Wolseley Nine, Eustace Watkins Tourer, 1935.
This is a very rare classic car and unknown by many people. A documentation as extensive belonging to this Wolsely is also very uncommon.
It is a special car, because according to insiders, there are only 49 cars produced of which only 2 exist. One in England and ours is the only one on the mainland!
It was in 1961, a very special discovery done by a Dutchman who made a trip to England and saw this car in Hull at a sort of junkyard the car. He liked it so much, he bought it, despite the fact that he did not know what type Wolseley it was. With wind force 7, which causes almost the lost of what was left of the softtop, the car was shipped to the Netherlands. Import was no problem, only the import duties were almost the same as the purchase money…The owner was not so happy to pay this tax.
The search for the origin of the Wolseley proceeded therefore very difficult because there is hardly no documentation of this type. Even the British Motor Corporation could give no explanation. All correspondence are fully present in a beautiful case, showing that Mr. Morrish of the Technical Service Department was very helpful with technical advice during the restoration which was completed in 1963.
But that there was still no news about the origin of the car. The owner was thinking all the time he had bought a kind of home made convertible. It turned out quite differently!
During a trip to Beaulieu in England in 1964 he met a Mr. Bellamy, a library archivist who could give the redeeming answer: the beautifully restored Tourer appeared to come from the factory of Eustace Watkins from London. Mr. Bellamy substantiated his story with articles in the magazine The Motor and The Autocar, both of February 1934.
It turned out that Watkins offered two kind of body’s based on the Wolseley Nine chassis: a closed and an open version. The open version was advertised with the words “on semi-sporting lines and plenty of room for four adults with adequate room to stretch the legs” All this was offered for just £ 195 = The owner was obviously overjoyed finally knowing what he had purchased two years ago. It was so much more he ever could dream of: a original Eustace Watkins Tourer. Suddenly he forgot all the struggling and stress which causes the 2-year of restoration.
Reading all the documentation and viewing the technical drawings and pictures you feel completely back in time… It is great to see how everything could be managed in this internet free period. All this shows that the owner has restored the Wolseley very lovingly, maintained it very well and had it long in possession.
Which does that mean today? That we are very happy to be in the position to offer a good driving, exclusive and just very nice Wolseley Nine Eustace Watkins Tourer.
If you do not want to make a capital investment, and want to enjoy together with your friends or family a exclusive and nice pre-war car: than make a bookshelf free for the documentation and treat yourself. Or as the manufacturer once put it: “Be wisely, buy Wolseley”
