Classic car enthusiast spent £13,000 restoring a 1958 Wolseley 1500 and kept every receipt

Dennis Jackson has kept every receipt linked to the restoration of his 1958 Wolesley 1500, and says that although he owns a modern car, he finds the 68-year-old vehicle a more reliable run-around.

Easy for roadside maintenance

The classic car enthusiast says, in the video above (click to play) he likes that it’s ‘very easy to work on’, stating: “you can do roadside maintenance and basically carry on driving’.

In an episode of Motor Mania, Dennis shows video journalist, Lucinda Herbert, under the bonnet and shows some of the Wolesley’s unique features - including a crank handle. He explains: “That will actually start the car. It goes into a little groove on the engine, and you can turn it. Once the ignition is on, you can basically start the car.”

Classic car history

Dennis keeps a photo album in the boot, which contains historical pictures of the classic vehicle before, during and after it was restored.

There are an estimated 20 1958 Wolesley 1500’s left on the road.

Re-built and uses unleaded petrol

Dennis says, in the programme: “It’s had a complete re-built, back to bare metal. Any rotten metal has been cut out and re-welded in, and re-sprayed.

The engine has been totally re-built, and now I use unleaded petrol in it.”

‘I’ve got every receipt’

Although the Prestonian didn’t do the restoration himself, he says he is aware of all the work that was carried out by its previous owners.

“They spent exactly £13,721 restoring it. I’ve got every receipt for the work that was done, and full photographic evidence of the re-build. When I bought the car, all of this evidence came with it, which is important when you’re buying classic cars to get as much history as you can. Because that’s part of it’s heritage.”

Large steering wheel

Video shows the beautiful walnut dashboard, as Dennis talk through some of the features within Episode 5 of Motor Mania.

And motor-loving Dennis adds that he uses a wooden clothes peg for the choke button.

He explains: “There’s no power steering, but it does have a very large steering wheel to assist in driving. The tyres are the original cross-ply tyres which are very narrow, and makes it light to drive.”

Watch Motor Mania on TV and online

Motor Mania airs on Shots! TV - Freeview 262 and Freely 565 on Friday evenings at 7pm. Watch new episodes each week at the same time.

The full episode can also be viewed online here https://www.shotstv.com/watch/vod/52926356