1961 Wolseley 1500

‘YJB 93’ came to market for the first time in half a century in June 2023. Part of a small collection since 1965, it hadn’t been used for a while and our seller has lavished a huge amount of money on it since to bring it to a standard he was happy with: We’ll detail the exact nature of the work later but for now it’s sufficient to say that Our Man reports that this 1961 Wolseley 1500 is mechanically very good indeed.

But then it was no ordinary purchase; our seller was driving a Riley 1500 when he met his wife 65 years ago, so it seemed fitting to buy her a Wolseley 1500 as an 80th birthday present.

She was obviously thrilled but finds she is no longer able to enjoy driving it, hence this very reluctant sale.

Now that the mechanical components and interior have been so comprehensively refurbished, the bodywork should be next on the list: Not that it is especially bad, it’s more a case that its few shortcomings have become more obvious when viewed against the rest.

The paintwork – it’s called ‘grey’ but is really a pale blue – is almost certainly the original, so it’s little surprise it’s become thin and flat in places. The panel alignment is decent but rust is also breaking out in the usual areas such as the wheelarches and in some of the seams.

The painted cream wheels have fared better, albeit with a few posts of pitting in their crevices. However, those new 165R14 Michelin XAS tyres and new inner tubes mean you could easily delay repainting them until you need to fit new rubber in a decade or so.

Plus, in case you are still in any doubt as to how well this Wolseley has been refurbished in recent years, matching high-quality tyres like these are an easy shortcut into how well a car has been maintained: No cheap Chinese ditch finders here, just top-quality French rubber, including the spare.

The chromework is better still with a very good shine. Both bumpers also run straight and true, and the side trim that runs along the Wolseley’s full-length lines up pretty accurately.

The radiator grille is as imposing as you’d expect given the Wolseley’s target audience, and it is supported in its mission to provide aristocratic transport on a budget by a bonnet mascot and an enamelled Wolseley badge.

All of the lamp lenses, including the single driving lamp, are Lucas branded, which is surely another sign of quality curation. They’re also in great shape with no chips, cracks, or other damage to mar either their appearance or their functionality.

The glazing, including the windscreen, is also free of obvious damage, even if the rubber door, window and light seals have perished.

Other nice touches include a slot in the front bumper for the starting handle, a period AA badge on the chromed radiator grille, and very good silver-and-black numberplates.

New carpets were fitted in October 2023. Supplied by Coverdale at a cost of the more than £300, the Wessex Beige fabric, which is bound with Old Beige, suits the car’s blue seats and wooden dashboard very well. Of course, they still look like new because they essentially are.

The headlining has been replaced too, and the seats refurbished and restuffed; even Our Man was impressed, and y’all know how infrequently that happens.

But then there is an awful lot to like apart from its newness: Admire the door pull handles, which are simple but elegant and presumably cheap to produce; forget over-engineered Mercedes and BMWs, if great engineering is about doing things effectively, reliably, and without excess then the front door handles are a masterclass on the subject.

The full-width wooden dashboard, which is dominated by a pair of Smiths instruments that flank an imposing chrome speaker for the period Radiomobile headunit, is equally impressive, as is the engraving on the simple heating controls and the squared-off door cappings and matching ashtrays.

The steering wheel is a delight too; hooligans might need a fat-rimmed wheel to muscle their over-tyred sportscars around corners but gentlefolk guide their luxury saloons through bends with little more than fingertip pressure against a pencil-thin rim.

Let us not ignore the split-level boot either, which does a fine job of keeping the occupants’ luggage away from the spare wheel.

As for flaws, while the driver’s seat has faded and some of the lacquer on the wood has cracked, these could easily be chalked up to the car’s developing patina and left as they are.

Lifting the carpets and rubber boot lining shows nothing more than light surface corrosion in a few places too, although it would be prudent to get that sorted out when time and motivation coincide.

Nothing more than a new clutch cylinder and some minor mechanical fettling were needed to bring the Wolseley back to life when we sold it three years ago. The original advert from June 2023 is still online should you fancy reading it but the more interesting story is what the seller has done in the past three years.

Which includes fitting a “better-than-new” engine from MCCS only 500 miles ago, which means it’s little more than run-in and ready to deliver another half-century of faithful service.

They did the gearbox too, but he wasn’t completely happy so commissioned Heathrow Transmissions to do it again. The invoices for both are online and he doesn’t regret doing to job twice; Heathrow Transmissions make their own 2nd gear synchromesh, and the seller says he’s “they are excellent” both in the quality of their work and their customer service.

A spare engine is also available should the winning bidder want to negotiate.

The Morris Minor Workshop went through the clutch system in April 2026, running up a bill for a little over £700 for replacing both clutch cylinders and fitting a new petrol tank sender unit. Their work also demonstrates that parts and expertise are widely available from within the Morris Minor community, so the new owner need have no fear they’ll be left stranded with an exotic that no one can service or repair.

It was also treated to a comprehensive service in July 2023, including five new tyres and inner tubes, new ignition components, and a battery plus much more.

So much more, in fact, that the final bill came to a staggering £2,800, making this a genuine money-no-object example.

The engine, of course, looks new because it is and while some of the paintwork in the engine bay has suffered the ravages of time, it still presents well enough that you could consign tidying it up to the list of jobs for Future You.

The battery looks suitably of-the-period too, which is another fine touch and there is evidence of that recent big service by way of new ignition components.

It fires into life immediately, idles quietly, and revs with enthusiasm – and it does it all with good oil pressure. No problems arose on our test drive either but then you wouldn’t expect them to, would you?

Moving underneath the car, the underseal and body-coloured protective coatings both appear to have done their job. Some of it is starting to dry out and crack now though, although what we can see of the metalwork still looks solid.

However, it did pick up advisories for underbody corrosion in 2013 and 2015, the sill seams are starting to corrode, and there is visible rust in a few other spots.

The Wolseley does not have an MoT certificate, its last having expired in August 2018.

The recent Vehicle History Check is clear, and the history file includes the original buff logbook, petrol ration books, period photos, plus invoices for the work we’ve described plus others going back as far as 1964.

It also comes with its original stamped service history booklet in addition to a handwritten note of servicing in the 1980s and MoT paperwork going back to the mid-sixties.

The seller is clearly One of Us: Having invested £4,400 in buying the car and another nigh-on five-figure sum in restoring it, the fact he did it for love means he’s happy to take the financial loss on the chin.

But then the classic car world is split between the hard-nosed who expect to make a profit on every car they own and the rest of us, romantics who buy a car for a wide range of reasons, none of which is about making money.

So, wouldn’t it be lovely if this Wolseley 1500 could go to someone with the time, money and/or skills to restore its bodywork before enjoying it for another few decades?

And it’s not as if it’s going to break the bank because our best guess is that the hammer will fall somewhere between £5,000 and £8,000 but as it is being offered with no reserve, it’ll be going to a new home no matter what.

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