A trip across Africa in a Wolseley 18/85

A Trip Across Africa in a Wolseley 18/85

(From "Wolseley, a Saga of the Motoring Industry" by St John C Nixon)

H E Symons and H R Browning at Cape Town with the 18/85hp Wolseley in which they drove from England to the Cape in 31 days and 22 hours: a distance of 10,300 miles.

Before the curtain is rung down on Wolseley history up to the point where the war turned the thoughts and efforts of all to the production of war weapons, it is well to give some details of an extraordinary performance put up by a six-cylinder 18/85-h.p. Wolseley which was driven from this country to Cape Town, a total distance of no fewer than 10,300 miles, in 31 days 22 hours. Apart from this journey constituting a record, it can be stated quite safely that no motor-vehicle was ever called upon to perform such prodigious feats under such appalling conditions, and none emerged therefrom so triumphantly.

The late H. E. Symons, a well-known Motor Journalist, who had previously undertaken successfully some long-distance journeys through the African deserts, was the Author of the undertaking. His choice, on this occasion, fell on a Wolseley owing to its proved reliability and ability to stand up to conditions never even approached in normal circumstances. Special equipment was, of course, necessary for desert travelling, which included 9-in.Dunlop tyres, a fuel tank capable of holding 32 gallons, accommodation for carrying 10 gallons of drinking water, and special seating facilities, which could be used as full-length beds for Symons and his companion, H. R. Browning.

The momentous events between 1939 and 1946 may have tended to dim the recollection of this adventurous undertaking, and so no apology is offered for recounting one or two of the major events that happened during the trip.

After careful preparation, the travellers set forth during a blinding snowstorm in December, 1938, and the first record was established by the time they had reached Kano in the Sahara desert, some 2,200 miles from Algiers; for fully 2,000 miles the car had had to travel where no roads of any description existed. Beyond fuel-replenishments, the car had required no attention of any kind except a quart of oil for the engine.

After encountering a storm, the severity of which is only experienced in the tropics, and somewhat narrowly escaping destructioof the car by a tree falling just in front while passing through an almost impenetrable jungle, an accident occurred which would not only have caused complete destruction of any car less sturdy than a Wolseley, but was within an ace of putting an end to the careers of both men.

During the night a wooden bridge had to be crossed at Niangara in the Belgian Congo. Probably due to the driver momentarily dozing, the car struck the wooden railings and plunged somethirty feet into the black crocodile-infested River Gada. The illustration, taken the next day, clearly shows the situation.

After remaining in the water in an almost completely submerged condition for a day or two, the car was finally dragged to the bank by a large party of native convicts. It was a very battered and dilapidated Wolseley that emerged from the bed of the river, and it seemed at first that further progress was beyond all reasonable hope. The damage, however, was not so serious as the travellers imagined it would be. The only structural breakage was the rear spring bracket of the near-side front spring. This was torn from the chassis. Both axles were in perfect condition and no part of the steering gear was even bent. The body had suffered extensively, but after transporting the car some 330 miles to Juba, where the most necessary repairs could be effected, the travellers set forth again. No part of the general equipment had to be changed. The same coil, dynamo, distributor, battery and self-starter, as well as the petrol pump, horns and other electrical fittings were working just as well as they were prior to their long immersion at the bottom of the river.

H E Symon's Wolseley car lying in a crocodile infested river after the accident.

At Nairobi the local Wolseley Distributor replaced the battered head lamps and a new piece of plate glass, specially cut to suit the misshapen windscreen, was fitted, after which the car, apart from appearances, was in almost perfect order.

After rescuing a couple of other travellers whose large American car had been hopelessly stranded for eleven hours with its chassis resting on the crown of the road, and all four wheels revolving in pools of muddy water, the pair continued their journey southwards through Johannesburg, and they arrived at Cape Town in 31 days 22 hours after having covered no fewer than 320 miles per day for a month, which entailed negotiating roadless deserts, swamps, jungles and flooded rivers.

Never in the history of automobilism has any motor-vehicle had to accomplish such a task, and no test has ever demonstrated so forcibly the quality of Wolseley productions.