Latest news

‘It’s either older folk remembering having one and anyone under 40 asking what it is! It still staggers me that it was the bestselling car in the UK of the ‘sixties and yet by the late ‘eighties they’d all but disappeared from the road!’.

Yet, back in 1966, the likes of Ian Mackenzie’s Wolseley 1100 would have almost certainly been an object of desire for a young Mildred Roper – or any other ambitious suburbanite.

After all, this was an ADO16 that wore the famous illuminated “Ghost Light” badge.

The Wolseley made its bow in September 1965 as the replacement for the 1500; the Riley Kestrel was similarly the heir to the One Point Five.

Power was from the twin-carburettor 1,098cc unit found in the MG 1100 but the ‘superb car’ that was ‘Ideally suited to modern motoring conditions’ boasted a slightly higher level of trim.

A small saloon with leather-upholstered seats and furnishings ‘of the finest quality’ for just £767 9s 10d had to represent the bargain of the year.

The latest BMC 1100 was undoubtedly the right car for a particular market; you can imagine the owner regarding the Ford Anglia 105E and Vauxhall Viva HA driving neighbour with disdain.

Unfortunately, it also served to complicate the ADO16 line-up, with variations of the same design being sold fewer than six different marque names – a reflection of the chaos that was the British Motor Corporation.

Keith Adams notes in www.aronline.co.uk that when the Countryman/Traveller estates debuted in March 1966, they marked ‘the end of any serious development of the car’.

By June 1967 the Wolseley – together with its MG, Riley and Vanden Plas stablemates – became available with the 1,275cc A-series engine.

October of that year saw the launch of the ADO16 Mk. II with their distinctive “cropped tail-lights” but the facelifted Wolseley 1100 was available only until February 1968.

BL discontinued the 1300 in August 1973 and, as Ian notes, they were already a rare sight some fifteen years later. As for GMR 470 D, it was purchased unseen from eBay and ‘came from a deceased estate sale as a non-runner.’

The Wolseley represented a nostalgia trip for Ian: ‘my dad’s first car was an Mk. II Austin 1100 with the strip speedo, so I’d always wanted one -  and this had that same speedo’.  And so Ian trailered the 1100 home and ‘got it running. I applied for a V5, and it turned out to be one owner from new!’. Since then Mr. Mackenzie has ‘welded up the floors, inner sills and boot floor; it’s “tidy”, rather than mint. The original engine started knocking so bought one out of another 1100 to keep it on the road while the original block was being re-built’.

Ian also undertook some research and discovered that there are just 28 Mk. I Wolseleys left – and being an intrepid sort, he managed to track down 13 examples in the manner of a Scales of Justice B-film private eye.

One of the sales features was the duotone paint option, but GMR is the only known example finished in  Toga White and Island Green.

Naturally Mr, Mackenzie finds this splendid, and highly exclusive ADO16 ‘such a lovely car to drive’. His plans involve ‘refitting the original engine before Christmas and aiming to get it painted next year!’.

And all these improvements will add further lustre to the BMC 1100 ‘in true Wolseley style’.

With Thanks To: Ian Mackenzie