wage for a woman in 1960! Even an average manual worker in the engineering sector did not earn the pre-purchase tax price in a year.


Transforming a Wolseley Wasp into a Morris 10/4

By Stuart Brotchie

Text and photographs copyright of the Author(s) unless otherwise stated.

Once upon a time!


The 1934 Morris 10/4 was my parents first family car, and although I have collected models of their other cars this was still a gap in my collection as to my knowledge no-one had ever produced a model of one. To fill the gap I found a 1:43 scale Motor Kits Wolseley Wasp, a car which was based on the Morris, on eBay. Found by chance on eBay it was a real mess of a build but that did not matter as I planned a complete strip and conversion.

To re-create my parents first family car I only had two black and white photographs to go by, as well as many stories from my parents. Luckily Dad had a friend with a good camera who took two super shots of the car. My parents acquired the Morris at some point around late 1940’s or very early 1950’s.


And so the transformation began. Cutting up a white metal casting was new to me, but it soon became a familiar process. The changes made to the Wolseley castings included the following:

  • The bonnet has been shortened to lose the Wolseley‘s slant and allow the Radiator to sit upright in Morris style.
  • The door shut lines have been remade.
  • The boot has been removed to give the flatter Morris rear panel.
  • A curve has been added to the bottom of rear window by gentle application of pliers!
  • Bigger wheels and tyres are sourced from K&R.
  • Raiding the parts bin I found some big headlamps, some chrome handles & some hub caps from an Austin Allegro.
  • Bumpers were fabricated from tie wraps for plastic bags, the kind stiffened by wire in the middle – perfic!
  • Bonnet louvres are two different Eduardo aircraft photoetch components as these are sided. This was a not inexpensive purchase!

The painting is not perfect, but as Dad said he used to polish it with an oily rag that is perhaps not an issue!

Photographs of the finished product are shown below:



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Retromobile 2019

By Fabrizio Panico

Text and photographs copyright of the Author(s) unless otherwise stated.

Once again February brings us back to Paris, both for Retromobile, and for the traditional auctions of Artcurial, RM Sotheby’s and Bonhams, a visual overdose enriched by a certain elegance, even if you start to perceive some slight fogging due to the changing tastes of the public. On the other hand it is for the market to dictate the show and not our personal interests.

This year Paris greeted us with windy days, but fortunately without the snow of last year. Alas the defections of the big automakers continue from their previous showcase of the Champs Elysées. First Citroen, Mercedes and Toyota left, now Peugeot has left its showroom too, leaving only Renault in the place that was a symbol of French motoring. How much longer before there are no showrooms on the Champs Elysées?

As usual, the Parisian show has attracted fans from all over the world. It is rich in novelties, celebrations of anniversaries, and exhibitions dedicated to specific brands. Even here there were alternate presences and absences: FCA is back, the absence of Mercedes-Benz is alas confirmed. Brand and/or model clubs attend in abundance, although their grouping together in Hall 3 reduces their presence a little.

Big celebrations took place of the centenary of Citroen with a great review of cars and prototypes, unfortunately narrow corridors meant the exhibits were difficult to walk around. Peugeot was a little poorly represented , maybe we had become used to better shows in previous years, whilst Renault chose to devote itself entirely to the ‘Turbo Years’, with the result of a series of cars of relative ‘aesthetic’ interest.

The general impression was of a reduced presence of real “vintage” cars in flavor of newer ‘classics’, which are evidently the most requested by the public today. This is the market! Fortunately the Teuf Teuf Club and the Compiègne Museum exhibited a rich collection of De Dion Bouton vehicles, while a specific exhibition was dedicated to the Bédélia, a classic of French cyclecars.

Another ‘gem’ on show was the monstrous Berliet T100, a giant destined for the African deserts and whose journey from Lyon to Paris constituted an adventure, considering its dimensions are ‘out of the norm’.

A rich collection of motorcycles from Gnome & Rhone was on show, as well as a display of the Citroen DS Chapron, in all their variants. Honda was celebrating the twenty years of the S2000 (too new in the Author’s opinion to be at such a show). The long suspension bridge between Hall 1 and 2 housed the Mini exhibition, celebrating their 60 years. There was an interesting cutaway Mini, but perhaps they could have included more variants : the Moke and the Mini Marcos appeared a bit lonely. As usual, the Saumur museum presented two tanks, a Sherman and a Panzer IV.

After lookinmg at all the displays there were plenty of opportunities to spend your money. There were many Dealers with their “jewels” and of course scale models, spare parts, books, and accessories. Add to that the wide range of goods from the many artists and artisans.

Again a show not to be missed where there is so much on offer that everyone can find lots of interest. The photographs below show some of the highlights of the show.

Citroën – 100 Years Display


Citroen GS Camargue Bertone 1972


Renault 1000kg Voltigeur 1956


Delahaye 135 M Figoni Falaschi 1946


BMW 320 Group 5 Junior Team 1977


Alfa Romeo 750 Competizione 1955


Lancia Rally 037 1982


Abarth 1000 monoposto record 1960


Jensen CV8 Mark III 1965


Classic early Léon Bollée advertising material


Wolseley Hornet Mark III 1969


Gnome Rhone motorcycle and side car outfit


Bédélia BD2 1912


Tiffany Golden Spirit 1986


Alfa Romeo 8c 2900 B Berlinetta Touring 1939


Scale Models Club display on the theme – Peugeot


BMC outside the UK

By John F. Quilter

All text and photographs by, and copyright of, the Author.

Editors Note: John wrote this in response to the recent article posted on the Siam Di Tella which was a BMC hybrid made in Argentina. The article can be found here.

Here’s a little info on two BL products not made in the UK.

British Leyland and its predecessor BMC had many overseas operations over the decades. Here are two products of their overseas affiliates. The BMC J4 van, which was also badged as a Morris and Austin in the UK, was made in Spain by their operation there known as Sava.

This operation also made many of Leyland larger trucks as well. The J4 van, and there was a pickup and mini bus versions as well came after the J2 and before the Sherpa. Much of the sheet metal on the Sherpa was carried over but the engine was moved forward under a short bonnet rather than being between the seats as it was in the J4. The engine was BMC’s 1622cc petrol engine or a 1500cc diesel. Both part of BMC’s “B” series four cylinder engine range. This van is apparently made by Ixo and mine is done in a BMC service livery from a dealer in France. There are other liveries showing up on eBay as well. The J4 makes a good shelf item along with my Sherpa van (plus pickup and mini bus custom creations) and J2 by Oxford Diecast.

The second vehicle is from TRAX in Australia, a Morris Major Elite. This unique to Australia car, was essentially the centre section of a Riley 1.5 or Wolseley 1500 but Leyland Australia added a longer boot for more capacity and a longer front clip perhaps to balance off the look. It also used the 1622cc engine which was a step up from the UK produced Riley and Wolseley. The model is in TRAX’s limited range and is in resin. Available in two colours, the blue and white being one often seen back when the cars were new. The photo below shows the Elite along with its cousins the Wolseley and Riley both done in Brooklin’s Lansdowne range.


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Wolseley 2200 Conversion

By John Quilter

Photographs by, and copyright of, the Author. They can be seen below the text.

So what do you do when you end up with a duplicate model of one you already have? A while back a fellow model club member, who only works with 1:24th scale models, gave me a Heller plastic kit of an Austin Princess 2000. So what to do with this since I had already built a stock Princess 2000? Checking the British Leyland product range circa 1975 I found that there was a Wolseley version, the Wolseley 2200 of the controversial Harris Mann wedge design era that included the Triumph TR7.

The only real noticeable differences between the Princess and 2200 were the shape of the bonnet and a trapezoidal grill. So I decided to modify this kit into a Wolseley by adding a bulge to the bonnet and a modified grill. A layer of styrene plastic to the bonnet and a grill made from a piece of solder bent to shape made the conversion possible. Google images showed that there was a gold colour offered in 1975 with a tan interior. This is a nice addition to my Wolseley shelf, and if I am correct, it was the last BLMC vehicle badged as a Wolseley before the marque faded into obscurity.


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Parker Models VE69 Wolseley Series II

By Maz Woolley

 

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Here we have Parker models VE69 which is a Wolseley Series II as made between 1935 and 1937. This is sold as a white metal kit which consists of a body shell, chassis, steering wheel, four wheels and a Vacform.  These models are primarily aimed at the model railway market but now that Oxford Diecast has popularised 1:76 as a collectors scale  I hope that they will be of more general interest.

The Wolseley was basically an upmarket Morris using many Morris components. 15,000 were said to have been made before the Series III was introduced. Unlike the Morris equivalent at the time, the Wolseley featured an overhead valve engine and four-speed gearbox, along with ‘Easiclean’ steel-pressed wheels.

The Series II is often used in TV detective series set in the pre-war years as Wolseleys were widely used by the police and other authorities.

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As usual the casting was clean and the kit assembled very easily. Unfortunately the vacform got lost and the model as shown has windows made using Krystal Klear.

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This model fills another gap and would display well alongside Oxford Diecast’s model of the larger Wolseley 18/85.


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Trax Wolseley 15/60

By John Quilter

 

Trax, an Australian based model producer and vendor concentrates on Australian  vehicles, many of which are completely home grown and many of which are adaptations of US built cars from the Big Three, or English cars from BMC, British Leyland or Ford UK.    This example is the late 1950s early 1960s Farina styled Wolseley 15/60 which was for all intents and purposes exactly the same as the version sold in the UK.   It was essentially a upmarket version of the Morris Oxford and Austin Cambridge.  The first version used the evergreen BMC B series engine of 1489cc using one SU carburettor.  The UK also had twin SU carburettor Riley and MG Magnette versions taking the badge engineering under BMC to new heights. Later versions featured the somewhat larger 1622cc engine and sometimes with an automatic gearbox the Borg Warner 35.   It was felt necessary to cater to all the loyal MG, Wolseley,  Morris, etc. buyers and the diverse and separate dealer network in the UK at the time.  Everybody had to have a piece of the action in this medium saloon market.  This basic body and estate car version of the Austin and Morris  lasted until 1971 and some were even fitted with BMC diesel engines.

The Wolseley by Trax and sold by Top Gear (TRR18) is resin and comes in the usual clear Perspex display box  with a small introduction card.   This is the early version the Farina styled cars having the taller and more pointed fins and different tail lamps.   For comparison I have pictured it with the Vanguards Morris Oxford showing the slight restyle and muting of the fins in the second generation of these cars.    In Australia there was also an Austin Freeway which was essentially an Austin Cambridge but with minor differences including a different grille treatment.

Going by the Vanguards Morris Oxford,  Trax got the scale correct and the only obvious flaw is that the A pillars are a bit too fat.   The distinctive Wolseley grill is nicely replicated as is some detail on the undercarriage.  Separate chrome door handles, photo etched wipers,  and badging are provided.

Trax models are produced in relatively limited quantities and often sell out.   Shipping from Australia to the USA is $19.50 Australian dollars ($14.00 USD) and in my case took over a month to arrive.


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