Wolseley Type M5

After Herbert Austin left Wolseley in 1905, the company changed direction under his replacement, John Davenport Siddeley (later of Armstrong-Siddeley fame), who moved the brand upmarket, towards larger, more sophisticated and luxurious vehicles, built around 4–6-cylinder engines. This proved highly successful in the short term: sales in 1913 amounting to over £1m revenue, suggesting it was, at that time, the largest car manufacturer in the country.

Post WWI, however, austerity and the availability of mass-produced cheaper competition led to the company’s gradual eclipse. Wolseley was rescued by the sale to William Morris in 1927, who successfully incorporated the name into his own range of models, preserving its reputation for distinctive styling and engineering quality. It finally disappeared under the ill-fated British Leyland brand in the 1970s, although the Wolseley name is now owned, along with MG, by the Chinese company SAIC Motor Corp.

About this vehicle

he M5 is a good example of the combination of opulence and technical excellence, associated with the Siddeley era. It has a 24hp, 5-litre, six-cylinder engine, with twin spark plugs per cylinder. It is in sharp contrast to our other Wolseley, the diminutive “Baby” X, manufactured just seven years earlier.

Interestingly, this vehicle is not part of Richard Shuttleworth’s “old crocks” collection but was purchased new, in July 1912, by Frank Shuttleworth, for the price of £803 and 5 shillings, as a working vehicle for the Shuttleworth family. It seems to have been used mainly for taking guests visiting the house to and from Biggleswade station and has probably covered less than 10,000 miles.

Major engine restoration work was carried out by our workshop volunteers in 2015/16 and the car makes regular appearances at airshow vehicle parades.

Specification