The Wolseley Ten

In the autumn of 1938 an entirely new 10hp Wolseley was introduced. As the catalogue put it, the company offered to those who favoured a Ten, either because of economical budgeting or as a second string, a car that would not be seen on every street corner and which had character and distinction. This car was turned out in ever-increasing numbers until the time came to turn the factory over to war production. When the Wolseley Ten saloon was reintroduced after the war, the price was £473 10s 7d, including £103 10s 7d purchase tax.

Although not a large car, there was adequate room for four people to sit in comfort. Interior width across the rear seat at elbow level was 46½ inches and, at the front, was 42½ inches. From the rear seat cushion to the roof measured 34½ inches and slightly more over the front seats. As far as legroom was concerned, the distance from the front seat squab to the toe board was from 41 inches to 46 inches, depending on the position of the seat and about the same room in the rear.

There were pockets in each of the doors, a parcel tray across the whole width of the instrument panel, and a shelf behind the rear seat. Cappings and fillets of polished walnut added to the general interior finish. The seats had deep Dunlopillo mouldings in the cushions and Hair-lok pads in the squabs. The front seats had tubular frames with tension springs. The steering column was adjustable for both for rake and length. The windscreen opened, with a hinged and slotted strut at each side, so the screen could be held rigidly in an almost horizontal position if desired.

The luggage compartment was 39 inches wide and 21 inches deep. The lid hinged down and could also be used as a platform on which to strap additional suitcases. Below was a compartment for the rear number plate, together with two rear lamps, a stop light and a reversing light.

All body joints were taped in order to prevent squeaks. The inner surface of every body panel was also sprayed with a special compound to eliminate drumming. There was a similar non-resonant material on the floor together with rubber covers for the pedal slots to prevent draughts.

Between the occupants and the engine, the bulkhead was of sandwich construction with layers of steel sheet, felt and millboard keeping out fumes, heat and noise. Also designed to keep out fumes, was the power unit itself. The intake air cleaner was connected to the valve cover, so that any fumes from the valve gear or from the crankcase were drawn straight into the cylinders.

The valves were overhead in line, and inclined slightly from the vertical towards the manifold side. Each had two concentric springs and was operated by overhead rocker, tubular push-rod and barrel-type tappet from a three-bearing camshaft located in the crankcase and driven by a comparatively short duplex roller chain from the front end of the crankshaft. Chain tension was automatically adjusted

by a slipper on a plunger pressed towards the chain by a simple helical compression spring. The plunger was lubricated under pressure, damping out whip of the chain and lubricating the chain.The gear-type oil pump was mounted outside the crankcase and was driven by skew gears from the crankshaft. A large ball type pressure release valve in the pump passed surplus oil straight back to the intake side of the gears. The entire output of the pump was filtered before it reached the bearings.

At the front of the engine, a belt drove the dynamo and a unit that combined the fan and water impeller. This unit had single spindle carried on two well-spaced ball bearings with provision for grease-gun lubrication and safeguards to prevent excess lubricant from reaching the cooling water.

On the off side of the engine, a single horizontal SU carburettor fed into an induction passage, which was cast in one with the exhaust manifolds. Immediately opposite the carburettor, there was a shallow well heated by the exhaust; from this the mixture rose to reach the inlet ports.