Chapter 7

THE WOLSELEY – SIDDELEY AMALGAMATION

One of the chief benefits which British automobilism derived from the Thousand Miles trial of 1900, in which the Wolseley car performed so meritoriously, was the settlement of certain fundamental principles in design which had long been disputed among engineers. Steam, as the motive power, air-cooling, belt transmission, solid tyres, tiller steering and tube ignition had all been the subject of fierce argument, but the trial in question had dealt many of them the well-merited coup de grace and designers were then free to develop their ideas along channels which this long and strenuous trial had proved to be sound.

It had not had this effect, however, on one of the most thorny problems of all, namely, the horizontal engine versus the vertical. In spite of the fact that the horizontal school was small in numbers and was losing rather than gaining ground in popular favour, the Thousand Miles Trial had demonstrated that in point of reliability and freedom from breakdown, the vertical engine could concede nothing to the horizontal. Indeed, the latter had upheld all the claims of its sponsors, and those who possessed cars with such an engine were seldom heard to complain of their choice. Nevertheless, the vertical engine had also proved its high degree of efficiency and had many more supporters than the horizontal.

But motoring was then indulged in largely by those with sporting instincts; nine motorists out of every ten in those early days motored for the pleasure of motoring and not merely for the purposes of transportation from place to place. Some early semblance of a fashion in motor cars had already sprung up; it took the form of a long bonnet in front which gave the car a somewhat rakish and speedy appearance which the horizontal engine could not provide without waste of space and a certain amount of "make-believe."

The motorist who had a car with a horizontal engine was not always anxious to change, but the chief difficulty was to convince the intending purchaser of no previous experience that the horizontal " advocates, who constituted the extreme minority, were right, and that the overwhelming numbers of "vertical" enthusiasts were wrong, and as time went on and new car after new car appeared on the market each with a vertical engine, without any notable additions to the horizontal ranks, the task became still more difficult.

From 1900 onwards, the horizontal engine slowly but surely lost ground and was abandoned by such important manufacturers as Peugeot, Benz and others. The writing on the wall could not be overlooked, and by the time the winter of 1902 arrived, a landslide had set in and the vertical engine had become practically supreme, but the Wolseley Company continued to struggle against the strong tide of public demand and fight its lone battle. The first crack in the ice came in the following manner: -

One of the competitors in the Thousand Miles Trial had been J. D. Siddeley (now Lord Kenilworth). At that time, he was the Managing Director of the Clipper Tyre Company, and he drove a 6-h.p. Parisian Daimler fitted with a set of British-made Clipper tyres through that trial with marked success. The object was to test the tyres, not the car, over the whole distance. He remained with the Clipper Tyre Company a couple of years, but the then swiftly developing motor industry caused him to resign that position and to strike out in the motor business on his own accord. At first, and largely to acquire the necessary experience, he became the British agent for the French Peugeot car, the makers of which had recently abandoned the horizontal engine for the vertical, but it was not long before Siddeley felt this circle was too narrow for his activities. He desired to see a British-built car on the market bearing his own name and incorporating various features his experience had taught him were desirable. One thing he desired was a more extensive use of aluminium, and the adoption of a propeller shaft and torque tube for the smaller cars, in lieu of the heavier chain drive which was then so common.

In those days, when motor-cars still had more enemies than friends, it would not have been easy to find the necessary capital to build and equip a factory and start manufacturing a new car, so Siddeley decided to have his car designed and manufactured, according to his specification, by some well-known firm of engineers. In company with Mr. Lionel de Rothschild, who afterwards became a Director of the Wolseley Company, and with whom he was in close touch, he approached the Vickers Company to whom he unfolded his whole proposition.

It has already been explained that Vickers had bought the motor business of the old Wolseley Sheep-Shearing Machine Company, and were the owners of the Wolseley Tool & Motor Car Company, Limited, who were, at the time Siddeley approached them, still making horizontal-engined Wolseley cars.

But the ever-growing popularity of the vertical-engined car had not escaped the notice of the Directors and of Mr. Albert Vickers in particular. It was apparent to them that the Wolseley car was losing ground, but by developing and manufacturing the proposed " Siddeley," with its vertical engine and other interesting features, they would gain experience in a direction which they might, at no distant date, be forced to follow.

A certain amount of competition between the two cars would, of course, be inevitable, but after certain negotiations, it was agreed that the design of a car laid down by Siddeley should be developed by the Wolseley Company, and manufactured at Vickers factory at Crayford.

The Siddeley Autocar Company was duly registered with offices in Coventry, and the first time Siddeley cars were exhibited in public was at the old Crystal Palace Show during January-February, 1903. A four-cylinder 18/24-h.p. and a smaller 12/16-h.p. chassis were shown as well as a twin-cylinder 8-h.p. and a still smaller 6-h.p. with a single-cylinder engine. The general lay-out proved to be in keeping with designers' ideas of that period without any special breakaway from the conventional.

The " Honeycomb " radiator, first introduced by Mercedes and the square-type of bonnet were adopted as well as mechanically operated inlet valves, which at that time, had not become universal.

The Siddeley cars were well received by the public and the reports in the technical papers were very favourable. In due time, they were submitted to most of the public reliability and other trials, but one of the most strenuous was a private one organized by Siddeley himself. This consisted of a test, under official R.A.C. observation, extending over 5,000 miles. Practically no trouble of any sort was experienced beyond a minor tyre difficulty or two.

The demand for Siddeley cars soon began to overtake expectations, and the fact became only too apparent that the day of the horizontal engine had passed, and that if the Wolseley cars were not to incur the reputation of being badly out of date some speedy and drastic redesigning was urgently necessary.

By the end of 1904, the Siddeley car had been in existence for approximately two years, and good progress had been made. It was during the early days of 1905 that the Wolseley Company, acting under instructions from their Proprietors-Vickers approached Siddeley with a view to their taking over his business entirely. Until then, as has been explained, the Wolseley Company had manufactured the components of the Siddeley cars,. but had no control over the marketing arrangements. The Siddeley Company were then occupying premises at Nos. 79-80, York Street, Westminster, as showrooms and offices; after the amalgamation with the Wolseley Company, the old Niagara Skating Rink, which was situated immediately opposite the Siddeley Company's premises, was taken over from the Electric Carriage Company, and the head office staff of the Wolseley Company was transferred from Birmingham to these new premises.

In the terms of the amalgamation, Nos. 79-80 York Street were to be taken over from the Siddeley Autocar Co., and J. D. Siddeley himself was to become Sales Manager of the Wolseley Tool & Motor Car Company.

The importance of this amalgamation to the Wolseley Company needs no emphasis. The trend of motor-car design, the growing competition among manufacturers and the necessity of the Company to resist the feeling among the public that Wolseley productions were not keeping pace with the unwritten laws of development fully justified such action.

An ambitious and exceedingly costly racing programme had been undertaken by Austin, and at a time when the finances of the Company hardly justified such a high rate of expenditure. 1904 was a year which produced no profit, and the Directors viewed with growing concern Austin's refusal to redesign the Wolseley car with a vertical engine. Many discussions, before the Siddeley absorption was even mooted, took place between Austin and the Directors in regard to this serious matter, but these led to nothing, and he remained one of the few pioneers who refused resolutely to move with the times in the direction indicated. When, however, the Company began to manufacture a car with a vertical engine, even though it did not bear the name of Wolseley, Austin's position became a very difficult one, for he was chiefly responsible for the light in which the Wolseley car was regarded.

Something approaching a crisis in the affairs of the Wolseley Company had been reached, and during the summer of 1905, Austin handed in his resignation. For some time, he had paid but scanty attention to the affairs of the Company; all his old keenness had gone, and his resignation was the only possible solution to the problem. J. D. Siddeley was at once appointed General Manager.

The fact that the Company had, for a couple of years or more, been manufacturing a car of wholly different design from the horizontal engined Wolseley proved of inestimable advantage when the change-over had taken place, and it was decided to concentrate on the new car. They were not faced with the possibility of having to close down the Works or considerably curtail operations until plans were ready to manufacture the new vehicle. All that was required was to slow down with the one hand and speed up with the other, and this entailed a minimum of disorganization.

The horizontal engine was not abandoned immediately, for every type of car. At the Olympia motor show held during November, 1905, the Wolseley Company exhibited two small 6- and 8-h.p. models with horizontal engines, which were practically the same cars the Company had turned out during the previous year, and three 15-, 18- and 32-h.p. cars with vertical engines. It is noteworthy that the reports in the motor press described the Wolseley exhibit as " a distinct departure in Wolseley practice."

It was during 1904 that the Company was honoured by an order from Queen Alexandra for a 24-h.p. Landaulette, and this was followed a year later by a further order from Edward VII for an 18-h.p. car which His Majesty intended to present to Osborn House, then a convalescent home for Officers. The vehicle had a special body which could be readily converted to an ambulance. By command of the King, this car was driven to Buckingham Palace by J. D. Siddeley who drove the King round the grounds.

The new productions of the Wolseley Company took part in most of the reliability and other trials organized in this country. It is, however, not necessary to describe these because records still exist and such trials would be hardly appreciated to-day as trials by the average motorist. They consisted of little more than long daily outward and homeward runs with some hill-climbs, none of which would tax the modern car to the slightest degree.

Nevertheless, during the summer of 1905 a privately arranged match was run off between an 18-h.p. Wolseley-Siddeley and a 24-h.p. De Dietrich car, which went far to establish in France the prestige of the British-built car.

This match was the outcome of an article which appeared in The Times claiming that a British-built car held the world's record for reliability. This claim was resented by certain of the leading French manufacturers who held precisely the same views for French cars. Paul Meyan, the Editor of La France Automobile issued a challenge offering to demonstrate the reliability of his 24-h.p. French-built De Dietrich car, which was then two years old, against that of any similar car of British construction, in a trial which had never previously been equalled in point of severity. He stipulated that both cars should run a distance of 4,400 kilometres in daily runs of 350 kilometres, for 10,000 francs a-side. This challenge was accepted and a Wolseley-Siddeley pitted against one of the most famous productions of a French factory.

Each day's run was to begin at 5 a.m. and 200 miles had to be completed within twelve hours, a two-hours stop for lunch being allowed.

The match started on July 12th, 1905, and the route selected was a varied one and included some of the best and worst roads in France. It ran as far north as Lille, west at Aix-Les-Bains, then to Mont Cenis to Nice. Thence a westerly direction was taken to Bordeaux. Still continuing north and west, Brest was reached, and after going to Trouville, a return to Paris was made. It was practically a grand circuit of France. The Wolseley-Siddeley had already covered some 40,000 and the De Dietrich 30,000 miles before the match began, so both cars were by no means enjoying the first flush of youth.

It is not necessary to record the many incidents of this long and arduous trial. Owing largely to the extremely hot weather, the engines of both cars overheated and tyre troubles were frequent, but the match resulted in a dead heat, not a single mark being lost by either the Wolseley-Siddeley or the De Dietrich.

Another long-distance trial was organized between February and May, 1907. On this occasion it was a 40-h.p. Wolseley-Siddeley which was entered to complete, under official R.A.C. observation, no less than 10,000 miles over the roads of this country. After finishing the car was dismantled and a report issued by the Club on its general condition. The trial occupied sixty-seven running days and the fuel consumption worked out at a shade over 10 m.p.g.

The redesigning of the Wolseley car, and more especially the adoption of the vertical engine, had the immediate effect of neutralizing the growing impression among the motoring public that the Wolseley products were not keeping pace with modern requirements. From the time of the absorption of the Siddeley business, there was probably no car built in this country that came before the public more prominently.

The standard models for 1906 consisted of a 12-h.p. twin-cylinder car with three speeds and a live axle with bevel final drive; a 15-h.p. four-cylinder car with similar transmission, and a larger 25-h.p. car with four speeds, low-tension magneto ignition and chain-and-sprocket drive from the countershaft to the rear wheels. There still existed a school of thought among designers that the live axle was essentially a type of design for cars of limited horse power only. All these three models had, of course, vertical engines.

During the spring of 1906, Mr. Lionel de Rothschild was elected a Director. He had been closely associated with J. D. Siddeley for some time, and he proved to be a valuable asset to the Company. In short, the Wolseley business received a new lease of life; it was carried on with aggression, in keeping with the ever-growing competition in the motor industry that was then expanding so rapidly.

There were, however, certain black clouds which were causing uneasiness among the Directors. In spite of the general development and improvements which had been introduced since the .Amalgamation, the fact remained that the business was not making any profit for the Shareholders. From 1904 to 1908 no trading surplus had resulted from all the advancements made. Whilst appreciating at its maximum the general excellence of the work of J. D. Siddeley, the Directors of Vickers could not ignore the entire lack of any trading surplus during the period of his administration. They also felt that the time-honoured name of Wolseley was slowly but surely occupying second place to that of the Company's General Manager. True, the car was sometimes referred to as the " Wolseley-Siddeley," but in the Press, when reference was made thereto, the first name was more often omitted than included.

Engines designed and manufactured in the Wolseley factory were referred to as " Siddeley " engines, and it was this that caused the first ripple in the relations between Siddeley and the Wolseley Company.

It is neither desirable nor necessary to detail the various conversations that took place between the interested parties. Matters reached something in the nature of a climax during the early part of 1909, and in the spring of that year, Siddeley handed in his resignation to the Company.

Immediately after Siddeley's resignation, which was followed within a few weeks by the retirement from the Board of Lionel de Rothschild, careful investigation into the reason for the Company being unable to show a normal working profit was undertaken by G. J. B. Chetwynd, later, Viscount Chetwynd, one of the Directors of Vickers. Although both the demand for and production of Wolseley products was satisfactory, overhead expenses were very heavy, due to the Company's activities being so scattered. Consolidation was urgently necessary, and so Mr. Chetwynd took the drastic step of transferring to Birmingham the whole of the plant and machinery hitherto used at the Crayford Factory, and also the return of the Head Office staff from London to Adderley Park.

It was decided that the premises at York Street, Westminster, should be the London Sales Department and Garage of the Wolseley Company, and that this important side of the business should be placed in the hands of Mr. J. E. Hutton, who had joined the Company as London Sales Manager in 1907 after he had closed down his own business, in which he was a Concessionaire for a number of foreign cars. The British manufacturer was making considerable progress and the general demand for continental productions, which had been so pronounced since the beginning of the British motor industry, was waning.

Under an Agreement with the R.A.C. the York Street garage became the official garage of that body, and owing to its centralization it was very popular. A successful hire-business was conducted from the same quarters, whereby Wolseley cars of almost any pattern could be hired for any desired period.

It was essential for the control of the Company to be placed in the hands of a Managing Director after Siddeley's departure, and for this purpose, Mr. Ernest Hopwood, who was then Secretary of the British Electric Traction Co., Ltd., was invited to accept that responsible position, to which he was appointed on July 8th, 1909.

The advantages and economies which resulted from the adoption of the centralization scheme formulated by Mr. Chetwynd soon made themselves apparent, and the Wolseley business expanded rapidly. The losses incurred during the years immediately prior to the reorganization of the business were soon overtaken and a steady working surplus was made year by year.

The popularity of the Wolseley products marked progress and the Company occupied its rightful place in the front rank of the World's principal motor-car manufacturers. The progress made will be realized by the fact that no fewer than 7,500 of the Company's most popular models, namely, the 12/16- and the 16/20-h.p. cars, were turned out before these models were superseded.

Although from year to year modifications were introduced, it is interesting to note that in the main, the 12/16, 16/20 and 24130 models formed the basis of the Wolseley production from 1910 to 1914 and, on the resumption of car production at the end of 1918 until 1920.

From March 15th, 1911, A. J. McCormack was appointed Joint Managing Director with Ernest Hopwood. He had joined the Company in 1907 as Technical Manager, having previously been with the Cycle Components Company at Bournville, Birmingham.

By the end of 1912 it was apparent that considerable extensions would have to be made to the Adderley Park factory to cope with the increasing volume of business, and also to deal with the production of the complete range of commercial vehicles which the Board had decided to add to the products of the Company, and the construction and equipment of extra buildings was put in hand. These were opened in January, 1914, at an important ceremony presided over by Sir Vincent Caillard, Chairman of the Company; one of the principal guests being the then Home Secretary, Mr. Reginald McKenna.

In spite of these extensions, it was considered impracticable to undertake in the Wolseley Works the building of one of the most successful light cars of the time, the famous " Stellite." This car, which made a great name for itself both in this country and overseas, although designed by the Wolseley Company, was produced and marketed by another subsidiary Company of Vickers, namely, the Electric and Ordnance Accessories Co., Ltd., in their Works at Cheston Road, Aston, and later at the Ward End Factory (later the home of Wolseley Motors Ltd.). Mass-production methods, to the extent practised nowadays, were unknown then, and the figures of the production rate of the " Stellite " would seem to-day unimpressive. Nevertheless, they were manufactured both for use in this country and for shipment abroad in large numbers, and had it not been for the outbreak of the 1914-18 war, the " Stellite " would certainly have continued in production for far longer than it actually did.

But during the summer of 1914, storm-centres gathered and burst on an unprepared-for England with dramatic suddenness; all thought of producing cars for pleasure was abandoned and every hand applied to the production of munitions of war. The role the Wolseley Company played in that great drama, and its contributions towards victory in that four-years struggle will be recorded anon.