Wolseley Hornet Special Club of Australia Inc

Hornet SpecialNewsletter

WHS Club ContactsSecretary

Bill Russell,ph (03) 9349 2262

Qld ContactHoward Kenward,ph (07) 3267 6046

EditorJohn Clucas,

ph (03) 9872 3330PO Box 475 Vermont Vic 3133

jclucas@topspin.com.au

July 2005Issue 22

For several years Michael Santin had been following leads trying to determinethe fate of a red Sanction 127 Hornet Special coupe that lived in Melbourne inthe mid 1950s.

In edition 21, we reported on the car’s likely fate; the Special’s bodywork ap-peared to have been transferred onto a Wolseley Wasp chassis that eventually foundits way to be now hanging on the side of John Clucas’s house.

Now John Davis, who owned the car in the late 1950s, has come up with photosfrom his ownership. And yes they are colour photos, confirming that the car was red.

The shorter Wasp chassis maygo some way to explaining thenon-fitment of the headlightstaunchons (bedstead) and the oddforward position of the radiator.

A recent visit to the car’s lasthome (in Warrandyte) prior to itsdismantling around 1960 failedto locate the missing bodyworkand engine. None of the neigh-bours had any recollection of thecar either.

HighlightsHighlightsHighlightsHighlightsHighlights

The Red Special Coupe.....1

National News .....2

2005 AGM Plans....3

Bathurst Hornet Hero.....3

Wonderful Winton.....4

Hornet Hunting.....6

Wolseley Publications.....8

Special coupe believed extinctThe sad fate of a delightful Australian Hornet Special

coupe has finally been confirmed (we think) andthe pieces of the puzzle were right under our noses.

Page 2 Hornet Special Newsletter

QLD NEWSMonty Schofield continues to make good progress

with his car and should be putting the last bolt inthe engine as you read this.

Lyle and Margaret Cooper are on the road again, thistime heading across the north to the west and so around.

Howard and Alison Kenward (in the black Hornet),together with Chris Pike and Monty joined the VCCQ’s50th Anniversary tour up the coast to Gladstone and re-turn through the inland

Howard’s car received some attention before they left.He reports: “One issue was the two flanges on the tailpipe,where they meet the exhaust manifold. Over the yearsthese had thinned out to the stage where they would blowthe gaskets far too regularly. For some years I would justsay a few well chosen words, loosen the nuts, pack insome more exhaust silastic and do the nuts up again. Thistime I cut out two 6mm flange plates and welded them tothe weakened existing plates to maintain the correct an-gles. This was totally successful.

I also replaced the flexible brake hose to the rear axleand took the opportunity to renew the brake fluid. Formany years I have used silicon brake fluid with total suc-cess and would highly recommend it in the old Lockheedsystem which simply doesn’t seal as tightly as modernsystems.

Of course there has to be some rationalisation of lug-gage when two people travel for eight days in a HornetSpecial. To Alison’s concern, I insisted on us adoptingthe “jock principle” – one pair of knickers on, one cleanpair and one in the wash. With my stern overview wemanaged.

However on the third day, as we were turning into themain street of Maryborough, a rear axle half shaft broke.It just went “click” and we failed to proceed. I knew in-stantly it was the left one because I had replaced the rightone in 1960. The old wives tale of axles braking in pairsis absolutely true; you only have to wait long enough.

We proceeded on the tour in a hire car and later tookmy 4WD and trailer back to Maryborough to bring theHornet home. Sure enough it was the left axle; it hadbroken of course at the diff end. This meant removingthe diff centre to ensure no shards of metal were leftbehind.

After assembling all my spare axles I decided againstusing any of them. Research and some luck revealed thatthe 1934 Hornet axle is identical to the MG TC axle. Thelocal MG house had re-manufactured axles at a reason-able price, so the Hornet now has two new axles.

I must say that this is the first time in 46 years that theold girl has failed to get home again under her own power– try that in your modern machine.”

VIC NEWS

Alec Sturgess has wasted no time starting on his14hp two-seater. The chassis has undergone some“improvements”, Land Rover brake wheel cylin-

ders are now in place, in lieu of the hard to find orignals,and TC rear shocks (fitted snugly inside the chassis railsat the rear) should give better service than the originals.

Progress continues on John Clucas’s 14hp WHS. Thecar’s new timber frame is very close to finished, sopanelwork should be underway before the next newsletter.

The 14hp block is cracked in the usual places for a14hp unit – between the corner head studs and the waterjacket at the rear, and between the corner head studs andthe timing chain case at the front. The theory is that theblock cracks when head studs are screwed in too tightly,so stepped studs on the corners should help prevent thecracks from growing.

John found that despite an MGB diaphragm clutchfitting very nicely, the pedal action suffers, so the coilsprung Hornet style clutch is going back in again. Thehydraulic clutch operation on the MG might be the rea-son. An MGA clutch plate fits straight in.

NSW NEWSThe good news from NSW is that David Francis ex-

pects to have his Swallow bodied WHS back fromthe body builders before Christmas. All it then needs ispaint, upholstery and wiring.

The beautifully restored engine bay in John Prentice’s HornetSpecial. The rest of the car looks just as good.

ACT NEWS

The big news from the ACT is that John Prentice hasjust driven his Hornet Special for the first time since

1971. After almost 34 years of being “under restoration”the car will make its reappearance at the 2005 AGM inNSW. No doubt a few champagne corks will be popped.

Issue 22 Page 3

On New Years Day 1946George McSpedden salliedforth in his Hornet at the

VSSC’s hillclimb event on Mt Pano-rama. The sprint started about halfway along Conrod Straight and ranin a clockwise direction up throughthe esses to the top. The event was

probably the first post-war race meet-ing in Australia, and the temperaturewas over 100ºF. More research is re-quired before the question above thephotograph can be answered with anycertainty, but car no. 121153 (whichCyril Davis now owns in Queesnland)is so far the best guess. The wherea-

bouts of Cyril’s car remains a mys-tery between 1945 (when J.N.Taylorsold it) and 1954 (when Richardson’sUsed Cars at Kedron sold it to RegBroom at Albany Creek) - both theseowners were in Queensland. Photoand race day details kindly providedby John Phillips via John Prentice.

WHICH CAR IS THIS?

Announcing the WHS event of the year

TTTTThe he he he he WWWWWonderonderonderonderonderous ous ous ous ous WHS WHS WHS WHS WHS WWWWWeekeekeekeekeekendendendendend& 2005 & 2005 & 2005 & 2005 & 2005 AAAAAGMGMGMGMGM

Where: somewhere west of SydneyWhen: November 4, 5 & 6

What: Horneteering

John Prentice and David Francis are arranging a meeting of NSW Horneteers topolish details for a great weekend. More details to follow shortly. Don’t miss it.

Page 4 Hornet Special Newsletter

W I N T O N W E N T If you are a Melbournian, the Winton historic motonortheast Victoria each year is one of those “not-to-And for the Melbournian Horneteer, the May 28/29 e

especially memorable - it featured two histori

THEBETTY CORBIN RACER

The Jones’s rebuild included a new fire wall, with holes drilledas close as possible to where the factory had put them.

Hidden in those shadows is the vital engine number 847 78A.Note the period fuel filter.

The Jones boys brought along the exBetty Corbin racer (for display purposesonly) to Winton this year.

With a display board alongside they described(in photographs and text) all the car’s historyfrom when Betty raced it in the 1930s, throughNorm Jones racing exploits in the ‘50s and‘60s, to the car’s recent restoration.

Interestingly they have endeavoured to re-build the car to its Betty Corbin configuration,down to the odd-sized numbers on the doorsand a Sporting Car Club of South Australiabadge on the grille.

Paintwork on the scuttle has been rubbed back so observers can see every colour the car has worn since Betty’sownership. The rear of the car had very little bodywork when Betty raced, so the Jones have rebuilt the rear withbodywork replicating what was on the car when they bought it.

Intriguing was the word that summed it all up. Crowds buzzed around the car all weekend, enquiring about thehistory and the mechanical intricacies.

Issue 22 Page 5

W O N D E R F U L LY

THE HARRIS SPECIAL

rsport weekend inbe-missed” events.

event this year wasic Hornets.

Paul Kenny tackles a leaky rear seal on The Harris Special in between theWinton events.

Right and Left: Betty Corbin’s Hornet Specialback at the race track after many years’ absence.The overalls on the trunk still show the holes thatresulted from battery acid spilling on Norm’s lapwhen he inverted the car at Wahgunyah in 1958.

Bill Harris was a NSW speedwayrider who went to England to com-pete after WWII and went on to

build a number of 500cc Cooper type carsand then Alexis Formula 2 cars that werereasonably successful. On returning to Aus-tralia in 1965, Harris built The HarrisSpecial sometime between 1965 and the late1970s, fitting a Riley engine.

To gain the CAMS Certificate of De-scription, the Riley engine was removed anda de-tuned Lea Francis competition enginewas fitted so that it became a KB categorycar with all the components being made be-fore 1956. The C.O.D. was issued in 1984and the car remains very much the same asit was then.

Bill Harris sold the car to John Carter(a partner in Wakefield Park). Carter sold itto Mal Biddlecombe and Paul Kenny boughtthe car from Biddlecombe in 1998.

The Harris Special has raced at PhillipIsland, Eastern Creek, Lakeside, Uralla,Guyra, Wakefield Park, Amaroo, Oran Park,Gnoo Blas, Winton and many places in be-tween. It has proved very reliable.

As yet we haven’t ascertained what yearHornet was used for the special. The chas-sis cruciform has been removed, along withthe plate wearing the chassis number.

The Harris Special at speed at Winton. It doesn’t lookmuch like a Hornet anymore, but apart from the engineand bodywork the rest is pretty much Hornet.

Page 6 Hornet Special Newsletter

Hornet Hunting

Our register of Wolseley Hornets is growing like abacteria as we collect every old memory and ru-mour, every photo, advert, stolen vehicle listing,

rego number and gossip column excerpt in a last-ditcheffort to solve the complete Australian Hornet jigsaw puz-zle. Taking a leaf out of the CIA’s program of the late1960s, we’ve fed all the ‘data’ into a computer and it seemswe’re looking good. We’re nearly there. Well, maybe justa year or two to go.

There are 146 individual listings for 1934 HornetSpecials (that doesn’t mean there were that many – wejust haven’t connected the dots yet): 39 1933 Hornet Spe-cials, 73 1933 Hornets, 25 1932 Hornet Specials, 59vertical drive Hornets and so on.

Since our last magazine issue, I’ve managed to visitand interrogate Bevan Fenner, Bob Anderson and Rich-ard Snedden. Thankyou for your time and patience folks.

LEE MYSTERY DEEPENSIn 1936 Gordon F. Lee was photographed competing inQld White’s Hill hillclimb in an odd looking Hornet tourerand there was an article, found by Howard Kenward, inthe motoring press at the time that suggested it was su-percharged. But what model was it? Years passed…

Recently I received a handful of photocopied Qld regorecords that had come via Howard again, and presto: a1934 Hornet with engine number 137A/124 was first reg-istered ‘199-858’ to a G.F.G. Lee, Doris St West End,Brisbane. The document went on to list four later owners.This was excellent information. It became clear the Hor-net was a ’34 4-door saloon with the top half of the bodyremoved, a tonneau added and two exaggerated wind-screen brackets left standing. But what had become of it?

Even more recently I encouraged Howard to recordthe numbers of the spare engines under the house. Yes,the Gordon Lee Mystery had deepened by 12 ft, becauseon Howard’s engines list was 137A/124.

As the FBI once said “We’ve traced the call. It’s com-ing from inside the house.”

1934 HORNET SPECIALSRECENTLY RUMOUREDSince our last magazine many rumours have surfaced.

We need help identifying these cars (all referencesare Victorian, unless stated otherwise): Richard Snedden’suncle Charles J.Johnston race a HS in the late ‘30s; PeterBlades of Horsley St Bentleigh had one around ‘53; anaval officer had a Glen Iris garage service his blue HSwith startix in the early ‘50s; HSs were advertised fromGrange Rd Camberwell and Showers Ave Chelsea be-

tween ’58 & ’65; Bert Ward of Highett had an additionalHS for sale in the ‘50s; a HS was advertised from theSpringvale area around ’65; Jim Lowe had a super look-ing sports in Sydney in ’52. (We have a photo.); DickBray had ‘NDL032’, a 4 seater sports, in Nambour Qldand sold it in ’59. (We have a photo.); Dick Bray boughta coupe for spares and wrecked it. (Photos exist.); DougParis of Toorak rolled his cream HS sports in ’47 andfitted a MGNA chassis; Jack Long of Hawthorn, GeorgeGriffin of Ivanhoe & Tasman Lawson of StKilda had HSsin 1941; a gentleman (whose name we lack) at 4 Fraser StOrmond who once owned Bill Russell’s EW 4 seater, alsoadvertised a 1933 HS coupe for sale and another Hornetfor wrecking, some time in the ‘50s; ‘GPC 750’, a 1934HSwe’ve known little of except for its engine number 112A/127, we now find was registered DA980 to Wm JCampbell of 42 Clarke St Northcote in 1941. The car wasa NSW delivered sports and had rego numbers FT411 andHT503 before the final GPC750. Prior to having DA980it was registered 99369 in Victoria. A neighbour told methe Campbell’s father was called Wally.

Table Talk, October 1933

by Michael Santin

Issue 22 Page 7

Manifold mysteries unveiled

From the UK, Mike Oldridge sheds light on theoddball, blanked-off exhaust manifold featured onpage 7 of edition 21 of this newsletter.

According to Mike:“The picture shows a saloon manifold from a New

Twelve Hornet of 1340cc. Only a few were made beforebeing superceded by the New Fourteen of 1604cc. Sincethe engines were basically the same, except for the cylin-der bore, unused manifolds probably found their way ontoearly production New Fourteens.

“Originally the idea was to use the exhaust gasses towarm the inlet manifold; the ’30s were considerably colderin winter than now!

“In early 1936 the factory issued a ‘workshop prac-tice update’ advising dealers to drill the two holes in theblank ports as they had found it was too restrictive. Theengine number quoted in the query [refer edition 21] in-dicates an early engine.

“In practice I have found that blocking the ports atthe inlet manifold improves breathing and stops the inletmanifold rotting.

“Interestingly I did rolling road power tests some yearsago - same engine but twice with a saloon manifold andtwice with a twin outlet Special manifold. The saloonmanifold was the best!”

At long last the Wolseley Hornet Special has beenfeatured on a postage stamp. It’s not much to skite

about though; the stamp is for Tuvalu, a remote groupof coral islands just north of Fiji, where the total lengthof roads is just 9km.

FOR SALEThe remains of “The Straight Eight Wolseley”.Believed to include engine and chassis. $500.

Enquiries through Allan Batten, ph (08) 8522 7225.

FOR SALE1934 Wolseley Hornet Special

Rebuilt engine, clutch, freewheel g’box, steering box,suspension, brakes, radiator, seats. Body needs complet-ing. Chassis 15/127. Engine 115A 127. One owner past 30years. $7500. Alec Brown (02) 9743 3121 or 0438 294459.

FOR SALE1935 14hp Hornet saloon

Car no. 130454, Chassis 1394 156, Engine 1556A 156,freewheel g’box, needs full restoration. $5000.

Jim Croul ph (07) 3287 2306

W O L S E L E Y PUBLICATIONS

Not sure which Wolseley

publications relate to F

your specific model?

Michael Santin has

kindly provided this list to get you

started. Michael believes there are

still some gaps in the list and would

welcome readers’ input. He can be

reached at msantin@ford.com, or

phone 0415 509 914.

Table Talk, October 1933

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parts master list

parts list?

1 9 2

3 5 5

3 6 9

5 0 6

5 8 5

5 9 7

5 9 8

6 0 5

6 3 4

6 4 0

6 4 6

6 4 6

6 5 9

6 6 9

6 8 4

7 06

7 0 8

7 2 3

7 3 5

7 4 9

7 5 8

7 6 3

7 84

7 8 5

?

7 9 2

7 9 9

8 0 0

8 01

8 0 4

8 12

8 1 6

8 2 1

8 4 5

8 4 9

8 5 4

8 5 5

8 6 0

8 61

8 6 3

8 68

8 6 9

8 7 7

8 8 7

8 9 3

9 0 1

9 0 3

9 0 4

9 09

9 1 1

9 14

9 1 8

9 2 4

9 28

9 3 7

9 6 1

9 6 5

9 6 6

9 6 7

9 6 9

9 77

9 82

9 9 4

9 99

100 9

101 0

101 2

101 6

103 7

none

1042

?

1 6 /20 & 24/30

16 /2 0

1 6/20 & 2 4 /30 & 30 /4 0

?

F ifteen

ifteen

T w enty

Ten

S ev en

Ten

T e n

F o u rteen

2 4/30

F ifteen

T e n

F ou rteen

1 1/22

1 1/22

16 /3 5

1 1/22

11 /2 2

1 1 /2 2

16 /4 5

1 6/45

16 /4 5

1 6/45

12 /3 2

1 6 /4 5

2 1 /60 8c yl

2 1 /60 8c yl

2 1 /60 8c yl

2 1/60

2 1 /60 LW B

16/45 C ounty

2 1 /60 LW B

1 6 /4 5 , 21 /6 0 in cl 8c yl

H o rnet

H o rnet

V iper

H o rnet

V iper H

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ornet

1 932 rang e

1 6/60, V ipe r

H o rnet

H o rne t (c has sis to

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H o rnet

H o rn et S pec ia l

H o rn et S pec ia l

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1 933 rang e

H o rnet S p ecia l (c ha ss is to

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21/60 C ounty

H ornet (freew hee l)

Nin e

H ornet

Nin e

21/60 C ounty

H o rnet (s y n c h ro )

H o rn e t S pec ia l ch ass is

H o rn e t (p re s e le c to r)

21 /6 0 '3 5

F ou rteen

F o u rteen

14h p H S

E ig h teen

W as p & H o rn et

Wasp & Hornet

New Fourteen

12

3 13 4 1 4

6 13

5 19

6 20

5 21 6 2 1

7 22

1 22

4 23

1 22

?

2 23

9 23

7 24

10 24

11 24

12 25

9 25

27

11 27

12 28

9 28

2 29

29

10 28

4 29

10 29

11 29

10 29

30

5 30

5 30

6 30

9 30

31

7 31

10 31

2 32

11 31

9 32

11 32

9 33

34

1 34

10 33

1 34

12 34

10 34

34

5 35

2 36