Ex-moss Aston in Canada
When we saw a private ad modestly mentioning a long-stored Aston as having once been owned by Stirling Moss, we had to know more. The owner, Wayne Young of Port Colbourne, Ontario, told us a fascinating tale, ‘I travelled to England back in 1975 specifically to buy a DB MKIII. I was just 23 but I’d previously bought a DB2/4 in Toronto and set my sights on a MKIII. I found this one advertised in the back of Exchange and Mart and went to see it. It had a blown head gasket, but I bought it anyway and eventually put it on a ship back to Canada.
‘Before I left, I went around buying up spares – I have a memory of carrying a DB MKIII exhaust system and some Connolly hides across London on the tube, with British people politely letting me through with my outsize luggage. Aston Service in Dorset dug out the build sheet, which listed the first owner as “David Brown Motors (Stirling Moss)”, which was the first I knew of the connection.’
It seems Moss was gifted the car for a short while and performed a magazine road test. A few months later it was with a dealer and thereafter passed into private hands. We contacted the Moss family, but Sir Stirling has said before he doesn’t tend to remember road cars, and could add nothing further to this car’s story.
‘I’ve had a lot of Austin-healeys to distract me – I still have three – and I moved house once or twice,’ says Young. ‘I’m planning to move again soon, up to a lake house, and if the car doesn’t sell I’ll finally finish it up there.’ Young is keen to hear from anyone who can add to the car’s early history. Interested parties can contact the magazine.