THE HEINZ WOLSELEY HORNET
In January 1966, Heinz invited the nation to take part in their Greatest Glow On Earth competition. Entrants were required to pair eight soups with a very 1960s array of main courses, such as oxtail soup with liver sausage salad, and complete the phrase: ‘I like to take Heinz soup on a picnic because...’. The form, together with two soup labels, would need to reach 100 Cromer Street, WC1 before the 28th February if you wished to win one of 57 Wolseley Hornet MkII Convertibles, henceforth known as the Heinz Hornets.
John Worth, owner of the car pictured here, perceptively remarks that his Wolseley is the sort of car that would have appealed to a young Mildred Roper from the TV sitcom George and Mildred. In fact, the competition could have easily formed a plot line for an early version of the programme, with Mildred painstakingly devising a slogan and dreaming of a new car emblazoned with M.R. logos. After all, the Wolseley Hornet so perfectly epitomised 1960s suburban aspirations, even if the episode would have concluded with the discovery that George had lost the envelope down the pub.
Crayford Engineering undertook the conversions of these remarkable vehicles, and the result was touted as ‘the first
