Island Life Magazine Ltd August/September 2009 | Page 44

life

FEATURE

Richard’s labour of love
HE is the first to confess that he is not

of a rock face which compliments

become replacement? He tackled the

remotely mechanically minded. Yet for the

the curves. The Wolseley Series 2 is

first by meticulously sourcing the parts

past two years landscaper Richard Dixcey

a landscape on wheels. It is hardly

he needed, using the internet to find bits

spent every spare evening painstakingly

surprising this successful landscaper was

such as the rear hub and wheel, from as

restoring what was a complete wreck

attracted to the car.

far away as New Zealand and Australia.

of an old Wolseley. “I’ve been after a

He found it in a garage, and it did

As for replacement versus making good,

restoration project all my life,” he says.

provoke a fair amount of interest. One

his landscaper’s instinct kicked in and he

“It is a very, very rare car. A 1937 Series

man was going to take it to Poland to

largely used what was there. The door

2, 12-horse power Wolseley. There are

restore but was deterred by the shipping

handles, then, are pitted but re-chromed;

fewer than 40 in the world remaining.”

costs. Others thought it was beyond

the bumpers, which are like strips of

hope. So this rusting, peeling car was

unfurled ribbon, just curling at each end,

suddenly available to Richard.

are original too.

Actually Richard undertaking such a
project is not as unlikely as it first seems.
The swooping curves of the fenders which

Now Richard was faced with two

“It’s 73 years old,” says Richard,

taper to join the generous running-boards

problems. The first is that he is a

glancing lovingly (as well he might) at

exactly mirror the rolling hills of the

perfectionist. The second – which is the

this thing of beauty. “The car was in a

surrounding countryside. The vertical lines

age-old conundrum faced by restorers

very poor state, it had to be completely

of the lofty radiator give it the structure

of anything – when does restoration

overhauled . The engine had to be

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