The Wolseley name came from The Wolseley Sheep Shearing Machine Company Limited, run since the early 1890s by the now 33-year-old Herbert Austin.

Wolseley Motors Limited was a British motor vehicle manufacturer founded in early 1901 by the Vickers Armaments in conjunction with Herbert Austin. It initially made a full range, topped by large luxury cars, and dominated the market in the Edwardian era.

The Vickers brothers died in 1914 and 1919, respectively, and, without their guidance, Wolseley expanded rapidly after the war, manufacturing 12.000 cars in 1921, and remained the biggest motor manufacturer in Britain.

In 1927, it was acquired by William Morris from Vickers Limited as a personal investment. Over-expansion led to receivership. He moved it into his Morris Motors empire just before World War II. After that, Wolseley products were "badge-engineered" Morris cars. Wolseley went with its sister businesses into BMC, BMH, and British Leyland, where its name lapsed in 1975.

In 1897 Austin's second Wolseley car, the Wolseley Autocar No. 1 was revealed. It was a three-wheeled design (one front, two rear) featuring independent rear suspension, mid-engine and back to back seating for two adults. It was not successful and although advertised for sale, none were sold.

The third Wolseley car, the four-wheeled Wolseley "Voiturette" followed in 1899. A further four-wheeled car was made in 1900. The 1901 Wolseley Gasoline Carriage featured a steering wheel instead of a tiller. The first Wolseley cars sold to the public were based on the "Voiturette", but production did not get underway until 1901, by which time the board of WSSMC had lost interest in the nascent motor industry.

By 1913 Wolseley was Britain's largest car manufacturer selling 3000 cars. The company was renamed Wolseley Motors Limited in 1914.
It also began operations in Montreal and Toronto as Wolseley Motors Limited. This became British and American Motors after the First World War. In January 1914 the chairman, Sir Vincent Caillard, told shareholders they owned probably the largest motor-car producing company in the country and that its factory floor space now exceeded 17 acres.

1914

In 1914 Wolseley produced a two-wheeled gyroscopically balanced car for the Russian lawyer and inventor Count Pyotr Shilovsky. This resembled a huge motorcycle surmounted by a car body, but with the ability to balance when stationary due to the gyroscopic stabilisation mechanism. It made a number of demonstration runs, but unfortunately with the onset of war it was put to one side. It was discovered again in 1938 when workmen uncovered its well preserved remains in the Ward End property of Wolseley. It was then transferred into the Wolseley Museum.

hornet six

1930-1936

The Wolseley Hornet  is a six-cylinder twelve fiscal horsepower lightweight automobile which was offered as a saloon car, coupé and open two-seater as well as the usual rolling chassis for bespoke coachwork. Produced by Wolseley Motors Limited from 1930 until 1936, the Hornet was unveiled to the public at the end of April 1930. Wolseley had been bought from the receivers by William Morris in 1927.

Because of the overhead camshaft engines, cars built on their Hornet Special chassis developed a positive reputation on the road and in club competition.

During 1932 Wolseley added two and four-seat coupés to the range.

 The last Hornet was replaced, following acquisition of Wolseley by Morris Motors, with Morris's badge-engineered Wolseley 12/48, announced 24 April 1936.

In total 31.686  were made.

wasp

1935-1936

The Wolseley Wasp was a light saloon car produced by Wolseley Motors Limited in 1935 and 1936. It was an updated version of the Wolseley Nine model with a larger engine and steel disc wheels.  Featuring a 1069 cc four-cylinder overhead camshaft engine, it was the last model to use that specific engine format before being replaced by the Wolseley Ten. The overhead camshaft engine had 12-volt electrics and drove the rear wheels via a four-speed gearbox. Hydraulic brakes were fitted.

The Wasp was introduced during a period when Wolseley, under the ownership of Viscount Nuffield (W.R. Morris), was developing a range of new models. It was produced just as Wolseley was becoming a subsidiary of Morris Motors Limited in mid-1935.

In all, 5815 cars were made.

ten

1939-1948

The Wolseley Ten is a light car which was produced by Wolseley Motors Limited in 1939 and from 1945 to 1948.

The new car was again based on the Morris Ten. The 1140 cc engine designated XPJW was also slightly more powerful than the one in the Morris delivering 40 bhp as against 37 bhp.

As the car was intended to compete in the up-market sector, it was well equipped with leather upholstery, pile carpets and walnut trim.

In June 1939 the saloon was joined by a factory-built two-door drophead coupé priced at £270, but very few seem to have been made. London dealer Eustace Watkins also offered their own drophead version. With the outbreak of World War II in 1939, production of Wolseley cars, including the Ten, eventually stopped. 5261 of the model had been made before production ceased in early 1941. Production restarted in September 1945 but without the drophead version. The Ten was discontinued in 1948 after 2715 more had been built.

4/50 & 6/80

The Wolseley 4/50 and similar 6/80 were Wolseley Motors' first post-war automobiles. They were put into production in 1948 and were based on the Morris Oxford MO and the Morris Six MS respectively. The 4-cylinder 4/50 used a 1476 cc 50 hp  version of the 6/80 engine, while the 6/80 used a 2215 cc 72 hp  straight-6 single overhead cam.

A 4/50 tested by the British magazine The Motor in 1950 had a top speed of 114 km/h and could accelerate from 0-100 km/h in 31 seconds.

The cars featured a round Morris rear end and upright Wolseley grille and were used extensively by the police at the time – the 6/80 particularly.

These models were built at Morris's Cowley factory alongside the Oxford. They were replaced in 1953 and 1954 by the Wolseley 4/44 and 6/90.

To accommodate its larger six-cylinder engine, the 6/80 was 180 mm longer than the 4/50. It also had larger brakes with 250 mm drums compared with the 230 mm ones of the 4/50.  A 6/80 tested by the British magazine The Motor in 1951 had a top speed of 137 km/h and could accelerate from 0–100 km/h in 22 seconds.

Following the merger of Austin and Morris that created the British Motor Corporation (BMC), Wolseleys shared with MG and Riley common bodies and chassis, namely the 4/44 (later 15/50) and 6/90, which were closely related to the MG Magnette ZA/ZB and the Riley Pathfinder/Two-point-Six respectively.

In 1957 the Wolseley 1500 was based on the planned successor to the Morris Minor, sharing a bodyshell with the Riley One-Point-Five. The next year, the Wolseley 15/60 debuted the new mid-sized BMC saloon design penned by Pinin Farina. It was followed by similar vehicles from five marques within the year.

The Wolseley Hornet was based on the Austin and Morris Mini with a booted body style which was shared with Riley as the Elf. The 1500 was replaced with the Wolseley 1100 (BMC ADO16) in 1965, which became the Wolseley 1300 two years later. Finally, a version of the Austin 1800 was launched in 1967 as the Wolseley 18/85.

15/60

The Wolseley 15/60 is an automobile which was produced from 1958 to 1961, and then, as the Wolseley 16/60, from 1961 to 1971. The 15/60 was the first of the mid-sized Pinin Farina-styled automobiles manufactured by the British Motor Corporation (BMC). Launched in December 1958 as part of BMC's Wolseley brand, the design would eventually be shared with seven other marques.

The first generation of the mid-sized unitary construction Farinas was introduced with the Wolseley 15/60. Within months, the similar Riley 4/68, Austin A55 Cambridge Mark II, MG Magnette Mark III, and Morris Oxford V appeared as well.

All five cars used the 1.5 L B-Series inline-four engine, though different tuning gave varying power output. The Wolseley, together with the Austin Cambridge and the Morris Oxford, was at the bottom and with its single SU carburettor gave just 52 hp. A car tested by The Motor magazine in 1959 had a top speed of 123 km/h and could accelerate from 0-100 km/h in 26.4 seconds.

All of the cars were updated in 1961 with a larger engine and new model designations. The 16/60 models generally used the 1.6 L  B-Series engine. Again, the Wolseley tailed the pack at 61hp. The Wolseley 16/60 was the last, in production until 24 April 1971.

18/85

1964-1975

BMC ADO17 is the model code used by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) for a range of front wheel drive cars in the European 'D' market-segment of larger family cars, manufactured from September 1964 to 1975. The car was initially sold under the Austin marque as the Austin 1800, then by Morris as the Morris 1800, and by Wolseley as the Wolseley 18/85.

Later, it was marketed with a 2.2 L engine as the Austin 2200, Morris 2200 and Wolseley Six. Informally, because of the car's exceptional width and overall appearance, these cars became widely known under the nickname "landcrab". The car was unconventional in its appearance in 1964, with its large glasshouse and spacious, minimalist, interior including leather, wood, and chrome features, and an unusual instrument display with ribbon speedometer and green indicator light on the end of the indicator stalk.

The Austin 1800 was developed at BMC as a larger follow-up to the successful Mini and Austin 1100 under the ADO17 codename. (ADO was an abbreviation for Austin Drawing Office).

Some 386.000 examples of all variants were produced in just over a decade, with the Austin-badged versions being the most common; some 221.000 units were produced.^[9] There were 95.271 Morris 1800 and 35.597 Wolseley 18/85 produced in the UK.

The 1800 was voted European Car of the Year for 1965.

18/22

1977-1982

The Princess is a large family car produced in the United Kingdom by the Austin-Morris division of British Leyland from 1975 until 1981 (1982 in New Zealand). The car inherited a front-wheel drive / transverse engine configuration from its predecessr, the Austin/Morris 1800 range. This was still unusual in Europe for family cars of this type and gave the Princess a cabin space advantage when compared with similarly sized cars from competing manufacturers.

The car, which had the design code ADO71, was originally marketed as the Austin / Morris / Wolseley 18–22 series. Ahead of the October 1975 London Motor Show the range was rebranded "Princess". This was effectively a new marque created by British Leyland, although the "Princess" name had previously been used for the Austin Princess limousine from 1947 to 1956, and the Vanden Plas Princess.

The Austin model bore the original  trapezoidal headlights and a simple horizontally vaned grille. The Morris and Wolseley cars bonnets had a raised "hump" permitting a larger, styled grille for each model; the Morris one was a simple chrome rectangle, while Wolseleys had a chrome grille with the traditional illuminated Wolseley badge in the middle, with narrower vertical bars either side set back within the chromed surround. Both of these versions had four round headlights, and the Wolseley model was only available with the six-cylinder engine and luxury velour trim.

Total production amounted to 224.942 units, with most examples scrapped by the 1990s.

After the merger of BMC and Leyland to form British Leyland in 1969 the Riley marque, long overlapping with Wolseley, was retired. Wolseley continued in diminished form with the Wolseley Six of 1972, a variant of the Austin 2200, a six-cylinder version of the Austin 1800. It was finally killed off just three years later in favour of the Wolseley variant of the wedge-shaped 18–22 series saloon, which was never even given an individual model name, being badged just "Wolseley", and sold only for seven months until that range was renamed as the Princess. This change thus spelled the end of the Wolseley marque after 74 years.

As of 2012, the Wolseley marque was owned by SAIC Motor, having been acquired by its subsidiary Nanjing Automobile following the break-up of the MG Rover Group.