The Wolseley Ten was the End of the Vintage Motorcar

Moving out of my comfort zone today, looking at a very British car that encapsulates the inter-war period, where motoring gradually moved into mass availability. As Morris bought Wolseley, a '10 hp' offering was made available, opening the dignity and luxury of a Wolseley to another market altogether.
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[@briantitchener4829]

My dad's first car! A 1947 example in shiny black with a sunroof. We owned it in the early 60's. Leather and wood and quite cramped. My dad got over 70 mph on a few occasions. It had a few foibles; hard to start up in the very cold winter of '63. One day a spark plug flew out of the engine. On another occasion the steering box failed completely, fortunately while it was parked --on trying to pull away from the kerb the steering wheel went round and round in my dad's hands. The wipers packed up in heavy rain once, so we relied on turning that manual knob to clear the screen. Fun days when cars were not so reliable as today. Thanks for the wonderful reminder!

[@markshrimpton3138]

A relative of mine had one of these in the early 1960s. I always loved the badge on the bonnet which lit up when driving at night.

[@rogerking7258]

"Sat in a radiogram" - how on earth does someone of your generation even know what that is? Great review with a nice dash of history, plus social commentary too. I rather fancy one of these.

[@gymnasiast90]

I don’t know about Ed, but I heard of radiograms in a BBC documentary that covered the history of technology in the home from 1970-2000 (Electric Dreams). I haven’t heard the term here in the Netherlands, though I have seen devices like it pop up on flea markets in the late 90s, as well as their successors, the music centre.

[@TwinCam]

Let’s put it this way. Buyers of vinyl records in 2022 are 57% more likely to be under the age of 25. A lot of my friends, of my age, own radiograms.

[@Coldandamp]

A similar quote was used in an old top gear classic car timed rally challange sort of thing when Richard hammond bought a lanchester fourteen.

[@joshbrailsford]

My brother is 28 and bought his first radiogram about 10 years ago! We're both into early 20th century technology (and music)

[@Richard-Bullock]

A car review and a history lesson. What more could we ask for.

[@promerops]

I'm old enough to remember that, when a driver saw that illuminated badge in the rear view mirror, it could well be a police car following behind. I'm not, however, old enough to remember the Wolseley Viper aero engine, a development of the Hispano Suiza V8 that powered the SE5a and other World War 1 military aircraft. Excellent video - thanks!

[@21stcenturyozman20]

Not that I'm at all surprised, Ed, but you've done excellent research on this car so far from your own, familiar era. More, please!

[@dummatube]

Yes the “shorter wheelbase”: the rear wheels look like they need to be moved three or four inches further back to match the body!

[@acampbell8614]

Around 1995 I was looking around a very old scrapyard and at the back I found one of these on top of a pile of the remains of other 1930s cars which must have been there for at least 50 years. I was astonished by the built in hydraulic jacking system, which you should have mentioned, but I forgive you! Under the carpet on the passenger side was a newspaper dated 1963.

[@obifox6356]

In the mid-60s, I spent about 10 days working in a UK office near London. On the wall was a large chart detailing the various personnel levels on one axis and the cars they could have on the other. Still quite class conscious. Wollsley was fairly high on the chart.

[@johnhoward4157]

My first car bought when I was 17 in 1970, lovely to see this one, lovely condition, brought back many memories. I loved the battery under the passenger floor.. Mine had a sunroof that I sealed up as it leaked, however one day with the windscreen open the wind blew the cover off. Great memories

[@Ryan.90]

I'm curious, how common were pre-war cars at that time? Driving about now I've got to say probably only about 1-3% of cars I see are over 30 years old.

[@robwalker8939]

I had a 1939 model. Bought it for £25 in 1963 ! One feature you didn't mention was the pre-installed hydraulic jacking system which worked from a lever under the driver's floor. I think mine was broken by the time I owned it. Has anyone ever used the system? It seemed quite a quirky feature. Even in 1963 it would go over 70 mph and yes, a fantastic deep leather seat in the back.

[@Mancozeb100]

Lovvvely... nice vid Ed ... did you get to drive it ? ... even a little bit ?!?! The sound of old gearboxes is always so evocative ( if you're so inclined ).

[@disillusionedanglophile7680]

British cars, that smell of red leather and burnt oil

[@bcfairlie1]

The rear passenger light has the switch on the,drivers side B pillar. You can see it in most of the video that you are sitting in the back Seat. Lovely car

[@tides2002]

In the early 80’s my dad bought and restored a Wolseley Eight so as child I spent quite a bit of time sliding over the back seat. The smaller (than the Ten) Eight had an even shorter production span of not quite two years as it was just as out-of-date by the time it was finally put into full production in 1946. They do make good usable vintage cars, at one point my mum used the Eight as her daily car when parts for her Renault 4 were stuck in France and the 4 was off the road for weeks.

[@paulscountrygarage9180]

Great video Ed. Just shows your versatility and the research you do that you can move onto pre-war cars and do it so well. And thank you so much for not saying everything you found different (from more modern cars) to be “weird” of “quirky”. Keep up the great work.

[@jonathanlord5254]

Brilliant Video. in 1963 when 20 year old i had a black 1948 Standard 10 very similar to the Wolseley, apart from the doors but with a sun roof and a rear window roller blind and green leather seats which were luxury as was the ride. The windscreen wipers had a parallelogram action that seized up if you let go under the dashboard ! I renewed the side valve springs myself and used it for 22,000 miles. Driving from Sheffield then Cardiff to London on many partying weekends. Using the 90 miles of M1 then built but not the then under construction Severn Bridge.This was the 60s. Notting Hill, Paddington the home of British Guyana Trinidad influence. A very sad demise had to be accepted because I could not afford a new worm gear steering box. Car cost me £40 in Loughborough, sold for £10 in Cardiff and I moved on to Borough Polytechnic in London.

[@gymnasiast90]

Another nice review. I love how calm and collected your presentation style is: not overexcited, not overly negative or positive, but not boring either - it’s elegant.

[@bobbailey7024]

I remember when BMC engines had the letters MOWOG cast into the block. It stood for Morris and Wolseley Garages. The RAC rating for horsepower was bore squared (inches), times the number of cylinders divided by 2.5

[@Roger.Coleman1949]

Brilliantly informed and engaging review Ed of a charming little car.Lord Nuffield's wife drove a post war version registered WOL 10 which still exists.The rear seat lamp is operated from the chrome switch on the ' B ' pillar and the headlamps have been updated with larger lenses mid- 1960s legislation, where the offside lamp no longer was extingusihed in dipped mode !.

[@john9972]

You didn't mention the built in hydraulic Jack's. I remember my dad opening a panel in the front floor where there was a selector valve to select front, rear, or all four.There was also a wooden handle you screwed in and pumped to raise both front wheels, both rear wheels, or all four wheels off the ground. Very handy for changing a flat tire or greasing the car yourself.

[@thatcheapguy525]

wow!

[@jeffkwells2003]

Jack's what? Lose the apostrophe.

[@paulshubsachs4977]

Smith's 'Jackall' system!

[@leecourt8509]

I appreciate the close up stills of knobs and dials, heater etc. Thanks! :)

[@roberttaylor6295]

Th first car competed age 17 was a Wolseley 680 with which I won some local club award, mainly being heavy and for the time it was a 1954 model and an overhead can 6, it was relatively quick and had serious brake fade! Great to see a real classic in great condition, and as usual a superbly researched and present review!

[@lanceleader8891]

Your videos are always interesting but this is one of the best. More history please. It's a pleasure to listen to you.

[@annabellaandrewkingdon7972]

As always, very informative and so maturely delivered, you'd almost have me believe you're 20 years older than you are.

[@anthonystevens8683]

What a brilliant little car that unfortunately came out at the wrong time. Post war everything had moved on and those classes had narrowed somewhat. A great educational video Ed, Well presented as we've come to expect from the channel.

[@songkok7hitam]

This was a common middle class car in Malaya in the post war period. I remember seeing the photos of the 1950s Malayan roadblocks with Wolseley Ten in the background.

[@countreeboy]

That’s a Great video and love the history story.. the 10 was my Dad’s 1st car in 1962 . I loved it then as a 10 yo… the boot lid down made a brilliant picnic table! I was waiting for you to mention the dip switch button on the floor 🤗 and I’m sure car doors of that time were designed to be easier for the ladies to get in and out while keeping their modesty in tact. 😉

[@aston-martin-internationalist]

One of my parents' neighbours used to have one of these locked away in their garage and was always quite a sight to see when it was brought out. The only thing I found bizarre about these is the position of the rear wheel in its wheel arch which is just bizarre. It's as if the designers of the chassis and the body didn't talk to one another until it was too late. Lovely looking little car though.

[@TheHorsebox2]

Yes, it's a gorgeous old thing, but the position of the rear wheels looked really wrong.

[@JFW5358]

He did explain that the body was that of a Morris 10 but with a chassis that had a shorter wheelbase than the Morris. Thus the rear wheel does not sit in teh centre but a bit forward. It does indeed look strange.

[@chrispenn715]

I wonder if it's just this particular car? Lots of photos of other Wolesley 10s online - they seem to fit the wheels much better :-)

[@ParaBellum2024]

4:59 I see what you mean!

[@shanuyadav7273]

My father have good memory of this car. Since cars were rare and expensive in India it was hard to spot one in a whole city. His elders owned one of these in late 50’s.

[@hutchcraftcp]

The rear wheel placement forward in the opening reminds me of the Rambler American from the late 1950s. It's like the styling did not actually fit the chassis available but they went ahead with it anyway

[@simonhodgetts6530]

A charming little car! Very informative and interesting as always!

[@boneman1960]

I love it, you have all these fast, flash cars now, but that car with its vintage green, wood grain dash, is like stepping back in time, and very British......New Zealand.

[@radiosnail]

Extremely interesting. Not heard "radiogram" for a while. My parents were vey proud of their's.

[@peterthwaites5891]

Brilliant video Ed... You have such a great ability to totally immerse yourself into whatever the subject may be and equip yourself with the knowledge to make a truly interesting video, with myself being brought up in the 1960`s i tend to focus on cars from that era and beyond so cars from the 1930`s and 40`s are well before my time too..

[@venenareligioest410]

Loved the video, thanks. It would have been a little more informative if, when you referenced a previous model etc, you either showed a picture full screen or posted a picture of the referenced model in the corner of the screen 👍

[@philiptownsend4026]

That was very interesting and I enjoyed the step back into a more gentle era. It would be great if you could do an Austin Seven as I have an family connection with those. My Great Aunt Daisy had one - she was ahead of her time in that she drove, owned a car, owned and ran her own business very close to what is now Stansted Airport and was a vegetarian. She had no children of her own, was relatively well off and was kind and generous to her two nieces (one my Mum). She lived to an old age and I remember her fondly.

[@newtonwhatevs]

I really enjoy your presenting style, voice, research, choice of cars, everything.

[@janvandekerk6877]

The Wolseley Ten . A classic tea and jam and butter Scones British vintage car !

[@WWarped1]

Great video, and you have done your research well. Late 70s early 80s my Grandfather had one of these, two-tone, blue and black. He also had a Singer Super Twelve, and the luxury Austin A120 Princess. They were all wonderful, but I have a huge soft spot for the Wolseley. It was louder, you could hear the gear change better. Those sounds appealed to me as a child, and still do. Shame you never drove it.

[@portugalforme1198]

Another great video Ed, thanks. I know that compared to most modern (samey and boring?) cars, these older models were often unreliable and rusted like crazy, but they LOOKED so solid and distinctive.

[@grayfool]

Very much enjoyed this one Ed. My knowledge of pre war stuff is somewhat limited too so this was very interesting. Thanks.

[@geoffreypiltz271]

I was wondering why the rear wheels seem slightly too far forward for the body, the shortened wheelbase of the chassis explains that.

[@rob1971]

Is there a reason that the rear wheels appear so far forward in the wheel arches? It looks a bit strange, but I'm assuming there's a good reason for it.

[@tonybaron5908]

I'm sure it wasn't like that when it left the factory!

[@peterjohnston8116]

Did own 1934 Wolseley Hornet, had hydraulic brakes and shock absorbers. Brake parts available years later.

[@stephendavidbailey2743]

When I lived in Germany as a child in the mid-fifties, we called those semaphores "mach-nich sticks".

[@brucemay5409]

Neat little car Ed!Ive always had a soft spot for Wolseleys ever since my 1st car, a Wolseley 1300 a touch of class even now in this plastic world..

[@russellhammond4373]

Totally appreciate the history lesson. Great car too.

[@erniepenny221]

Hello Ed, I have a Wolseley 8 1947, as Lord Nuffield had one as his own personal car back in 1947, regards from N.Z

[@stevieb9699]

Excellent TC, one of your very best. Thanks

[@rosmeartoo]

Thanks for this well produced video. The adjustable steering wheel was taken from MG. My 1939 TBs had this feature, I could disconcert other drivers at traffic lights by taking the wheel off and inspect it and slip it back on just after the lights turned green ! The MG TB also used the same basic engine bored out to 1250 cc, the XPAG engine.

[@kasperkjrsgaard1447]

I really like this car. It reminds me of old english tv-shows and look so typical british. I really could see myself behind the steering wheel.

[@rskb1957]

Given the association with sheepshearing I always wondered if there was an Australian connection. Now I know. Thank you. (The outcome of growing up and an education there. You really get the importance of wool to the history of Australia - added content)

[@shankarbalan3813]

As usual. A wealth of great detail, excellently presented.

[@jockmoron]

i've always liked Wolsleys. My father drove several models of Wolsley before and after the war, and my first experience of motoring was as a rear seat passenger in one. The Wolsley 4/44 was though underpowered and regularly would overheat and boil on a steep climb in the summer. That might though have been the way my father drove it. Still, they were in their traditional guise very attractive looking cars, and the police in those days also made good use of the more powerful Wolsleys. I agree, the Wolsley 10 was a very pretty car, there's truly` nothing in the styling that anyone could possibly rationally object to. `

[@padrejohnruffle]

You did mention in passing that the Wolseley had a slightly shorter wheelbase compared to the Morris, due to the different underpinnings. So presumably they just stuck a Morris body on the chassis, hence the weird rear wheel position. Makes sense as no need for new body pressings.

[@rskb1957]

Wondered why the wheel postions were out of sych with the wheel arches.

[@12gsxer]

Yet again I am blown away with your video, been following you from your start on here, and each production you do is so informative, keep up the fantastic work 👍👍👍

[@nathansalway8015]

got one of these sat in the garden at my uncles house was my grandads car. its in a hell of state now but will start and drive

[@alanjameson8664]

That's a VERY nice looking motor car!

[@bondjamesbond9041]

What an amazing review Twin-Cam. Well researched and very interesting to watch. Love cars from this era and this Wolseley is a beautiful car and a credit to its owner. Well done!

[@tobydell66]

what a brilliant review so professionally presented, a pleasure to watch thanks

[@jeremyshaw5963]

By the way, although the boots on many old cars were small, you could often put luggage on the opened lid and then fold down the number plate and light so it could still be seen. The original Minis also had this facility.

[@MrDaiseymay]

Well recalled. and--what about roof racks ?

[@Titan604]

As did the first Range Rovers believe it or not!

[@daviddavis7710]

My grandfather inherited some money in 1939 and he bought a Morris 10M, upon which this car is based. He kept it for twenty years.

[@neville132bbk]

My family had two 16/60s, ..not together.. in the mid 1960s ( no plates AE9194 and AF2218 ) in Dunedin NZ... they just cruised, and handled the hills with quiet assurance. My own first car was a 1500,, great,, but I didn't have the $$ to properly clean it up and repaint it.... bought Another one in 1977,,, a 1963 in battleship grey ( of course )..no. AG1212. Lovely cars....the walnut, you know.

[@colintwyning9614]

The Rear Wheel looks oddly placed compared with the Rear Mudguard. Nice video.

[@tedecker3792]

Quite the handsome little car. Lots of classy details.

[@2loudspeakers]

Lovely little car. Another great video and excellent script!

[@charlescrisp2814]

such a beautiful car very rare these days

[@TheCurlyP]

Nice, don't know much about Wolseley's outside of the posh versions of BMC cars. Lovely looking car, would love the chance to drive something so old

[@johnjephcote7636]

The bigs straps on the boot are for trunks/suitcases to sit exposed on the open lid, the registration still being readable.

[@ammr3870]

Nice glimpse of the Jack Russell 😊

[@babylonsburning1]

My uncle had a Wolseley in the 60's, it was ex war and armour plated.

[@GIXXERUKX]

Brilliantly researched and delivered 😎👍

[@ejc7129]

Great video…loved the history behind the companies 🇬🇧😀👍🏽

[@woofgbruk5947]

Great review of a gorgeously preserved car!

[@saxon-mt5by]

Not quite the end of the 'vintage' motor car - Ford were still building the Popular (separate chassis, cart springs, side-valve engine, narrow body with separate wings etc) over ten years later.

[@plym1969]

Another class video Ed. Very enjoyable 🙂

[@terryhayward7905]

Its mad to think that you could have bought that car in the 60s for £25. I had an Austin 8 from 1948 that I paid £5 for in 1962. I wish I still had it now :-)

[@JS-te2vj]

A hello from Japan! Loving your content.

[@MrDaiseymay]

WHAT A CUTIE, must be worth a fortune. I immediately thought, MORRIS. These must be quite rare, as I don't recall a Wolseley version. I was born in 1941--now 81, and Cars always featured in my working class family, my dad had a second hand car business after the war, and would often bring Cars home--so I was familiar with many makes. ALTHOUGH, not the single seat, bright Red Racing Car he turned up in one day. Don't know the make, but it was massive and very noisey, with 'straight through Fish Tailed Exhaust, that hung out the Boat Tail end. I doubt it was road legal.

[@peterhogg762]

Great video Ed - love the move into pre-war cars

[@TheClockwise770]

Very interesting video Ed thank you. I bought a Wolseley 4/44 this year and although some 15 years younger it shares lot in common interior wise with the 10 but a lot more room inside.

[@roberthoey8944]

Another amazing video....fair play you have done your research....I enjoy all your videos keep them coming...please could you do one on the Hillman Hunter. Thanks

[@gabbymadsen7260]

I love those signals! And I'm suprised they haven't made it onto a modren hot hatch.

[@imagemechanics]

Fantastic video Ed, it’s really enjoyable learning about British cars of this era.

[@borderlands6606]

Remarkably, the Ford Popular 103E retained the same upright-and-tapered pre-war looks and separate headlamp nacelles to 1962! The Wolseley's interior isn't so differently styled to my uncle's 1500 in the 1960s.

[@660einzylinder]

The 103e finished production in the week ending 14/8/1959.

[@smokinfree5555]

I'm so glad you mentioned this cars successor , the Wolseley 450, along with the Morris Oxford MO, the MO coming out in 47/48, round about the time production of the 10 ended. I owned an MO plus the bigger brother of the 450 the Wolseley 680 (together), & the MO especially was such a delight to drive. a real shame you didn't get behind the wheel of the ten so performance could be properly evaluated, or we could get to hear the sound of the engine. How the suspension felt, what was the gear change like? Was there synchromesh on at least 3 of the gears? etc etc. Having said that I really enjoyed this & felt I learnt a lot. I never realised this little runabout was capable of of around 75 MPH for a start!

[@thatcheapguy525]

very educational Ed. if only mass-market cars still had that 'sit back on the sofa' feel in the back like those oldies. I really admire your passion for old English cars especially those from the BMC-BLMC-BL stable.

[@gordonwallin2368]

Cheers from the Pacific West Coast of Canada.

[@julianlyons711]

Excellant as always research presentation …top class and hugely interesting

[@AlanReynoldsBucklandJunction]

I'd rather have this than any modern stuff of today. Lovely XXX

[@fabrizioviscardi40]

Hi, great car, I want one! Cheers, Fabrizio

[@LWVH81]

Cute car. And great review. Thank you!

[@hugebartlett1884]

The interior light is controlled by the switch on the offside B pillar,very common in those days.

[@mikeirwin9985]

Great research and presentation.

[@colinellicott9737]

Nice job. Pretty little car. Reminds me of the Anglia and Poplar I grew up with, followed by the Westminster. Didn't James Herriot have one of those?

[@thewise3551]

Awesome video!

[@allenseymour1895]

My grandfather had one, the rear seats were elevated so as kids we were able to see over the driver, the badge on the grill was eluminated

[@thedieiscast9729]

Great Video and a beautiful car.

[@danielbliss8014]

Buick have shortened the wheelbase on their Encore GX SUV compared to the much cheaper Chevy Trailblazer on the same platform -- deal breakingly so, if I were to buy one, so I'd have to go with the Chevy and its much lower level of noise insulation and less well appointed interior. So Wolesley's approach at shrinking the Morris for a higher-end market, as unusual as it is, is not unheard of today.

[@highdownmartin]

Very nice video. Of a very nice car. Thanks

[@steamwally]

Waiting for you to fall down the pre war car rabbit hole.... a fascinating world. Enjoyed this one- jolly good!

[@noexpensespentstudios]

The peculiar thing about the British car market in the late forties and early fifties is how many things like this were hanging on. Ancient luxury brands still producing these staid old comfortable motorised carriages. Lanchester, Armstrong-Siddeley, Bristol, to name just a few, all struggling to keep up something that was no longer relevant. There'd be a revival of sorts in the 70s with things like Vanden Plas Allegros and Panther Rios, and an even more watered down version in the 80s and 90s with Ghia badged Fords. Like you say in the video, the Wolseley was the last hurrah of the mainstream class-oriented motor vehicle, a relic of a bygone age.