Retrieval of an A110 Westminster

In March of 1999, we bought another A110 mkii Super DeLuxe. This 1968 model is originally an Ontario car. It was bought by a mechanic at the BMC dealership near Hamilton, Ontario from the original owner. He did the little bit of work the car required including respraying the black a light blue colour. After a few years, the car was sold to an Austin Healy enthusiast in Burlington, Ontario who used it as a family car from the mid 80s to early 90s. When the car required some work, it sat for a few years and was bought by Joe Lightfoot in Picton, Ontario. This was one of a large collection of Austins Joe owns so he did not have much time to work on it. He owned it for three and a half years and sold it to us this past year.

The body is fairly decent with work on one sill and front fender required. The red leather interior and wood both require some attention. Mechanically, the reverse gear in the automatic Borg Warner 35 is not operating and the tires are cracked. Otherwise it does not need anything major.

There had been no snow in Toronto for a month when we left one day in mid March to pick up the car. When we arrived in Picton (two and a half hours east), we were surprised to see that there had been an intense storm a couple of days before and the car and field were buried in snow. Determined, we uncovered the car, dug a road through the field and used our friend Bob McKenzie's Dodge Ram and trailer to winch it up the hill. Four hours of digging, winching and dragging put the A110 mkii on the trailer. The pictures below show some of the highlights. The car now resides with our 3 Litre Princess on Bob McKenzie's property awaiting restoration at some point in the future.

Click on the thumbnail in order to see a larger picture. NOTE: The thumbnail picture does not represent the picture in the link.


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