Fazendo parte de um programa especial desenvolvido pela Wolseley para a competição automóvel, que na altura se iniciava a sério...
Ora vejamos;
The Wolseley Racing Program of 1902-1905
(From "Wolseley, a Saga of the Motoring Industry" by St John C Nixon)
Chassis of the 96hp Wolseley racing car of 1904.
In 1902, the Wolseley Company turned its attention to racing, for it was generally anticipated that valuable lessons were to be learned in that sphere which would benefit the ordinary touring car. The British motor industry, then but little more than a weakling, was labouring to keep its head above water, largely owing to intense foreign competition and lack of support and encouragement on the part of the Authorities. On the other hand, almost from the moment self-propelled vehicles were used in France, the roads of that country were thrown open to organized racing because it was felt that it would prove a powerful stimulus to a new industry, and much was to be learned by submitting cars to high-speed road competitions.
Whilst here in England it was still illegal to use a motor vehicle on the public highways except under impossible conditions, in France some of the most famous road races were being held, notably the Paris-Bordeaux-Paris and the Paris-Marseilles-Paris of 1895 and 1896 respectively, which proved a boon to the various manufacturers of that country who could trace weaknesses which only came to light when cars were subjected to stresses racing alone could reveal.
British interests were first represented in the racing circle of France in 1900, when the late S. F. Edge took his 16-h.p. Napier car across the channel to see what kind of performance it would put up against the French manufacturers who had their factories almost within bow-shot of any selected course. The odds, at first, were too heavy, but in 1902, the Gordon-Bennett International Trophy - the Derby of the motor-racing world - was won by Edge, and it was this win, completely unforeseen by all foreigners, that first opened the eyes of the Continent to the fact that serious competition existed on this side of the Channel, and that their long string of walk-over successes was likely to be cut short. It was, too, during the same year that the Wolseley Company entered the field of racing, and thus provided a second string to the British bow.
It was a plucky action for the Company to take. It was obvious that in the store-cupboard of fate, there existed far more kicks than ha'pence for any inexperienced newcomer to the racing sphere. There was then no " Brooklands " and any high-speed car could only be tested in this country in defiance of the Law. True, the Continent was at his disposal, but the difficulties and the cost of taking racing cars to France, together with the necessary mechanics and drivers, added to the already heavy burden of production, and so it was that any British racing car had a poor chance against the foreigner.
When Herbert Austin undertook to design the first Wolseley racing car, he had no experience whatever of building such a machine. As far as is known, he had never ridden in one, but he saw what had been going on in France for some years past. There was a strong tendency for the racing car of yesterday to become the touring car of to-day, subject to certain modifications. Racing had caused the names of Panhard and Levassor, Mercedes and Mors, etc., to become household words throughout the world, and the British Napier Company had entered the lists and were learning the secrets racing had to teach.
It was during. 1902 that the first Wolseley racing car was produced; in actual fact, two were constructed for the forthcoming Paris-Vienna race on June 27th, 28th, 29th and 30th of that year. The Wolseley chances of success were slender for reasons stated, but the plunge was taken.
The first time a Wolseley racing car made its bow to the public was at Bexhill speed trials held during May, 1902. Following the common practice of those days, the general lay-out of the chassis was on similar lines to the Wolseley touring car. It had a four-cylinder horizontal engine of 5-in. bore and stroke which gave a reputed 30-h.p. This was far below the power of most of the foreign machines of that period which were ranging up to some 70-h.p. or more.
On the occasion in question, the car was handled by Austin himself, but it was entered for no other purpose than to submit it to the best kind of test the laws of this country would permit. There had been little time in which to tune it up, discover its faults and rectify them, and it was not anticipated that it would put up any kind of performance against the large number of continental racing cars which were taking part in these speed trials. It proved to have a fair turn of speed, but it was, of course, outmatched.
Three months later, Austin drove it in some further speed trials held at Welbeck Park, but the competition encountered was equally severe; a 30-h.p. Wolseley against a 70-h.p. Panhard was no match at all. Nevertheless, it covered the flying kilometre in 51 1/3 seconds which equalled a speed of 43.66 m.p.h., although the weather, on the day in question, was particularly unfavourable for a car of such moderate power.
In the Paris-Vienna race, very bad luck was experienced; the crankshaft broke immediately prior to the start, and Austin and his driver had to pull the whole of the engine down by the roadside and fit a new one before a start could be made. This delayed them some twelve hours. Half-way through the race, precisely the same thing happened again, and it was this double breakage that inspired Austin to adopt force-feed engine lubrication in future.
The plucky action of the Wolseley Company in designing a car for competition against the pick of Europe caused a number of Sportsmen to become interested, and when a new and improved design was brought out for the 1903 season, some of them were sold to private owners who intended driving. them in any competitions for which they were eligible. Lieut. Mansfield-Cumming purchased a 50-h.p. model, as well as Harvey Foster, of Battle, Sussex; C. E. Allan, of the Allan Line, and John Gretton.
It was during the same year that the disastrous Paris-Madrid race was held, which effectively put a stop to all long-distance point to-point races on the Continent. Three Wolseley cars took part, Nos. 214, 255 and 243, driven by Herbert Austin, Harvey Foster and Leslie Porter respectively. Both Austin and Foster failed to reach Bordeaux for various reasons, and Porter met with a terrible accident. He was approaching a corner at high speed, round which there was a concealed level crossing; this had been deserted by its flagman. Going too fast to get round the corner, he tried to steer into a field, but struck the wall of a house. His mechanic was thrown out and killed on the spot and the car turned over and caught fire. It is of interest to record that part of the steering wheel of this car is still in the possession of the Wolseley Company.
Owing to the number of accidents which took place, the race was stopped by the French Authorities at Bordeaux and each car had to be towed to the railway station and brought back to Paris by train. Not an engine was allowed to be started.
This race was followed on June 22nd of the same year by what was known as the " Circuit des Ardennes " contest organized by the Belgian Automobile Club. The total distance was 318 miles, and two Wolseley cars took part, driven by Sidney Girling and Arthur Callan, both of the Wolseley Experimental and Car Test Department. Girling's car completed the course but was obviously not fast enough to become a serious competitor. The second Wolseley retired after completing three circuits of the course."
Continuação na II parte
seria optimo que regressa-se onde andou á mais de um século 
