LUXURIOUS WOLSELEY

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30603, 20 November 1964, Page 11

LUXURIOUS WOLSELEY

is a name that has always meant something special in cars, and the biggest of tije present Wolseley range ft the 6/110 Mark 11, one of the best and most luxurious Wolseleys to date. We have just completed a six-day 900-mile test on the Wolseley 6/110, one of the longest tests yet carried out, and the reluctance felt on having to part with the car gives a clue to its appeal. The Wolseley is big—nearly 16ft long—very well appointed, and very comfortable. Its performance is good, and its handling of a surprisingly high standard. Passengers are well catered for. The large and fully carpeted boot takes plenty of luggage, and there is plenty of stowage room in compartments on all four doors, a full width parcel tray, and a large but shallow glove box.

Leg room in the rear is generous, and the rear passengers each have their own ashtray and folding picnic table, with a recessed area to hold a glass or cup. There is just room for three in the rear. Front Seats The front occupants have individual seats, which are adjustable for both rake and reach. This combination of adjustment makes it simple to select an almost ideal driving position. All upholstery is in leather, and the dash, door cappings, and picnic tables are of highlypolished and most attractive walnut panelling. The driver has a floormounted gear lever in the centre of the car, very clear and well laid out dials for all engine functions, with the exception of a rev counter, and well-labelled switches. The sun visors, strangely, are of the hard non-safety type. The test car was fitted with inertia reel seat belts and power steering. The driver’s belt was over-sensitive, possible because of slightly incorrect mounting, and often locked when the car was parked, making it impossible to put on. The handbrake is on the right side of the driver’s seat. The power steering lacks feel, but when one becomes used to it, which takes a considerable time, it is good. It is at its best in town and for parking, when it is exceptionally light, and with only two turns lock to lock makes manoeuvring very simple. On the open road the lack of feel is at first most disconcerting. However, once one becomes used to it, it is fast and good. The test car was very reluctant to start from cold, probably because of incorrect

carburettor settings, but started immediately when hot. All the controls are light and easy to use, and the brakes are particularly powerful, and pull up the car dead straight, even when all wheels are locked at 40 m.p.h. First gear seems very noisy, mainly because the other gears are so quiet. It is unsynchronised, and is difficult to engage from a stop without a crunch. Moving the lever into second gear before engaging first prevented this crunch. B.M.C. are now among the few remaining firms to offer no synchromesh on first gear, except in the new Austin 1800. The Wolseley will move off happily in second, and because of this, the crunch, and the noise of first gear, many owners may elect to take off in second much of the time. However, if four gears are provided, they should probably be used. There is very little mechanical noise when on the move, most disturbance coming from road noise, which is certainly not excessive. Progress at almost any speed is remarkably free from fuss. Performance Gentle driving permits the change to top to be made at 20 m.p.h., when progress is almost silent. If necessary, this change can be delayed to considerably more than 70 miles an hour. Performance is good, particularly on hills, when the Wolseley will cruise in top gear up hills that other cars struggle up in third. A time from 0 to 60 m.p.h. of about 13 seconds for a 32501 b car is similarly far from slow. The car is excellent for long trips—we travelled to Blenheim and back in a day with no worry—and the few criticisms that can be made of the interior layout include

window winders which are too far forward on the doors, and badly placed front ashtrays. The gear lever falls well to the hand and changes except into first, are clean, and the clutch is light and positive. Unlike the horns of some other cars the Wolseley’s horn is loud and penetrating. The wipers show some tendency to lift at high speed, but not until well above the legal limit, and the lights are very powerful. Lights The lighting is wired so that the two main lights and the driving lights can be used as a four-headlight system, the auxiliaries coming on with the main beam, and extinguishing on dip. This is ideal for rapid progress at night. The lights can also be flashed by pulling back on the indicator lever. There is no dimming adjustment for the panel lights, a strange omission. The dials are easy to read, and on the trip to Blenheim the temperature gauge gave warning of a lack of water. Somehow a gallon of coolant had been lost, but after the radiator was topped up there was no more trouble during the next 600 miles. It was just one of those mechanical mysteries. The fuel filler is covered by a locking flap which has its own key. This is a nuisance when stopping to fill the 16-gallon tank. The ignition key fits all other locks except the glove box, which requires a third key.

In addition to the normal instruments there is a light which warns when there is no vacuum in the power-brake system, and another which comes on when it is time to change the oil filter. The brake-warning light was not nearly powerful enough, and would be hard to see in daylight. The picnic tables have small chromium knobs by which to pull them into position, and if the front seat is well back an unwary rear passenger can too easily strike his kneecap on one of these knobs, which is extremely painful. A finger-grip recessed into the table panel in place of the knob would prevent this. Visibility is good but not outstanding, and the power steering on the test car compensated to some extent for the big 41ft turning circle. Handling Handling Is surprisingly good. One would expect such a’ big car to be rather a handful on a winding road, but this is not the case. The basic tendency is a gentle understeer, which changes to neutral at high values and then to very slight oversteer under power at higher values or in slippery conditions. It is very safe. The lack of feel makes it difficult to hold a line through a corner, until one adopts the technique of twitching the wheel to aid the front wheels in gripping. If this is done, cornering speeds can be remarkably high in safety, and with comparatively little roll. Even over severe bumps the wheels seem to stay in contact with the road, and handling on shingle is also good, although here again the lack of feel in the steering is more obvious. It was found best to run the British C4l tyres at the higher recommended pressure of 321 b, when there was still some scuffing of the outside tyre on a hard corner. Generally, however the tyres gave excellent adhesion in all conditions, and undoubtedly contribute to the safe handling. Brakes The brakes came through the fade test well, but, surprisingly, pulled slightly towards the end. The rear drums faded, slightly, and possibly contributed to the pulling, but the front discs remained very cool. The finish of the test car, and English-assembled model, was generally very good, with the exception of some upholstery details. An accurate electric clock is mounted in front of the driver, the cigarette lighter is in front of

the passenger, and the heater controls are in the middle. These controls were stiff and hard to adjust, possibly because of the newness of the car, but the heater was efficient and had a reasonably quiet blower. The screen washers squirted plenty of water on to the screen. The brakes are self-adjust-ing and incorporate an inertia device to prevent premature rear wheel locking. The suspension has been considerably improved over that of the Mark I 6/110 we tested about two years ago, when handling was characterised by too much roll and excessive understeer. Overall the Wolseley is a very comfortable and large car, with good performance, surprisingly safe and pleasant handling, and a very rapid way of covering long distances smoothly and quietly. It is easy to manoeuvre, as all four corners of the car can be clearly seen, and the design is still popular and fashionable after many years. It is good for years yet. A luxury car, the 6/110 Mark II seems good buying at £1698, with the four-speed gearbox. This is the estimated New Zealand price for locally-assembled cars, which can be delivered early next year. Overdrive is optional at £62 and automatic transmission at £ll2. Power steering, which seems a good extra, will not at first be available on New Zealand-assembled ears, but if and when it is, will cost about £B6. Technical ENGINE: Six cylinder; bore 83.34 m.m.; stroke 89.0 m.m., cubic capacity 2912 c.c., compression ratio 8.3.1, developing 120 b.h.p. at 4750 r.p.m., and maximum torque of 1631 b at 2750 r.p.m. Overhead valves. CARBURATION: Twin S.U. automatic carburetters. Rearmounted electrical fuel pump. Sixteen-gallon tank. TRANSMISSION: Diaphragm spring clutch with hydraulic actuation. Four-speed gearbox with synochremesh on second, third and top gears. BRAKES: Servo-assisted hydraulic discs at front and drums at rear. SUSPENSION: Independent front suspension by coil-springs and wishbones; rear suspension by semi-elliptic, rubber-mounted springs. STEERING: Two-spoke safetytype steering-wheel with semicircular horn ring. Turning circle 41ft CONTROLS: Toggle-type switches controlling headlamps and sidelamps, headlamp flasher switch, two-speed windshield wiper, driving lamps, panel lights, and heater-blower; mixture control; combined ignition and starter switch. INSTRUMENTS: Speedometer in m.p.h. and km.p.h. with trip and total distance recorders; fuel gauge; oil pressure gauge; engine temperature gauge; electric clock; ammeter.