British Leyland

In the early ’70s, British Leyland was the UK’S topselling vehicle manufacturer within the 1100– 1300cc range. These ADO16 1100/1300s were what would be soon be termed ‘badge-engineered’, an early indication of methods employed by many large automakers today, such as General Motors. Ongoing variations and improvements were made throughout the production cycle to suit consumers’ needs — and models available ranged from basic Austin and Morris examples to the luxurious Vanden Plas Princess and the sporty Mg-badged variants. In effect, there was an 1100/1330 to suit nearly everyone. Ongoing success, popularity, and high demand meant that the cars would be built in many other countries, including Italy (the Morris Innocenti IM3), South Africa (the Austin Apache), Spain (the Authi Victoria), and Australia (the Morris 1100 Mk1, Morris 1500, and Nomad wagon versions). Built at Cowley, under British Leyland, the original Wolseley Ado16-type model was the 1100, unveiled in 1965. An upmarket model, the Wolseley shared the same twin-carburettor engine as the MG and Riley versions — many also featured two-tone paint schemes. Alongside the upgrade of all models to the larger 1275cc engine, the Wolseley 1300 MKI was launched in 1967. The 1300 also boasted an all-synchromesh manual gearbox, although it missed out on the close-ratio box that would be fitted to the Riley and MG 1330s. Those choosing the newly available automatic-transmission option lost the Mki’s second SU carburettor. It was unveiled to the public alongside the face-lifted 1100cc MKII models in 1967. The Wolseley 1100 went out of production in 1968, while, that same year, the 1300 received a slight performance boost. The MKIII ADO16 models arrived in 1971, with the Wolseley version being phased out in April 1973.

Total Production

Wolseley 1100 Wolseley 1300

The ride was super smooth thanks to the hydrolastic suspension, which offers a ride quality equal to that of many modern vehicles

This year’s Survivors Class winner, with a total of 736 points, is Sheryl Boyd’s extremely original 1964 Holden EH Premier. When we spoke to Sheryl after she had collected her trophy, we discovered that she had no recollection of there having been any Holdens in her family while she was growing up, but she did admit to having fond memories of an Austin Cambridge sedan, an Austin panel van of some kind, and a Commer van. Her later passion for EH Holdens was confirmed when, during an episode of the TV show Outrageous Fortune, the character Pascalle West named the EH Premier as her favourite car.

However, Sheryl has been a member of the Early Holden Club of Auckland (Inc) for many years, having first joined when her son was just two years old — he is now 23. Their car at the time was a modified EH Special complete with alloy wheels; Sheryl was therefore an associate member — club criteria for full membership stipulate that the car be original, not modified.

In August 1997, Sheryl bought this magnificent EH Holden Premier from the late Early Holden Club president, after deciding on it rather than an earlier FC Holden. As the EH was her favourite model, and she felt more confident driving and maintaining a ‘red-motor’ rather than a ‘grey-motor’ Holden, the decision was really quite simple.

Sheryl also liked the fact that this particular EH Premier was an absolute time capsule and was, amazingly, still running on crossply tyres when she bought it. This was, in truth, the car Sheryl had wanted to own for a very long time.

Originally, Sheryl’s EH Premier was brought into the country by an elderly lady in Queenstown during January 1964. Unfortunately for her, she soon found she was unable to drive it, so put it up on blocks. Apparently, she had to wait a year before being able to sell the car — information passed on to Sheryl by the Holden’s third owner, Ross, who also hails from Queenstown. The car remained in the deep south until September 1994, when it was purchased by the then-president of the Early Holden Club, who brought it to Auckland.

Since buying the Holden, Sheryl has attended countless club events, including the Holden Nationals in 2005, in Invercargill, driving it all the way there and back.

Sheryl’s EH Holden Premier is truly a credit to her, as she has done everything in her power to ensure that its originality has been retained. She reckons that, in New Zealand, nearly every family can say that they’ve owned a Holden at some time, whether it was Dad, Granddad, Uncle Jim, or whoever, and we would tend to agree.

This has been the first time that Sheryl has entered the EH into a judged competition; she has always put it in as a display car only at shows, so was delighted to receive a trophy — testament to the hard work she and partner Dave put into preparing it for the Survivors Class this year.