1930 Wolseley Hornet |
Dear John,
(John Laws hates "dear john" letters so asks everyone
to address him as "dear ralph"! Hope you are not the
same.)
I am attaching some photos of my car - hope you can use them.
When I said it was a rare beast I meant it was a rare model -
there certainly are stacks of Hornets and Hornet Specials but
this is unusual in that it is a first sanction (April - Oct 1930)
car and it has a factory,saloon body style in fabric. These early
chassis with the vertical dynamo are not common and those that
are around have open, coachbuilt bodies. Mine is not quite the
oldest chassis, there is an unrestored chassis in Sydney that is
a few numbers earlier than mine. In fact most of the Hornets are
"awaiting restoration" - mine is one of the few
registered cars - Qld has more cars registered and on the road
than any other State.(hornets that is).
Details of the car:
Manufactured: Sept 1930.
Engine: 6cyls. (57mm x 83mm = 1271cc)
Wheelbase:7ft.6.5ins, track: 3ft.6.ins.
Wt:1625lbs.
Based on the Morris Minor chassis and transmission but fitted
with Lockheed hydraulic brakes (only the second British
manufacturer to do so) and hydraulic shocks.
With 30 plus BHP and a low weight the car has an excellent
performance for its year.
The car came from country Victoria via an enthusiast in Sydney. I
guess the body was built by Flood to the factory design for the
'31 season (it is wider than the '30 Morris minor body.) The
current body is , of course, completely new, built using the old
body as patterns.
Luckily all the mechanical and steering items are the same as the
contemporary MG's so all parts were available from U.K. sources
who remanufacture all parts for those cars.
hope this is of some use.
Regards,
John Ireland.