1932 Wolseley Hornet Special
Very rare coachwork by Patrick Motors Ltd. of Birmingham

Registration No: OV 9141
Chassis No: 10527327351
MOT: Exempt

• Highly attractive and potentially unique coachwork by Patrick Motors Ltd. of Birmingham
• Saved from slumbering in an orchard by the previous owner in the late 1960s, and thereafter restored and retained for five decades!
• Subject to a comprehensive, body-off, chassis-up restoration between 2019 and 2023 by the vendor
• Offered with a history file and a set of sidescreens

Introduced in April, 1932, the Special was a more performance-orientated version of Wolseley’s existing Hornet model. Sold only as a bare chassis without factory coachwork, the newcomer was powered by a 1,271cc OHC straight-six engine allied to a four-speed manual transmission. Numerous independent coachbuilders proceeded to offer their own open and closed coachwork for the racy model, including the likes of Avon, Abbey, Swallow, Cunard, Whittingham & Mitchel and London Wolseley dealer Eustace Watkins. A team of three Hornet Specials driven by F. S. Hutchens, B. Wickens, and E. Erith won the 1932 L.C.C. Relay Race at Brooklands (averaging 77.5mph for 270 miles). Notable for its early use of hydraulic brakes, the sporting Wolseley was progressively developed and gained a stronger chassis, crossflow cylinder head, and part-synchromesh gearbox before production ceased in 1935 after some 2,300 had been sold.

Among the rarest variants of the Wolseley Hornet Special are those bodied by Patrick Motors Ltd., the well-known Birmingham dealership which made a brief foray into coachbuilding. For the Hornet, it offered coachwork both in open Tourer and closed Coupé or Salonette styles. It is thought that just one Patrick Motors Coupé survives in a dismantled state, and this attractive Tourer may also be a unique survivor.

Its history is known from the late 1960s, when it was discovered in an orchard in a derelict condition by Dr. David Gadsby, who commenced a restoration which was completed in 1976. For a period, Dr. Gadsby very much enjoyed using the car through the 1980s with the Wolseley Hornet Special Club, but in more recent years other commitments and declining health prevented him using the car as much, and its condition deteriorated up to the point of his death in 2019. At that point, it was bought by the vendor, who had known the car from club activities from the ’80s, and subjected it to a comprehensive restoration, which was completed in 2023.

The body was removed, the chassis was stripped and powder-coated, and the engine was stripped, checked, cleaned and reassembled with a racing-specification camshaft supplied by former Special Club chairman Barry Baxter. The carburettor and brakes were overhauled with many new parts, a new clutch was fitted and the fuel tank was cleaned and lined. Bodily, some substantial parts of the ash frame had to be renewed, the aluminium skin was stripped to the metal and repainted, and the interior was refurbished with new trim panels. New wheels and tyres were fitted all-round, along with a new stainless-steel exhaust, and the electrics were fully rewired.

Now looking very pretty, this important survivor is supplied with a set of side screens, an original instruction manual and spare parts list, and a large history file including a buff logbook, old MOTs, and invoices exceeding £3,300 for parts alone.

For more information, please contact:
Paul Cheetham
paul.cheetham@handh.co.uk
07538 667452