The Wolseley 4/50 is a 4-door saloon from British Motor Corporation, built from 1948 to 1954, in a decade split by war, when civilian production stopped and restarted.
How it came about
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 (37 kW; 51 PS) version of the 6/80 engine, while the 6/80 used a 2215 cc 72 hp (54 kW; 73 PS) straight-6 single overhead cam.
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.
Under the skin
The record carries the shape — a 4-door saloon — and the layout: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. The engine, output and weight have not yet reached the open record, and MotorJury does not guess at them.
Family and rivals
Its family tree is legible: it took over from the Wolseley 12-48 / Wolseley 14–60 / Wolseley 16-65; assembly was at Cowley, Oxford. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Citroën 2CV, the Porsche 356, the Chevrolet Bel Air — show what else the money bought that year. Its British Motor Corporation stablemates include the Austin 10 and the Austin 12.
What it costs now
There is no federal ownership record for the Wolseley 4/50 — it predates the complaint database or was never sold in the United States — so MotorJury publishes no running-cost figure for it. For a car of this age the price is set by the collector market and the condition of the individual example, not by a formula.