The Austin A95 Westminster car at Thien Mu Pagoda will certainly be immortalized over time along with the classic photo of the noble sacrifice of Venerable Thich Quang Duc.
Thien Mu Pagoda is considered a symbol of the ancient capital of Hue. This temple is where an old car is kept, with a special history. It is a car of the Austin A95 Westminster model, license plate DBA-599.
Going back in history, during Buddha’s birthday in 1963, the political atmosphere in the South was suffocatingly tense, with no way out for peace under the Ngo Dinh Diem government. Fire burned into the sky along with iron hands to suppress communists and Buddhists.
During such stormy times of war, Venerable Thich Quang Duc – then the abbot of Avalokiteśvara Pagoda in Phu Nhuan District, Saigon – was not willing to endure the situation of persecuted Buddhists drowning in a pool of blood, and decided to self-immolated to protest the brutal policies of the Diem-Nhu government.
New York Times journalist David Halberstam reported: “His Holiness Thich Quang Duc came with a procession from a nearby temple. About 350 monks and nuns walked in two vertical lines, led by an Austin car, in which he sat…”.
“The incident happened at the intersection of Phan Dinh Phung and Le Van Duyet. Venerable Thich Quang Duc stepped out of the car with two other monks. One person spread a mattress on the road, and the other person opened the back of the car and took out a can containing 5 gallons of gasoline.
“While the procession circled around, Venerable Thich Quang Duc quietly sat down on the cushion, in a meditation position. The monk who followed poured gasoline from a can onto His head. He recited the rosary and recited Namo Amitabha Buddha before striking a match and lighting himself.”
“Fire suddenly covered His clothes and skin, and black smoke mixed with the smell of oil rose from His burning body….”.
Thus, the Austin A95 Westminster car, license plate DBA-59, accompanied the parade and carried Venerable Thich Quang Duc to the place of self-immolation. The car’s starting point was An Quang Pagoda, where the Venerable announced his wish before self-immolation.
According to a document, the Austin car originally belonged to a Buddhist of Thien Mu Pagoda named Tran Quang Thuan, whose dharma name was Tam Duc. He had an affinity with Buddhist affairs when he lent it to take Venerable Thich Quang Duc from An Quang Pagoda to Phan Dinh Phung – Le Van Duyet intersection.
After the incident on June 11, 1963, the Saigon Police Department confiscated the car as evidence.
After returning the car, in 1964, Mr. Tran Quang Thuan donated the car to Thien Mu Pagoda for the monks to display as a relic. The Austin car was taken from Saigon to Hue and has remained there until now.
In the 1960s, the Austin Westminster was a car line that was considered quite comfortable and luxurious. This car line was produced by Austin Motor Company (UK), only existed for a short time (1954–1968) and today very few Vietnamese people know about it.
There are a total of 4 generations of the Austin Westminster car line that have been released, bearing the code A90, A95/A105, A99, A110 respectively. The car carrying Venerable Thich Quang Duc is model A95.
Over time, there was a time when the car was seriously degraded and rusted, before being restored to “as good as new” in recent years.
And with its background, the car will certainly be immortalized over time with the classic photo of the noble sacrifice of Venerable Thich Quang Duc.
More importantly, the car can be considered a special relic expressing the patriotism of Vietnamese people during a painful period for the nation.
