Wolseley 12/48 1940

Description:

Description from The Vendor:

The car was rebuilt in 1983/84 but the only evidence of this is a letter from the Department of Transport to the owner of the car advising him to arrange for an inspection of the vehicle after the restoration. The car has had 3 former keepers. She is sound mechanically with good oil pressure, however, the brakes need attention. There is no rust on the body/chassis.

Auctioneer’s notes:

This is a very solid example, and what is now a rare car.  As always, an 83 year old car needs TLC and improvement as time goes by.  Now to the technical side, the engine is a 4 cylinder 1547 cc overhead valve, producing 44 bhp, which means that she can obtain 67 miles per hour top speed.  “The MOTOR MAGAZINE” in 1939 road tested the Wolseley 12/48 and said 55 miles per hour is a good cruising speed and the engine drives through a 4-speed gearbox with synchromesh on second, third and top.  The article went on to say that the Wolseley had excellent road manners and quoted the manufacturer’s brochure which said “phased” suspension, in other words, each leaf spring has a different spring rate.  Now, this is amazing, you do not have to get out of the car if you have a puncture, to jack it up.  These cars have fitted, as standard, a hydraulic jacking system on all four wheels, which allows you to jack up separately on front and rear wheels, or you can have all 4 wheels off the ground at the same time. Only 6400 cars came off the production line and one wonders how many are left.  This fine example of pre-war motoring may be viewed, strictly by appointment.