Day trips and afternoon tea
Lord Nuffield bought the Wolseley Eight in 1939 for Lady Nuffield’s birthday. Her diaries tell us she used the car on a day-to-day basis, regularly driving into Wallingford, picking up cakes on a Friday, and visiting her sisters in Oxford for afternoon tea.
A treasured family car, Lord Nuffield continued to drive the Wolseley Eight after Lady Nuffield’s death in 1959, until his frailness meant he had to be chauffeur driven.
Keeping it in the family
Wolseley had started production in 1901 with Herbert Austin as the managing director. When in 1927 the company went into receivership, Lord Nuffield purchased it as a personal investment.
Lord Nuffield himself owned 2 Wolseley cars; another Wolseley Eight, and a Wolseley Drop Head Coupe that was given to him by the Wolseley Motor Company workforce in gratitude for him buying the company.