45 Margaret Woosley: Hordern-Richmond Employee Part of Team That Built Allard Clipper #1—087 YN I met Margaret back in 2009 via communication and phone calls through our Undiscovered Classics website. What a joyful person she was to talk to with an interesting and great love of life. Margaret, born in 1925, passed away in 2011 at the age 86. I was honored to be her friend. Undiscovered Classics: 1954 Allard Clipper & Margaret Woolsey—December 5 2009 (Updated 8/14/2025) Hi Gang…I love surprises. Everyone loves surprises…And what a surprise it was when I heard directly from the first woman to participate in the build one of the first fiberglass production car in Britain – Margaret Woolsey. Born and raised in Scotland…..Margaret was a spry 28 years old when she left the Woman’s Royal Air Force in 1953. During this time, she spent 14 months in Egypt in the Suez Canal zone (she rode camels and won a rifle shooting competition there too!) and 10 months in Iraq – 60 miles from Bagdad. She had spent nearly 5 years in their ranks in postwar Great Britain in a equipment section provisioning what was needed by the military. After leaving the military in 1953, she needed a job. Postwar Britain was still recovering from the after affects of World War II so any reasonable job would do. So when she heard of a job opportunity, she headed to Hordern-Richmond, an aircraft and aeronautic equipment company, expecting to find work and stay employed. But what kind of work would she get??? Boy was she surprised! Her first month was spent learning more about the company and working in different parts of the organization as they determined where she would best fit. During this time she did finishing work on propellers, small bi-planes, and other interesting projects. Then, toward the end of her first month of work, Margaret was brought to a new workshop for a project that was being kept as secret as possible. It was here that she found out that she was going to produce the molds and fiberglass panels for the one of the first fiberglass production car in the UK. Margaret Woolsey in 1954—just 29 years old and part of the 8-person team that built the Allard Clipper bodies
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