Admiring Westminster. No, Not the Abbey, Not the Cathedral... the Car!
Filed in archive British Cars , Catalogs by Philip Powell on September 27, 2008

When, in the 1960s, Robert McLellan discovered "The Autocar" and "The Motor" on his local newsstands he was annoyed that these British magazines (which were expensive in the USA and Canada) featured too many Austins, Morris, and other inexpensive makes. He was looking for the exotic marques. As he confesses in the October issue of Automotive Chronicles "it was not until the 1970s, when I could afford subscriptions, that I read the magazines from front to back, including those articles and road tests on the Austin. Later I found old issues from the 1930s through the 1950s at swapmeets and Austin became of more interest." Head of the largest collector car literature outlet in America, he's mellowed a little. Robert now says "discovering Austin was worthy of my time and I hope you will find them interesting, too." Well, I certainly do and this 1960 Austin A99 Westminster catalog caught my attention because I actually got to test drive one of the relatively few that were imported into Canada. With body designed by Farina and a luxurious (for its time) interior, the A99 was powered by a detuned Austin Healey 3000 2912cc engine developing 103 bhp. It had plenty of room for six people and with performance modifications was fast enough that Pat Moss (sister of Sir Stirling) scored a legendary outright win in the 1960 Liege-Rome-Liege rally. You can purchase this 12-page catalog for a mere $25.00 from McLellans, a much simpler task than trying to find a restored or even driveable Westminster in the US or Canada.
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McLellans literature catalog Austin Westminster Healey Pat Stirling Moss classic vintage antique col
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