The Austin Westminster series are large saloon and estate cars that were sold by the British manufacturer Austin from 1954, replacing the A70 Hereford. The Westminster line was produced as the A90, A95, A99, A105, and A110 until 1968 when the new

Austin 3-Litre The Austin 3-Litre is a British saloon car that was introduced by Austin at the London Motor Show in 1967. Codenamed ADO61, the car was intended to be BMC's offering in the 3-litre executive class and was originally designed in the early 1960s, ...

took its place. Essentially badge-engineered versions of the Farina Westminsters were also produced using the premium Wolseley and

Vanden Plas Vanden Plas is the name of coachbuilders who produced bodies for specialist and up-market automobile manufacturers. Latterly the name became a top-end luxury model designation for cars from subsidiaries of British Leyland and the Rover Group, ...

marques. 101,634 Westminsters were built. The Westminster name was previously used by the Austin Motor Company in the 1930s for a four light version of the 16/6 and the Heavy 12/4.

A90

The A90 Six Westminster was introduced at the 1954

London Motor Show London Motor Show, formerly the London Motorfair, is a motor show in England. It was held biannually at Earls Court Exhibition Centre, from 1977 to 1999. When the event won the support of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders and P&O ...

at the same time as the small A40/A50 Cambridge saloon range. It used the new BMC C-Series straight-6 engine with single Zenith carburettor which, at 2.6 L (2639 cc), produced 85 hp (63 kW). The suspension is independent at the front using coil springs and wishbones and leaf spring and anti-roll bar on the live axle at the rear. The four-speed transmission has synchromesh on the top three ratios and from 1955 an overdrive unit could be specified. The interior, with leather trim on the de luxe version and PVC on the standard model, has a split bench front seat arrangement, although individually adjustable, which if necessary could seat three people abreast. When only two are carried there are, on the de luxe model, fold down centre armrests at the side of each seat. The de luxe model also has a central fold down armrest in the rear. The handbrake control is under the dash on the right hand side of the steering column which also carries the gear change lever. A heater is fitted as standard on the de luxe model but optional on the standard version. The Austin Motor Company also produced a brochure for an A90 Six Westminster police car which featured a floor gearchange. The British ''

Motor An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power g ...

'' magazine tested a Westminster de luxe saloon in 1955 recording a top speed of and acceleration from 0– in 18.9 seconds and a fuel consumption of . The test car cost £834 including taxes. The A90 designation had previously been carried by the 1948–52

Austin Atlantic The Austin A90 Atlantic is a British car produced by the Austin Motor Company from 1949 until 1952. It was launched initially as a four-seat convertible, making its début at the 1948 Earls Court Motor Show in London, with production models bui ...

. 25,532 A90 Six Westminsters were built. File:Austin_A90_Westminster_front.jpg, A90 Westminster File:A90_Westminster_rear.JPG, File:A90_Westminster_side.JPG, File:Austin_A90_Westminster_tail.jpg, 'cow hips' tail

A95/A105

In May 1956, for a brief period only, a derivative of the A90 Six Westminster was announced which was a short boot version of the A105 and had the twin SU carburettor/102 hp version of the 2.6-litre C series engine with overdrive as standard. In October 1956 the A105 received the longer wheelbase with overdrive as standard and automatic transmission as an option. Twin fog lights, heater and wheel trims were standard although a radio was still an option. Two tone paint and white wall tyres were introduced for visual effect. Very few short boot versions of the A105 were produced and they are now quite rare. The A90 was updated for autumn 1956 as the A95. Along with more power, the A95 was longer and now offered an estate model. Overdrive and an

automatic transmission An automatic transmission (sometimes abbreviated to auto or AT) is a multi-speed transmission used in internal combustion engine-based motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving ...

were new as well, something of a novelty in British cars of the time. Both the A95 and A105 were produced together until 1959. 28,065 A95s and 6,770 A105s were built. The Westminster name was dropped from the sales literature for the A95 and the A105 although, oddly, the drivers' handbooks still used the name Westminster to title the illustration of the saloon. The estate version was named Countryman. Nevertheless, most enthusiasts still refer to them as Westminsters. A badge-engineered version of the A95 with different grille, trim, and badges and a bench front seat was assembled and sold in Australia as the

Morris Marshal The Morris Marshal is a large six-cylinder vehicle which was produced by the British Motor Corporation (Australia) between 1957 and 1960. The car was a Morris branded version of the Austin Westminster The Austin Westminster series are large ...

from 1957 until 1960. An A105 saloon with overdrive tested by the British magazine ''The Motor'' in 1956 had a top speed of and could accelerate from 0– in 15.4 seconds. A fuel consumption of was recorded. The test car cost £1109 including taxes. File:Austin_A105_Westminster_1956_front.jpg, A105 first model File:Austin_A105_Westminster_1956_rear.jpg, A105 'cow hips' model File:Austin_A95_Westminster_front.jpg, Austin A95 File:Austin_A95_Westminster_rear.jpg, Long boot for A95 File:Austin_A105_Westminster_front_1957.jpg, A105 revised File:Austin_A105_Westminster_rear_1957.jpg, Long boot A105 File:Austin_A105_Six_side_1957.jpg, Austin A105. Longer body from 1956

Austin A105 Vanden-Plas

The A105 was the first mass-produced Austin family car to be specially upgraded by coachbuilder

, following the success of the large A135

Austin Princess The Austin Princess is a series of large luxury cars that were made by Austin and its subsidiary Vanden Plas from 1947 to 1968. The cars were also marketed under the Princess and Vanden Plas marque names. The Princess name was also used as fo ...

limousine. This was done after a personal request from

Leonard Lord Leonard Percy Lord, 1st Baron Lambury KBE (15 November 1896 – 13 September 1967) was a captain of the British motor industry. Background and education Leonard Percy Lord was born on 16 November 1896 and was the youngest child in his family ...

in 1957. Changes included significant new interior fittings, and a grey stripe bearing the "Princess" crown on the side of the body; most bodies were in sombre colours such as black or maroon. File:Austin with Vanden Plas detailing.JPG, A105 with Vanden Plas treatment File:Austin_A105_Vanden-Plas_front.jpg, A105 V D P front File:Austin_A105_Vanden-Plas_badge.jpg, V D P boot badging File:Austin_A105_Vanden-Plas_rear.jpg, V D P looks like any A105

A99

The A99 Westminster appeared in 1959 with new

Pininfarina Pininfarina S.p.A. (short for Carrozzeria Pininfarina) is an Italian car design firm and coachbuilder, with headquarters in Cambiano, Turin, Italy. The company was founded by Battista "Pinin" Farina in 1930. On 14 December 2015, the Indian ...

-designed bodywork. Pininfarina had also re-styled Austin's compact A40 and mid-sized A55 Cambridge ranges the year before. Under the bonnet was the 2.9 L (2912 cc) C-Series straight-6 engine with twin

SU carburettor SU carburettors were a British manufacturer of constant-depression carburettors. Their designs were in mass production during most of the twentieth century. The S.U. Carburetter Company Limited also manufactured dual-choke updraught carburetto ...

s from the

Austin-Healey 3000 The Austin-Healey 3000 is a British sports car built from 1959 until 1967. It is the best known of the "big Healey" models. The car's bodywork was made by Jensen Motors and the vehicles were assembled at BMC's MG Works in Abingdon, alongsid ...

. This engine produced 103 hp (77 kW) in Westminster tune. A three-speed all-synchromesh manual gearbox with a Borg-Warner overdrive unit was fitted as standard, or a Borg-Warner

as an option. Power-assisted Lockheed brakes with discs on the front wheels were also new. An A99 saloon with automatic transmission was tested by the British magazine ''The Motor'' in 1960 and they recorded a top speed of , acceleration from 0– in 17.9 seconds and a fuel consumption of . The test car cost £1219 including taxes. The manual car cost £1148. A specially trimmed A99 was sold as the Princess 3-Litre, (note, not an "Austin" Princess – Austin was removed from Princess badging in August 1957 on the larger Princess IV) and later under the Vanden Plas

marque A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

as the

Vanden Plas Princess The Princess is a version of the Austin A99 Westminster produced by BMC from 1959 to 1968, latterly under the Vanden Plas marque. The model was launched in October 1959 under the name Princess 3-litre. From July 1960, these vehicles bore the ...

. A Wolseley version, the 6/99, was also produced. Production ended in 1961 with the introduction of the larger A110. 15,162 A99s were built.

A110

The final major update arrived in 1961 with the A110 Westminster. This version had an extended (by 2 in/51 mm) wheelbase, which allowed more space in the rear compartment as well as improving the roadholding, a floor-mounted gear lever. 13 in wheels were substituted in 1964's Mark II models. Wolseley produced a 6/110 version, and there was a Vanden Plas Princess Mark II with the C-Series engine, now uprated to . The same basic body was also used for a Rolls Royce-engined

, and the body even formed part of a prototype Bentley. The Westminster range was finally replaced by the

in 1968. 26,105 A110s were built. File:Austin_A110_Westminster_MkII_head.jpg, Austin A110 Westminster Mark II – the biggest "Farina" Austin File:Austin_A110_Westminster_MkII_tail.jpg, File:Austin_A110_Westminster_MkII_rear.jpg,

Scale models and die-cast

*Meccano

Dinky Toys Dinky Toys was the brand name for a range of die-cast zamak zinc alloy scale model vehicles produced by British toy company Meccano Ltd. They were made in England from 1934 to 1979, at a factory in Binns Road in Liverpool. Dinky Toys were am ...

; No. 176 (production 1958–1963), Austin A105 Westminster, approximately

O scale O scale (or O gauge) is a scale commonly used for toy trains and rail transport modelling. Introduced by German toy manufacturer Märklin around 1900, by the 1930s three-rail alternating current O gauge was the most common model railroad sca ...

(1:44).

References

External links

Austin Memories
– History of Austin and Longbridge
Cambridge-Oxford Owners Club
– including advice for preservation of this vehicle {{British Motor Holdings and British Leyland cars, 1966-1986

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

Executive cars Cars introduced in 1954 1960s cars Rear-wheel-drive vehicles Touring cars

A90