Have You Seen Any Interesting Cars On The Road Lately?

[NOMONEYBUTAMERC]

After six years ownership of a lovely, low mileage Boxster it was time for a change. My wife found it too low down to get in and out of comfortably and I must admit I was beginning to find similar problems .Having got shot of her horrible Smart Fortwo we needed to sort our transport. Initial thoughts were to sell both the Porsche and the B class and just have the one car. However , I decided that as we are now in our 70s it would be nice to have a car we enjoyed in the 1970s . The first car my wife tried to drive was my tatty Wolseley 1500 , and I had often hankered after another one .
Duly advertised the Porsche and sold it the very next day to a lovely local couple , who already had a dozen cars, including a 911 ( don’t quite know why he would also want a Boxster, but I wasn’t about to deter him). Went to look at a couple of Wolseley 1500s , and settled on the one in my avatar , a 1958 mark 1 .
My kids are horrified and convinced that I have finally lost the plot , and are quite possibly correct . During a 20 mile drive home from the sellers on Saturday, the fan belt disappeared. Ordered a replacement on Amazon about 8.00pm and it was delivered 7.45 am Sunday! After fitting the belt I started to have a good look over the car , finding a few jobs to do , but hey, it will keep me out of the house. Quite a different car in every aspect from the Subaru Legacy Estate that I collected for my sons partner earlier on Saturday , but as I pointed out to him, the Wolseley is a car that will only get used for high days and holidays and if it breaks down we will not be without transport. Tax free ( the Boxster was £360 a year), m.o.t. exempt but I will get an annual safety check, and classic car insurance at £62 a year ( £190 for the Boxster), what’s not to like ?

Now that I am retired I can potter around in the garage and either fix it or f*88 it up , and it won’t really matter

 

[Gollom]

After six years ownership of a lovely, low mileage Boxster it was time for a change. My wife found it too low down to get in and out of comfortably and I must admit I was beginning to find similar problems .Having got shot of her horrible Smart Fortwo we needed to sort our transport. Initial thoughts were to sell both the Porsche and the B class and just have the one car. However , I decided that as we are now in our 70s it would be nice to have a car we enjoyed in the 1970s . The first car my wife tried to drive was my tatty Wolseley 1500 , and I had often hankered after another one .
Duly advertised the Porsche and sold it the very next day to a lovely local couple , who already had a dozen cars, including a 911 ( don’t quite know why he would also want a Boxster, but I wasn’t about to deter him). Went to look at a couple of Wolseley 1500s , and settled on the one in my avatar , a 1958 mark 1 .
My kids are horrified and convinced that I have finally lost the plot , and are quite possibly correct . During a 20 mile drive home from the sellers on Saturday, the fan belt disappeared. Ordered a replacement on Amazon about 8.00pm and it was delivered 7.45 am Sunday! After fitting the belt I started to have a good look over the car , finding a few jobs to do , but hey, it will keep me out of the house. Quite a different car in every aspect from the Subaru Legacy Estate that I collected for my sons partner earlier on Saturday , but as I pointed out to him, the Wolseley is a car that will only get used for high days and holidays and if it breaks down we will not be without transport. Tax free ( the Boxster was £360 a year), m.o.t. exempt but I will get an annual safety check, and classic car insurance at £62 a year ( £190 for the Boxster), what’s not to like ?

Now that I am retired I can potter around in the garage and either fix it or f*88 it up , and it won’t really matter

In true MBClub tradition:

 

[Swotty]

After six years ownership of a lovely, low mileage Boxster it was time for a change. My wife found it too low down to get in and out of comfortably and I must admit I was beginning to find similar problems .Having got shot of her horrible Smart Fortwo we needed to sort our transport. Initial thoughts were to sell both the Porsche and the B class and just have the one car. However , I decided that as we are now in our 70s it would be nice to have a car we enjoyed in the 1970s . The first car my wife tried to drive was my tatty Wolseley 1500 , and I had often hankered after another one .
Duly advertised the Porsche and sold it the very next day to a lovely local couple , who already had a dozen cars, including a 911 ( don’t quite know why he would also want a Boxster, but I wasn’t about to deter him). Went to look at a couple of Wolseley 1500s , and settled on the one in my avatar , a 1958 mark 1 .
My kids are horrified and convinced that I have finally lost the plot , and are quite possibly correct . During a 20 mile drive home from the sellers on Saturday, the fan belt disappeared. Ordered a replacement on Amazon about 8.00pm and it was delivered 7.45 am Sunday! After fitting the belt I started to have a good look over the car , finding a few jobs to do , but hey, it will keep me out of the house. Quite a different car in every aspect from the Subaru Legacy Estate that I collected for my sons partner earlier on Saturday , but as I pointed out to him, the Wolseley is a car that will only get used for high days and holidays and if it breaks down we will not be without transport. Tax free ( the Boxster was £360 a year), m.o.t. exempt but I will get an annual safety check, and classic car insurance at £62 a year ( £190 for the Boxster), what’s not to like ?

Now that I am retired I can potter around in the garage and either fix it or f*88 it up , and it won’t really matter

Enjoy!

I had a '58 car when working at Butlins in 1970 ... memorable days in many respects. It was reliable unless ... have you discovered that the fuel pump (in the boot) necessitates carrying a big hammer for "repair" when it sticks? 5218 DT is probably now in a graveyard in the sky.

Its faster and slightly more upmarket brother is the Riley 1.5, with twin carbs and 20 more horses. I can't recall if you also need to change the head too, but you may wish to consider making it a bit more sprightly. Rileys are now much sought-after. Try the Wolseley owners' club, it's been a great source of support to me with my Wolseley 6/110: Wolseley Owners Club | Wolseley Car Club | Join Wolseley Car Owners

Happy days!

 

[NOMONEYBUTAMERC]

Enjoy!

I had a '58 car when working at Butlins in 1970 ... memorable days in many respects. It was reliable unless ... have you discovered that the fuel pump (in the boot) necessitates carrying a big hammer for "repair" when it sticks? 5218 DT is probably now in a graveyard in the sky.

Its faster and slightly more upmarket brother is the Riley 1.5, with twin carbs and 20 more horses. I can't recall if you also need to change the head too, but you may wish to consider making it a bit more sprightly. Rileys are now much sought-after. Try the Wolseley owners' club, it's been a great source of support to me with my Wolseley 6/110: Wolseley Owners Club | Wolseley Car Club | Join Wolseley Car Owners

Happy days!

Thanks, the car has been upgraded to twin 1.1/2 SU’s , Riley head and disc brakes, but no servo. A bit butt clenching when first applying the brakes , forgot how bad early cars were , having had a very tatty Wolseley in 72 or 73. There’s a fairly new electric pump in the boot. A few improvements needed but as my old man used to say , “It’s all part of the joys of motoring”.

 

[NOMONEYBUTAMERC]

In true MBClub tradition:

You didn’t check the avatar. I will endeavour to attach pics, but there was a good reason that my former colleagues called me Bill Gates.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

You didn’t check the avatar. I will endeavour to attach pics, but there was a good reason that my former colleagues called me Bill Gates.

Lovely! Congratulations on your not-so-new car. I love your final line an out either fixing it or breaking even more! Enjoy

 

[NOMONEYBUTAMERC]

Lovely! Congratulations on your not-so-new car. I love your final line an out either fixing it or breaking even more! Enjoy

Thanks Bobby , I forgot ( until my dear wife felt obligated to point it out ) how much I used to cuss my old Wolseley in the 70s , particularly when shedding a half shaft when half way across a junction , or when the windscreen wipers got tangled together, or yet another electrical gremlin . However, it was a great learning curve and I look forward to tinkering in the garage , which is reasonably well equipped with a stack of cds and a beer fridge . May even be some AF and Whitworth spanner’s lurking

 

[SpikyMikey]

That's rather lovely
I think on a shelf somewhere here I've got an unused jar of genuine Lucas Wiring Loom Smoke that you're welcome to have if you want it.

 

[NOMONEYBUTAMERC]

That's rather lovely
I think on a shelf somewhere here I've got an unused jar of genuine Lucas Wiring Loom Smoke that you're welcome to have if you want it.

I think I may have some in the car , indicators are a bit hit and miss

 

[SpikyMikey]

I think I may have some in the car , indicators are a bit hit and miss

Found it!

 

[st13phil]

You didn’t check the avatar. I will endeavour to attach pics, but there was a good reason that my former colleagues called me Bill Gates.

Lovely!

My Dad had one of the last (a 1963 car) Wolseley 1500's when I was a kid. It was in the same two-tone colour scheme as yours, but had red leather upholstery.

Interesting that yours has been modded with the Riley head and twin SU's plus front discs. Dad gas-flowed the head on his car and added the twin SU's, but the other mod to improve performance he did was to fit an MGB cam. He also fitted electronic ignition and it went pretty well for its day. ISTR that the Wolseley engine ran lower compression (7.2:1 if memory serves) than the Riley variants too, but he didn't fit the higher compression pistons - nor the discs (Morris Marina?) either.

From the photo's I see yours has the obligatory gear lever extension and also period headlamp visors. Back in the day owners used to swap the Riley's headlamp shrouds (which included cast-in visors) for the plain Wolseley headlamp rims as it improved top speed by around 5mph. Aero performance just wasn't something BMC worried about back then

Hope you enjoy horrifying your kids for a long time.

 

[st13phil]

I can't recall if you also need to change the head too

I think that the inlet port size on the Riley head was larger than that on the Wolseley version. ISTR that Dad had to open up the ports when matching the twin-carb inlet manifold, but as it was about 55 years ago, I'm a bit hazy on that! That @NOMONEYBUTAMERC says his car already has the Riley head would tend to confirm my recollection, but it could be complete rubbish.

Another "performance" mod back in the day was to fit either the 1622cc motor from the A60 et-al (this was standard fit in the Aussie version of the Wolseley 1500 that was marketed there as the Morris Major Elite), or a 3-bearing crank 1798cc lump from an early MGB. ISTR that the later 5-bearing crank motors needed the later transmission too, plus other mod's, so was a more involved transplant.

Happy days in simpler times

 

[Mactech]

After his discharge from Stoke Mandeville my tetraplegic friend had one with hand controls. Terrifying bastard. Especially after the Sunday pub run.

...but that's what Firenza for....

 

[Swotty]

I think that the inlet port size on the Riley head was larger than that on the Wolseley version. ISTR that Dad had to open up the ports when matching the twin-carb inlet manifold, but as it was about 55 years ago, I'm a bit hazy on that! That @NOMONEYBUTAMERC says his car already has the Riley head would tend to confirm my recollection, but it could be complete rubbish.

Another "performance" mod back in the day was to fit either the 1622cc motor from the A60 et-al (this was standard fit in the Aussie version of the Wolseley 1500 that was marketed there as the Morris Major Elite), or a 3-bearing crank 1798cc lump from an early MGB. ISTR that the later 5-bearing crank motors needed the later transmission too, plus other mod's, so was a more involved transplant.

Happy days in simpler times

Thanks - my distant memory was that the head at least needed to be changed as an extra 20bhp over stock couldn't be achieved just by twin carbs.

I looked at a Riley 8 years ago at auction but there were 4 other buyers much keener than I and the estimate of £5K was easily exceeded (think £7500) so I went for the Sunbeam Talbot 90 Mk2, below estimate, and which I still have. Although an older car, she has 77 bhp stock and is quite sprightly for an old gal ..... on crossplies, though! Column change and still slips out of 2nd gear. Here she is at the Périgueux Classic Car Show:

 

[Teego]

...but that's what Firenza for....

That's why he bought it.

 

[Ted]

Well look what just turned up out of the blue on my facebook feed!!

 

[ToeKnee]

...but that's what Firenza for....

After that crap joke, I'm sure you have more enemas.......

 

[NOMONEYBUTAMERC]

Well look what just turned up out of the blue on my facebook feed!!
View attachment 161446

It’s had an unbelievable 1300+ likes so far !

 

[MissyD]

Saw this the other day when I was sat on the M25

 

[StMarks]

Saw this the other day when I was sat on the M25

IMG

Yep, that little Golf looks to be in excellent order for a 1983 model. Shame your picture of it was largely obscured by that hulking great lump of untaxed "money can't buy taste"...