Wolseley 18-22 - The Wedge and the Last Wolseley!
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- Опубліковано 7 сер 2024
- In 1975 BL introduced the Princess range - the Wedges from Austin, Morris and Wolseley, but the 18-22 didnt last long as the brand was killed off soon after, bit did it deserve to die?
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This was one of the first cars with the wipers hidden below the edge of the bonnet. The black strip at the bottom of the windscreen was to prevent you from seeing under the edge of the bonnet. Thanks to my father, who worked at BLN at the time and also owned a Princess for a while, I have a full set of Austin, Morris and Wolsely 'wedge' brochures from around the time of their introduction. Never realised until now how rare these might be.
On English cars yes it was one of the first to have its wiper spindles hidden , but American cars were doing it years earlier .
Ds19 had hidden wipers, Rover P6 and Princess.
I saw that Top Gear episode too.
"It's important." - Captain Slow
@@SportFury1966😂😂 I remember that I think
My Renault 17 from 1972 has wipers concealed behind the scuttle.
Takes me back. In the late 80's, a mate of mine worked at a gararge. Their "spare in case anyone needs it" car was a mint Austin Princess 2200 HLS. He used to borrow it sometimes.
The thing that takes me back the most is the sound. You could hear the transmission more than the engine but it wasn't unpleasant by any means. So comfy with those big squashy chairs and the big settee in the back (not merely seats) and that cosseting suspension, not soft enough to be truly floaty but well able to smooth out the road surface (which wasn't exactly great in the UK as far back as the 80's).
He used to get ribbed for driving what was at the time a deeply unfashionable car ("Have you borrowed it off your grandad?") but I thought it was fantastic and we had a good few lengthy, very comfortable road trips out of it.
In 1987 i went to a car dealer (proper posh indoor showroom) to buy a 1982 austin ambassador 2.0 HLS in a glorious shade of brown.
However
What i actually bought was a 1983 rover SD1 2.3, in red, 1 bank manager owner,18k miles, with a 5 speed maual box and a sliding metal suroof for my £2200 in cash
Oh the joy of being 22 and single (now a grandgather 11 times ) with hair on my head and notes in my wallet.😂
Don’t keep asking me why Reg, it just happens to be that year.
You made the right choice!
Still got hair?🤣
Wow! Now that would have been some car to own in your 20s! Much as I love the Ambassador (I learnt to drive in one, and my dad owned 2, which we still speak fondly of), the SD1 was a magnificent motor!
Had both those cars you mention, Ambassador 2.0 VDP and later A Rover SD1 3.5 VDP you picked the better car in the Rover by far the better car with that glorious engine
To be fair Matt, BL were far from alone in building hatchback-shaped cars as 4 door saloons in the 1970s - think Citroen GS and CX, Lancia Beta and Gamma , Alfasud, early Fiat 127......
My first job at 17 had an Ambassador as pool car, we used it for all sort duties and very often as a delivery car due to huge boot, which was even bigger with seats down. The prototype VP version of the 18-22 range at Gaydon is very impressive.
I loved the whole range of these cars, one of the most comfortable rides I've ever experienced.
I had one of these fitted with the B-series 4-cylinder engines. A very smooth ride. One of BLMC's best cars, IMHO.
Always liked these. I guess they were ahead of their time like the Rover SD1. They were never available here in Australia although NZ had some. We had the Austin Kimberley/Tasman which were the first cars to have this East West 6. Thanks to the owner for offering this rare lovely example.
Nobody does interiors quite like the British cars. I find this car more interesting, exciting, charismatic, and beautiful than anything equivalent in 2023!
totally agree with that!
These videos are fascinating for me because they show the cars of my childhood. When this car took over from the ancient Landcrab it just seemed so adventurous and advanced. But time passed these cars by very quickly and they soon became outdated by the Sierra, Cavalier etc. Compare this car now to the bland unadventurous and anonymous offerings from major car brands and they are very appealing to people that want some individuality. Keep up the great work with your videos. It's great to see someone with fascination and enthusiasm for a lost era of interesting cars
Today most car buyers look for economy and versatility rather than prettiness or sensational styling, hence no more 18mpg Ford Zephyrs and 8 mpg Rolls Royce's
A pity I live in Germany, otherwise I think this would be the exact classic car tailored for me: It's not too big, a great 70s design, very good ride, smooth little inline-6, and I love the plush seats and armrests :)
a pity it wasn't a hatchback, I agree the overall design was brilliant and the interior, lovely as you described. What I disliked was the Lakritz thin steering wheel, wind up windows and I'd prefer the smooth inline-6 rolling the rear wheels.. Having frequently visited the UK in the past, I can't remember seeing a Princess in person as it was called. Thats how rare it was even back then..Instead, there was an abundance of Allegros, Marinas and Maxis, talking of BL. Rover SD1's were the standard cop cars and Triumphs were rare. The British always complained of their built quality, while I was fascinated to see them as you didn't meet these cars elsewhere in the world. Grüße aus BW.
You should import one. Here in Switzerland I recently acquired a 1966 Jaguar 3.8S that is Right Hand Drive which is fully road legal here.
Can you not import one tom into germany.?
Correct, pronounced "Woolslee". As a kid we had a cat I named Wolseley because he had a woolly coat!
My father dorve all the way to Hungary in 1977 from the UK.I was aged 10, bringing back many memories watching this.
My wife's uncle had a Wolseley 18/22 for quite a few years. He sold it for an Audi, which he soon came to regret. The Audi was probably more reliable, but Bill always stated that the Wolseley was the most comfortable car that he ever owned. His previous car was a Granada Ghia, so that was quite a complement to the Wolseley.
So good to see you review one of these. My dad had a Princess as a company car in 1976. All I can remember is it was maroon with beige vinyl seats, so presume it was a base model. Then in 1979 he got a new company car; a Marina. Pageant Blue with...yep...beige vinyl seats. Ah, the 1970s. When ‘base’ model really meant it.
My dad had an Austin Princess 2.2HLS. That brought back lots of happy memories of road trips, squabbling with my sister.
I've owned two later type Austin Princesses in the past. One was a blue 1.8 litre O series, and the other a silver 2 litre. I loved them both. Especially the blue one as it was my Grandad's car which he gave to me just before he died. Unfortunately engine failure and rust meant I had to let it go but I wish I still had it. It was a fantastic car back in the day.
Good heavens. I saw one of these rotting into the ground whilst on holiday on the Isle of Mull in 1991. Don’t think I’ve seen one since!
Who'd have guessed that Wolseley would morph into a company selling boilers?
I don’t know why but I have always had a bizarre soft spot for the Wedge. Such a period mash of brown, sumptuous velour and dodgy BL build quality with panel gaps you can see from space 😂 really interesting and great video as always Matt
I read in a period road test from CAR magazine that the Princess had a torsional stiffness of 12,000Nm verses a W116 Mercedes Torsional stiffness of 8,000Nm.
Unless fact of the day.
Hi Matt, it's Richard from the BMIHT. I've got a good story to tell you about the Wolseley Wedge. At the time, my Father, John Bacchus, was Product Planning Director for Austin Morris. One weekend he came home in a preproduction car. Back then, the West Midlands Safari Park at Bewdley had just opened. So, we went out for a family trip to the new Safari Park in this new, strange looking Wolseley. Back then, their attitude to 'health and safety' was a bit more relaxed. You drove through free roaming animals, no fences, nothing! Driving through the bear enclosure, the back of the car went down with a bang! A rather large bear had decided he rather fancied the look of this strange new thing and mounted it, front paws on the back of the roof. And then, gradually slid down the back, as its claws gouged through the vinyl roof and paint on the boot. My Father had to take it back to Longbridge on the following Monday and explain to the manager of the fleet garage that the damage was due to being mounted by a bear. That must have been a tough sell!
Thats hilarious! Is that where the Allegro came from?
I remember regularly seeing a Wolseley Wedge on my way to school in the 1970s but never saw another like it since, such a rare car.
My uncle had one of these, i remember him fiddling with the straight six on camping trips, I was fascinated by the lighting up radiator badge. It was a very comfortable and very roomy far fancier than dadas cortina. My uncle locked the seat belt in place behind the seat so the bell didn't go off. We loved sitting on my aunties lap as we drove along.
That’s glorious! Age 13, my second full repaint in uncle’s restoration shop, was to respray my Dad’d white Land crab in this Rhinegold Metallic. I even did my bike the same colour.
This was a brilliant review of a brilliant car, and I remember the advertisements when they first came out in 1975. The 6 cylinder engine was superb.
Amazing video! Love the Wolseley Princess's. There so rare so its great to see a review of one on UA-cam! Its such an interesting car, can't believe how short the production run was for the Wolseleys. The fact it still exists is incredible!👍
The switch you asked about is a panel lights dimmer switch. Lovely car but that rattle/knock needs seeing to.
Dad had one exactly like this to test in 1975 as his company car with Dunlop. It carried the A1 registration plate which was owned by Dunlop at the time. It was fitted with Denovo run flat tyres. When he ordered his permanent company car I guess production of the Wolseley was already over, so LVP 444P was a 2200HLS Austin Princess rather than a Wolseley. I wanted him to have an SD1 or another Triumph 2000 which were the other options available to him with Dunlop. He must’ve liked it as in 1979 it was followed by EOM 692V another 2200HLS in metallic blue. It was his last company car before he retired in 1984. Then he went for a Saab 900i.
I do remember the Princess was supremely comfortable in the back on trips from Birmingham to Cornwall for summer holidays, and the amount of stuff he could load into that cavernous boot was incredible.
Sounds like we're from the same generation. Throughout the 70's my dad used to buy up old fleet cars from work - these were Morris Oxford "Farinas". We had at least four, my favourite being the first I remember; a maroon "shooting brake" - essencially an estate. I remember curling up in the back-space under the ubiquitous pladd blanket when I was tiny.
Then I guess maybe 1979 they bought an 1800 Austin Princess. Not sure how I felt about it; certainly quieter, but not doing many long runs issues such as ride quality didn't occur to a pre-teen. After that they got into Skodas! 120L then 136 Rapide followed by the Favorit. Finally they wound up with a Peugoet "whatever" saloon before they both pegged it in 2005.
We very often buy classic cars we knew from our childhood, and I'm no exception. Can you guess? Well mine was a beautiful white Morris Oxford 😛
As a matter of note, I recall asking my mother what her favourite car was and to my surprise, she said it was the old Morris Oxfords.
Gorgeous looking car. I always loved them as my father owned the preceding (late Mk2) Morris 1800S and his sister and her husband a red Wolseley Wedge which was so smooth and comfortable. I went to all the local dealers as an 11 year old and picked up the brochures for all the wedge variants, which I still possess.
Very sad that BL management once again failed to maximise the potential of this wonderful Harris Mann design.
I owned an 'Ambassador', drove it all over Europe.Plenty of space, reliable and comfortable, and nice to look at.Brilliant car.
I remember seeing one of these on my way home from work back in '75. I said to my mate that it looked like a doorstop. Never knew it was known as the wedge , but I was on the right track.
I have been in a Wolseley "Princess" when new. Reynard Metallic of course. It was a taxi in Chatham! Yup! I lived a glamorous life as a 6 year old. 😉
there was a Wolseley in Chatham?!?
@@furiousdriving Probably claimed to live in Upnor. 😉
@@PaddyWV 😂
That's very special ❤ Think this is my favourite video/car of all you've made.
What a survivor. Please continue to love it whoever you are & thanks for all you've done so far 👍
Absolutely awesome. Thank you for sharing and showing history!
Whenever I see the “last of its kind” it brings me a feeling of anxiety… So sad to see absolutely extinct cars…
My sister had a Morris 1800 wedge in the mid 80's, it was Vermillion with slot mag wheels and looked amazing, her then boyfriend crashed it though, ran into a field, over a tree stump and smashed the underside, too bad to fix so was scrapped, was a real shame, they must be mega rare now.
I remember these being introduced and the local BL dealer selling a couple of examples. They were classier than the standard wedge. But within a year or so they had disappeared and the Wolseley marque had been discontinued. Sad that such a forward thinking design was never developed to be a world beater that it should have been.
Absolutely brilliant car - just love the princess and this version - the wolseley- my dad had nothing but princesses and ambassadors when I was a kid - superb video!
There used to be a beautiful black one in Marston Green absolutely immaculate condition parked on the drive and occasionally have a little walk up and look at it when I passed but that must’ve been about 10 years ago now
Thanks for this video ,had one of these 40 years ago which I bought as a rot box ,fixed up and painted as a runner for a few months while finishing sixth form .
In 1985 I bought a 1978 Princess 2200HLS Auto, same lovely brown colour as the one in this video. It was an ex-rep car and had done 120000 miles and had a "new" Gold Seal recon engine, and it cost me £200.
I was 21 and my mates laughed at me for buying a grandad car, but they soon shut up once I took them for a ride in it. What a lovely sooth and quiet drive it was. So easy to work on for a big car. It did exactly 20 MPG no matter how I drove it! I sold it after 18 months of reliable motoring for £450 - Happy days.
Its a strange thought but to me as a kid, who never drove my dads car (green bl princess) or understood its issues, but the fond memories of it still remain. To my dad it was just a car, to me it was so much more. 😎👍
Really great video and of course I loved the car. I own a 2200 HLS with the same interior trim and I agree it is such a smooth, comfortable and spacious place to be.
I remember as a boy my headmaster had one of these. Same colour as your test car. My dad had an Sd1 when they first came out in 1976 - much more desirable at the time!
My dad had the 2.2 and it was super cimfortable. Me and my sister used to borrow it. Wolseley is an easy word to pronounce. I visit the former home of the Wolseley family in Staffs.
A beautifal looking car, there is one near my parents house still being used as a daily with the Borg Warner Gearbox.
Excellent review as always Matt.
The two areas where they cocked up on this car were obvious at the time ( I know I was there ) -
1/ They should have fitted Maxi engines/transmission. Offering an internal rival with a 5 speed as opposed to an old fashioned 4 speed.
2/ Should have had a hatch back - it was shaped for it and in its home market the R16 amongst a few other Renaults did well with a hatch back
Deliberately not a hatchback as they didn't appeal to the intended market. A CEO/MD/Director in a hatchback, never even as personal car. A four cylinder would not have worked as a six was far smoother, most were sold as autos not manuals. Wolesley had the reputation of mid range luxury.
Definitely correct about the hatchback, which was indeed fitted to the Ambassador. I owned a Princess and later an Ambassador. Amazingly, the back seats had no folding-mechanism. The seats could only remain upright. Otherwise an Ambassador with the rear seats folded would've been as spacious as an aircraft hanger. Typical BL eff-up.
I have long had a fascination with Wolseleys right back to when I was a small boy and some lovely friends of an equally lovely great-aunt drove a blue 4/44. I can't remember what I had for dinner two days ago but I can remember the registration plate of one of these that was owned by a builder working on my collapsing secondary school c. 1980 - HMU 343N. It was the same colour, too. I was once offered its predecessor, the Wolseley Six with the odd automatic gear selector sticking out of the dash! So pleased to see a video on one of these forgotten classics - I don't think the Morris version lasted much longer though? As for its size falling between two Fords, that's rather like the FE Victor I believe. My godfather nearly bought one of these at the time.
Matt well done on a brilliant review of one of my most favourite cars have loved the wedge since a boy when i went in my auntie and uncles slightly later princess 2200 it’s a car which has been underrated and unfairly treated most of its life but one which was so advanced
It’s one I’ve always remembered for it’s comfort and space and that wolseley is amazing credit to its owners
There was a little-known link between LandCrab & Princess. In Australia. The Austin Tasman and Kimberley pioneered the transverse six in a body more like a modernised LandCrab. Hubnut tested one while here
I think the Aussie specials got the modern OHC E-Series engine ?
I owned a Princess 1800HL for around 4 years, lovely comfortable car which would do 35mpg on a run. Great video as usual..
My first boss had one of these and one of my jobs was to move it around the short stay parking meters. Easy to drive and park well finished and I enjoyed driving it !
The design has aged pretty well I really like the wedge. Love to do a more luxurious interior like the Vanden Plas 2200 prototype.
This would be in my top 5 I'd love to own, the 70s styling in brown is perfect, and who doesn't love a Wolseley?
Great video, I always liked the Princess/Wolseley wedge but they were all gone before my time.. Best whishes.
When I lived in Aystralua, I started with a 3 gear folum shift Wolsley 24/80. I progressed to a Morris 1500 then off to an Austin 1800. All tgree of them wete better than good
My father in UK bought a used Austin Princess in 1989. I had a drivs and was truly impressed with the smoothness of the car, the ride, engine & gearbox.
You have to wonder how the management of Brit Leyland could sxrew everything up over many decades
Intersting drive Matt agree the hydrogas cars were lovely and comfy. Shame a rev counter was not in the dash and a clock below in the bare centre console.
The Wedge/18 22 series/ Princess is my favourite British Leyland car. It was great to see this Wolseley version.
My favourite overall wedge would be the 1978-81 Princess 2 with one of the O series engines. The refresh made it look neater.
Never realised that the B series engines dated back to 1948. Wow!
I’m here because of the word play: “On the wedge of madness” is just superb.
Hmm not sure I would have ever bought one but I guess unique in its design and it's brake calipers as a princess got taken for MK1 & Mr 2 escort users ...the windscreen wipers would do one's head in though ....good drive Matt ....looking forward to next time 👍
An identical Wolseley appears in “The Anniversary” episode of Fawlty Towers 😂👍
I really like this car ! - It looks 100% original and is in such great nick for a 48 year old car now.
My father's friend had a bright red Wolseley 18/22 automatic on the road from launch day in March and changed this 5 months later for a Rheingold metallic one as per the video. Lovely cars. 25:32
Dad worked for a BL dealer and borrowed these for our holidays. 11 of us would fit in. 4 wide 2 deep in the back and me on mums knee in the front. Dad hated the seatbelt light/ buzzer and would rip out the wires on every one he drove
One of my favourite "wedge design" cars ever! alongside the 1976 Aston Martin Lagonda and the 1994 Maserati Quattroporte (fourth generation).
It's strange that I prefer its appearance now to when it first came out. I like the interior, too. There seems to be loads of foot space in the back.The seats look to be comfortable.
Thanks, I learned a lot from the video.
The open space in front of the gearstick, under the airvents originally had a cover for one central speaker. We had a Princess 1800HL with that in place. The 2200 HLS my father bought after that one, had this cover removed, just as in this car. You can see the tiny screw holes.
My dad ordered one of these in 1975 new from the local British Leyland dealer, in this colour too. All I remember doing though is going in every few weeks for months and him asking when it would be delivered, these were the days of Red Robbo or someone like him, and every time they would get out a long printout and give some delivery date that was always missed. In the end he cancelled the order and bought an Opel Manta.
Great stuff I've always liked the Princess and especially the ultra-rare Wolseley version. What a shame for all versions that it was not a hatchback from the start, surely it would have been a much more popular car. Typical BL management I guess.
I think BL just have too much brand its just hard to not avoid internal competition lol
I used to have an Ambassador which looked very like this apart from the grill and headlights. Mine was only a 1.7 basic model but it was great to drive and very comfortable.
I remember well in 1975/6 waiting for the bus to Go to work at sharlston pit a workmate pulled up in a brand new one to give me a lift and I remember how quite and smooth it was .
Never sat in one. Looks nice and comfy to drive. The creaking/rattling would get on ma nerve.(that's no a misspelling Btw, only got wan left) Lovin those kinky wipers. Happy Days. Later.
Nice video of a lovely car, very luxurious and screams '70s. I remember the 18-22 Series had loads of legroom. What a shame it's suffered a prang in the rear 😥
I love the Wedge. My favourite incarnations of the car are the rare Special Six and the even rarer 100 Club Special :)
Nice one sir(: Love the shape of these , my games teacher had one back in the day. PS these always remind me of the Aston Martin Lagonda of the 70s
We sat in one of these at the Motor Museum up at Gaydon. The 70s salesman really impressed my other half Kate and she was definitely ready to buy after enjoying the luxurious velour seats!!!!!!!!
my uncle has a brand new 18-22 , he used to run a BL dealership that closed in 1980 and some of the unregistered inventory was stored in his barn and remain there today , also a new mini clubman ! , a car magazine are due to do a feature on it !
There used to be a midnight blue P reg wolsely wedge that parked over the road from me in the 1970s. 8/9 year old me thought it was the most beautiful car I'd seen
Another terrific review of a long gone British classic marque. Thanks Matt, top work as always.
Owned a 1983 Ambassador HLS with the 2-litre four cylinder in 1988/89. Paid £150 for it since it had a radiator fault and droopy suspension. Changed the radiator myself-took an hour and cost £20 on exchange! The suspension was inflated by a local mechanic for £5 per side! Job done! Ran it for a couple of years, no problems, very comfortable but thirsty. Maybe because it felt a tad under-geared? Never achieved better than about 28mpg but petrol was relatively cheap wasn't it? Sold it to a bloke who wanted to tow a caravan - bet that was juicy! Next car was a new Sierra-chalk and cheese but both had their good points.
Interesting video. As someone born in the 1960s, when Wolseleys were a much more common sight, it jars with me to hear it pronounced as it's written. Back then, everyone said 'Woolsey' - the second 'l' was silent. One of my dad's best friends worked in our local BMC dealer which sold them - everyone there pronounced it 'Woolsey'.
And if you call or visit their former showroom on Piccadilly, which these days is a very swanky eatery, they pronounce it the right way too. 😁
Excellent! Ive always said it like that but the number of angry comments when I do...
That 6 cylinder does sound lovely, gives a nice roar.
My Father-in-law had a Wolseley wedge in black, but with the auto gearbox. He kept it until 1983 when he had a company Sierra. By that time the wheelarches were getting a bit frilly.
Old man had a bronze metallic one (identical to the one at BMHM Gaydon)
As a five year old I remember it being supremely comfortable but…
1)The denovo tyres were expensive from what my old man told me
2)The thing used to overheat terribly! (And this was at 4 years old)
Beautiful car. Just very British Leyland!
Defeat from the jaws of victory
My first car was the later Princess HLS version of this, which my Father kindly gave me upon passing my driving test in 1984. Not a bad motor for a seventeen year old.
13:00 - the blank under the central air vents was for the optional mono speaker housing for the optional mono radio. At that time FM stereo was only just being able to be handled by the top-end units, and 8-track never really took off in the UK. The Japanese makes were causing waves because they would come with factory-fitted radios, but for British and European makers (this side of Rolls-Royce) you would sometimes get pre-installed aerials and/or speakers but would fit your own after-market LW/MW mono unit from Radiomobile or Motorola.
I owned a 2.2 Austin HLS version loved it in over hundred thousand miles only needed one drive shaft ,the end came via a ford fiesta woman driver rammed it in the rear
would have one back any time great car most roomy comfortable every thing you could want in a large saloon
Great review 👍 That particular example looks low at the back / high on the front??? Rear number plate is interesting as well 🤣
Glad to see UA-cam have fixed your uploads and just it time to see all that glorious BL brown in 4k.
Excellent video. This was such a strange model in a deeply strange range.
Leyland dealers at the time were still deeply entrenched on the squillion marques they sold.... Austin, Morris and Wolseley were only the tip of a mad iceberg.
Some petty quibbles .... 2227cc, not 2229.
And I don't think those hoops were alloys.
The whole range, I believe, had door cards that covered the whole inner door.
I am amazed that there is still an 19/22 Wolseley saloon on the road.
It really is a missing link.
And you were spot-on about the irrelevance of the power output. This was somehow the very end of the era when it was vulgar to speak of power or to appear to be trying too hard.
Excellent video.
My favourite wedge is the Wolseley Six. If you notice a black wedge style car driven by John Thaw in an episode of The Sweeney, that was actually a Morris 1800 /2200.
What a rollercoaster of a July this Wolseley 18-22 has had! I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it parked among many other British cars at a campsite section on one side of the track at The Le Mans Classic. Then exactly one week later I saw it at BL Day at Gaydon! What a shame in the same month, it's been pranged and lost lettering off its original rear 1975 plate, the owner must be gutted. Let this be a lesson to owners of classics - fit a high level brake light! Remember, some drivers on our roads were born in the 21st century and aren't used to vehicles without them. Matt, I don't know how you manage it - but most of your videos are shot when its dry - obviously that was difficult with the UK weather last month.
Wonderful memories…… my favourite colour in the 18-22 series was Reynard ……. Metallic brown to most of us!
In 1984/5 I was told to choose a new company car. I choose the Ambassador. However an employee at another branch was terminated and so I was told to accept his Vauxhall Cavalier In custard yellow. I never got my Ambassador……. 😢
This is why I love this channel: unusual cars. Another gem!
I've never heard an E6 engine before. I quite like the sound of that. Nice and grunty.
Fish and chips on car dash i can just picture the smell, also with vinegar,youve made an ill blood donor less ill with laughter thanks.
I used to have a 1935 wolseley it was my grandads then my dads then me it was a beautiful car ❤
In those pre-internet days when information was so hard to find this was always a curiosity. In the 70's my grandfather drove an old Wolseley and worked for BL and got me all the sales brochures but I never saw any mention of this car. On the rare occasions of seeing one I assumed some nutter had tricked out his Princess for laughs. Its only in recent years that i learned the full story of the 18-22 and it all made sense.
In early '76 we were trawled around the dealers looking for a new car, we thought to replace the MK1 Cortina Estate.
I remember we looked at a MK3 Cortina, saloon and then went to the BL garage to look at a Princess.
It was better than the Ford because it could carry a family of 5.
There was a Wolseley Wedge and the guy tried to sell it to my dad.
They ordered a Princess 1.8, white. It turned out to be dads first company car, which was why the choice was restricted. It broke down a lot, starter motor and several gearboxes.
Remember this was the summer of '76 and it had brown vinyl seats....
The next car was a 2.0 Princess with the O series, which broke less often
Roomy and comfortable...
My Uncle Sid ( God bless him( worked at Austin had a brown metro, brown interior. My Auntie Betty (God bless her) her favourite colours were green and brown , the house was decorated green n brown, brown sofa, green wallpaper, get the picture.