Greetings card: William Woodley driving his Benz Velo motorcar.

Description

A greetings card of William Woodley driving his Benz Velo motorcar and this make and model of car was the first mass produced.  Furthermore, the one that William Woodley drove is on display in the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu.  You can see my article and video about it here.  Furthermore, there is another greetings card on sale in our shop which shows the motorhouse (garage) built specifically for this car.

The story of William Woodley and the Benz Velo in a nutshell.

Woodley Woodley was not a fan of the motorcar!  He once wrote:

‘The Motor Nuisance. — I have often wondered why bee-keepers never refer to the nuisance which these horseless carriages are to those bee-keepers who live on a main road…”

And referred to motorists as: ‘petrol fiends [who] had disturbed the quietude and freshness of our sylvan highways.’

Yet, he approached his landlord, Lockinge Estate, for permission to ‘put a small motor house behind the shrubs’.

William Woodley purchased the car in Oxford (circa. 1908). Unfortunately, during his first journey he ran out of petrol on the way home (not a great start!).  Nonetheless, he did use the car for getting to and from his out-apiary.

By 1912 the car ended up in the possession of his daughter, and it powered a machine for chopping up mangold worzels.  After an approach from the Science Museum, Mrs Goodman sold the car for £10.  The Science Museum, at some point during the twentieth century, loaned this Benz Velo to the National Motor Museum where it is on display.

This greetings card of William Woodley driving a Benz Velo might be great for…

• vintage car buffs
• someone who has a connection to the village of Beedon (particularly the hamlet of Worlds End) or West Berkshire
• someone who has a keen interest in (beekeeping) history.

More information about this greeetings card

• This greetings card is approximately 155mm by 155mm
• Comes with a grey coloured envelope
• The card is blank inside
• The card and envelope are wrapped in cellophane
• Weighs approximately 20 grams