MEET THE OWNER - DON SCOTT AND HIS AUSTIN A99 WESTMINSTER

Don Scott has recently acquired what many will consider the ideal automotive Christmas present – an Austin A99 Westminster. To quote the launch advertisement, here was a motor car where “the good looks come naturally, without need of ornament or frippery”.

The British Motor Corporation’s ‘Big Farina’ range made its bow in the summer of 1959, to replace the Austin A95/105 Westminster and the Wolseley 6/90. The distinctive styling by Pininfarina was one major sales asset, as was a larger 2,912cc version of the BMC ‘C-Series’ engine. The three-speed steering column gearchange boasted Porsche synchromesh and Borg Warner dual overdrive was a standard fitting. The specification also included the very welcome fitting of servo-assisted front disc brakes.

Naturally, BMC’s publicity made much of the Big Farina’s handsome appearance. Not only did the Austin feature “New Imperious Lines”, but it was also “a car of distinction, for people of distinction – the A99 Westminster cannot fail to grace most auspicious occasion”. In other words, for just £1,148 12s 6d you too could enjoy the sensation of looking down on all Ford Zodiac Mk. IIs, Standard Vanguard Vignales and Vauxhall Cresta PAs.

Meanwhile, for the motorist who craved yet more distinction, the Wolseley 6/99 cost another £106, and featured a wood veneered fascia, a cigar lighter, fog, spot and reversing lamps, a cigar lighter, and the famous ‘ghost lamp’ radiator badge. The flagship Big Farina was the Princess 3-Litre trimmed by Vanden Plas of Kingsbury costing £1,396 10s 10d. By that point your neighbours were probably wondering if you had been elevated to the peerage.

The Motor regarded the A99 as “Big in roominess, and easy-going in performance” - a combination that suited many BMC customer. The Big Farinas, to use a popular phrase of that era, seemed perfect for ‘The Motorway Age’. The Guardian writer praised the flexibility of the C-series engine:

Recently I was able to travel as slowly as 10 mph in top gear, and reach more than eighty miles an hour in a standing start in second gear without further use of the gear lever. A speed of 100 mph may be reached in top gear.

The A110 replaced the A99 in 1961 and Don’s car is a UK-market car that was exported to South Africa. He notes “the brakes are binding a bit and the Westminster needs a service due to sitting for around four years”. But before long the Austin will once more return to the road – and startle other motorists with its “urgent power”.

With Thanks To: Don Scott.