When the University hosts a classic car show, September 21, during its 50th anniversary Weekend Celebration, Andrew Templer will be there.
A professor at the Odette School of Business, he is also the proud owner of a 1968 Wolseley 6/110. He purchased the car during a sabbatical in his native South Africa in 1991.
“I wondered whether this might be the opportunity to finally acquire the marque of my dreams,” he recalls. “My car had been sitting on a back lot as part of a deceased estate, and so I was fortunate enough to be just the second owner of one of the last MkII’s assembled in South Africa.”
He describes the vehicle as the British police car of the era, as well as an upmarket private automobile, similar to the niche occupied by a Ford Crown Victoria. Its rarity on this side of the Atlantic has seen it in demand for period films.
His car was filmed for an HBO documentary on the life of musician Jimi Hendrix, as well as in the 2004 espionage thriller A Different Loyalty. Although timing prevented Dr. Templer from appearing as the car’s driver in the film, he says the experience was worth it.
“This is part of what sharing the fun of British classics is all about,” he says. “I can affirm that Sharon Stone’s bum was most certainly placed on my Wolseley’s back seat!”
The Classic Car Show will run 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunset Avenue, celebrating the city’s automotive heritage and culminating in tours of the Centre for Engineering Innovation where students will display the latest transportation technology.
Learn more, including how you can participate, at www.uwindsor.ca/anniversary.
