Austin A125 Sheerline.
A further selection of photos supplied by Jim Walker from the family albums. This collection shows some of the Austin A125 Sheerlines used by Bowers in the 1950s and 1960s, mainly on undertaking and wedding duties. They had a mix of Sheerline Limousines and coachbuilt hearses in their fleet, along with a couple of pre-war Rolls-Royces for good measure.
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Sheerline hearses.
The first two photos show the hearse version of the A125, a fine coachbuilt motor-car. Sadly few classic or vintage hearses have survived into preservation. Many people aren't keen on the idea of driving around in a hearse for pleasure, which led to large numbers of classic hearses not being rescued. Instead, many of these fine old carriages saw out their days painted up like graffiti-daubed subways, and driven to destruction at b*nger meets. I wonder where Austin Sheerline reg'd LOB 627 ended its days? Sandra & Dean, from the Classic Hearse Register, advise that they were bodied by Martel Motors Coachbuilders.
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Sheerline Limousines.
The next photo shows LOB 627 with a selection of Sheerline Limousines for company, posed outside a church with their drivers. Just visible to the right is an A135 Princess.
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The following three photos show the Austin Limousines, this time on wedding rather than funeral duty.
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Thanks again to Jim for sending these photos over, and allowing them to be shown here.
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The Sheerline range was conceived by Austin during WW2 yet went into production, as a saloon, in 1947, initially designated as the A110 but switching to A125 when the powerplant was upgraded from a 3.5 litre straight six to a 4.0 litre six. The stretched limousine versions, as shown above, were introduced in 1950, with hearse and ambulance versions being introduced later still. Production ended in 1954, by which time some 8,000 or so examples had been built.
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Return to Old Car Photos section, Page No. 10.
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