Looking for other products to even out the workload, Herbert Austin became interested in motor cars and built two different types of three-wheelers in his own time. A version of one of these was taken up by the Wolseley Sheep Shearing Machine Company and listed for sale in 1900, but the Wolseley board could see no profitable future for a motor industry. In 1901, Vickers bought Wolseley's car interests, taking Austin too, and naming the new business Wolseley Tool & Motor Company setting it up in Adderley Park, Birmingham. Herbert Austin retained his interest and ties with The Wolseley Sheep Shearing Machine Company.Lambert (1968), Chapter 3: Vickers and Wolseley He was chairman of their board from 1911 to 1933, when he retired shortly before his death.
