Wolseley Hornets were particularly successful in pre-war sporting events and indeed remain so to the present day, giving other marques such as MG, Riley, Singer and the sporting Austin serious competition. Sadly many Hornet saloons were converted to racing specials, making any remaining saloon somewhat of a rarity.
Here we are pleased to offer a really genuine and original six-light saloon, a museum piece indeed, finished in its original green and black coachwork with equally original green interior with leather seats, matching carpets, the original headlining and some lovely Art Deco refinements. The motor car was in its previous ownership for almost forty years, giving a total of only five custodians (two of which were one family), and it has clearly been carefully conserved throughout its eighty-eight-year history.
The first owner was Patricia Shaw of Barclays Bank Ltd, Bournemouth. In 1936 the Wolseley passed to Lt. Col Altham Moulton Barrett of the Dorset Regiment, a nephew of the famed poet Elizabeth Barrett-Browning. Myrtle Barrett-Browning then became its third custodian and apparently would not sell the motor car to the National Motor Museum due to a land dispute. In 1983 Mr Farmer of Oxfordshire became the new owner and he clearly looked after it well but used it very little.
The original 1280cc six-cylinder single overhead cam engine is retained with a manual four-speed gearbox and the motor car sits on her original Magna wire wheels with four recently renewed tyres. Attention has also been recently given to the replacement of the piston rings, handbrake cable and new petrol pump.
A current V5C registration certificate comes with the Hornet, together with an old RF60 and an instruction manual.
LJ 7263 makes a terrific statement through its own presence, self-evident in the lovely original patina throughout and its fantastic recorded social history.
