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Post date: 21-Oct-2015 06:58:36
The Cambridge-Oxford Owners Club's AGM moves around the country every year in order to give members a different attraction to visit and to make sure they can attend an AGM that's reasonably local to them every 2 or 3 years. This year's took place on the concourse of the excellent Coventry Transport Museum.
Mark Shepley's superbly restored Austin A99 Westminster was voted favourite car of the day by the members present. The gleaming black example, a rare 3-speed manual column change with overdrive, and its fantastic red interior attracted a lot of favourable comments.
Mark has owned it since 2013 but credit must also go to fellow member, Tom Ward, who had the car restored by marque specialist Richard Martin in 2011 after rescuing it from being used for banger racing.
As well as the AGM, the event was used to remember well known and enthusiastic COOC member Steve Mould from Ruislip who sadly passed away some years ago aged just 44 after a lifelong battle with kidney disease. Steve's brother Martin contacted the club earlier this year to say that when sorting through his brother's things he'd identified a number of COOC related items and felt his brother would like the club to have these and distribute them amongst the membership.
Steve was a pre-Farina enthusiast who'd owned an A50 Cambridge and A90 Westminster so his extensive collection of literature, memorabilia, spares and models was based around these two cars.
The COOC committee decided to auction them off to members present with all bids starting at 50p, the aim being to give members a chance to buy things that perhaps in the normal way they could not afford. Bidding was enthusiastic, and over £100 was raised for club funds.
Most importantly the items went to members who will cherish them and in many cases knew Steve and remembered his passion for the early 'cow-hip' Austins; surely what he would have wanted.
COOC members hold up they items they have purchased at auction.
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