Start with what the Wolseley 6/99 is: a 4-door saloon, built from 1959 to 1968, at the height of the post-war boom. What it meant takes a little longer. 37,209 were built.
Where it came from
The Wolseley 6/99 and 6/110 were the final large Wolseley cars. Styled by Pininfarina with additions by BMC staff stylists, the basic vehicle was also sold under two of BMC's other marques as the Austin A99 Westminster and Vanden Plas Princess 3-Litre. Production began in 1959 and the cars were updated and renamed for 1961.
The Wolseley remained in production as the Wolseley 6/110 through to 1968. The cars were also marketed in Denmark as the Wolseley 300. There were two other Farina-designed car lines launched by BMC at the same time — the compact Austin A40 Farina and midsized Wolseley 15/60 and derivatives. Although similar looking, the latter shares no body parts and few other parts with the big Wolseley.
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.
In context
In the British Motor Corporation line-up the Wolseley 6/99 has a clear place: it replaced the Wolseley 6/90; the factory was Cowley, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Dodge Challenger, the Mini Mini, the Nissan Patrol. Nearby in the British Motor Corporation catalogue sit the Austin 10 and the Austin 12.
Owning one today
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Wolseley 6/99 has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.