Wolseley Hornet Swallow

The Wolseley company in Birmingham was one of the first British motor manufacturers, having built its first car in 1896. In 1927, Wolseley was taken over by the Morris company, and in April 1930 launched the Hornet model. This was fitted with a small six-cylinder engine of 1271cc with an overhead camshaft, and was based on the four-cylinder Morris Minor which had itself been a Wolseley design. The standard saloon body of the Hornet was also similar to that of the Morris.

The Hornet had excellent performance, coupled with refinement and flexibility, and quickly became popular. Soon a fashion started for fitting alternative, more sporting bodies on the Hornet chassis, and in 1931 Wolseley introduced a special version of the Hornet, a chassis supplied exclusively to selected coachbuilders who finished it with many different types of sporting bodywork. In 1932, a twin-carburettor version of this car was added, the famous Hornet Special.

By this time, Swallow of Coventry was already one of the leading specialist coachbuilders on smaller chassis, and it was natural that Swallow should be supplied with Wolseley Hornet chassis. Two Swallow bodies were offered, a boat-tailed two-seater, and a four-seater costing £225 which was claimed to offer comfortable accommodation for four passengers. Both were very stylish and cam in a wide variety of bright colour schemes.

 

The Wolseley Hornet and later the Hornet Special with Swallow bodies were a milestone in Swallow history. These were the first true sports cars that William Lyons of Swallow had offered, and were also his first six cylinder cars. Production of these models was contemporary with the early SS1 and continued until August 1933, later than any other Swallow-bodied car. Around 324 Hornets and 206 Hornet Specials were bodied by Swallow.