Click the image to see it full size.
Minor rumours and speculation
News of a new model from a major car manufacturer creates quite a stir today, particularly in the motoring press. Much speculation takes place and grainy ‘spy’ photos of heavily disguised cars are published with paint schemes aimed at breaking-up the car’s outline. The motoring magazines then put together their own ‘artist impressions’ taken from the spy photos and these are then analysed by their experts. In the twenties and thirties much the same took place, although without quite the razzmatazz seen today. Here are two images that illustrate that point. In the spring of 1928 rumours concerning the forthcoming baby car from Morris Motors were rife. Just prior to the first official photos being released in June, The Autocar released their own impression of what the car was likely to look like. Thankfully, they were way off beam as this awful mocked-up photo shows. Later, in February 1930 news was circulating among the motoring journals of a new small six-cylinder car from Morris. On this occasion, The Autocar‘s mock-up was almost spot-on in terms of appearance, except that the car they depicted was badged as a Morris. When the new ‘six’ did appear just two months later, it of course carried a Wolseley motif on its radiator.
