The Wolseley Motor Company was an automobile manufacturer in the United Kingdom from 1905.
History
Wolseley began as the Wolseley Sheep Shearing Company before being spun off (with financing from Vickers) as an independent concern in 1901. The company had already manufactured its first automobile (in 1895) under the brilliant engineer, Herbert Austin. Austin managed the new Wolseley company for a very short time before leaving to form his own concern, the Austin Motor Company, in 1905.
Wolseley purchased the Siddeley Autocar Company , with founder John Davenport Siddeley in charge. Siddeley (later Baron Kenilworth) took control of the merged concern, renaming the marque Wolseley-Siddeley until his resignation in 1910. He went on to manage the Deasy Motor Company, which became Siddeley-Deasy . This later merged with Armstrong-Whitworth to become Armstrong-Siddeley.
Wolseley Motor Company
The company officially became the Wolseley Motor Company in 1914. It also began operations in Montreal and Toronto, Canada as Wolseley Motors Limited. This became British and American Motors after World War I.
In 1918, Wolseley began a joint venture in Tokyo, Japan 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 reorganized, renaming itself Isuzu Motors in 1949. Today, Isuzu is part of General Motors.
Wolseley grew quickly selling upmarket cars, and even opened a lavish showroom, Wolseley House, in Picadilly Circus. Finances were strained, however, and the company faced recievership in October, 1926.
Nuffield
Wolseley was purchased by William Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield for £730,000 in 1926. Other bidders included General Motors and the Austin Motor Company. Morris renamed the company Wolseley Motors and consolidated its production at the sprawling Ward End Works in Birmingham.
In 1935, Wolseley became a subsidiary of Morris' own Morris Motor Company and the Wolseley models soon became based on Morris designs. It became part of the Nuffield Organisation along with Morris and Riley/Autovia in 1938.
After the war, Morris and Wolseley production was consolidated at Cowley, and badge engineering took hold. The first post-war Wolseleys, the similar 4/50 and 6/80, were based on the Morris Oxford MO . Later, Wolseleys mainly shared with Riley, namely the 4/44 and 6/90.
Other badge engineering exploits followed at BMC. In 1957 Wolseley 1500 was based on the planned successor to the Morris Minor. 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 tiny Wolseley Hornet was based on the Mini but was shared with Riley as the Elf. Finally, a version of the Morris 1800 was launched in 1967 as the Wolseley 18/85. The Riley marque, long overlapping with Wolseley, was retired in 1969. Wolseley continued in diminished form with the Wolseley Six of 1972, but it was finished just three years later with the single-year Wolseley 18-22 . Today, the Wolseley marque is owned by the MG Rover Group.
List of Wolseley vehicles
Wolseley long used a two-number system of model names. Until 1948, the numbers reflected the vehicle's RAC horsepower and true horsepower output, respectively. Thus, the 14/60 was rated at 14 hp (RAC) for tax purposes but actually produced 60 hp (45 kW). Later, the first number equaled 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 L engine capable of producing 60 hp (45 kW). Eventually, the entire naming system was abandoned.
- Four-cylinder
- Six-cylinder
- Midsize
- Compact
