Sorry to here of Al's passing, condolences to his family.

This coming Thursday, Jan 20, the family will be holding a memorial service for our dear friend Al. I plan to do exactly what he'd want from all of us on that day, and that is to drive my Mini and/or Moke. Join me in honoring him in this manner if you can, while recollecting all the great times we had with him.

R.I.P.

I dont recall.   I want to say 2004 possibly?   It was an epic weekend!

2002 ?

We were there too.

Absolutely heartbreaking.    This world has lost a great human.   

Al has always been so good to me.   I'll never forget the weekend I spent with him and Capt JJ at Watkins Glenn.  He put me up for the night in the BMC, bought me breakfast the following morning and allowed me to drive the woody wagon he had with him on the trip.    So many years later he sent me a book on Vespa scooters knowing I was in to them.   

For those who dont know.  Al would sell a Mini to someone with no collateral and accept whatever payment they could afford to give him monthly just so they had the opportunity to own one.  Ask me how I know!   I had the pleasure of picking up a few cars from the Port of Newark or around the Tri-State area for Al because he wanted nothing to do with travelling in "the city".   I would drop them off at my house in the Catskills and Al would swing by to pick them up when he had the opportunity.  

-James

Rest in peace Big Al.

Great story, thanks for sharing it!   Best one I remember is Big Al was at our house for dinner with another MM member, scargo.  My wife (Missus BB) brought out the ginormous Lamb Shanks with Lentils entree.  Scargo said the entree looked like something the Flinstones would eat, and since then, IIRC I was Fred and he was Barney from then on......

And the time Al bought back a car, my mechanic could not fix.  I felt bad for him, but he was an honorable man of his word....

Fondly, Billy Backstay..??

I had a number of dealings with Big Al over the years and he was a great help to me with parts and advice. 

The best story I have was; I had found a very nice Mini and the guy that was selling it also had built a new 1380 for it but hadn't installed it. I wanted the engine for my pickup and really didn't need the Mini. I sent Big Al the pictures and he was only about a hour away and drove up to see the Mini. When he got there the car was being test driven by a gentleman and then returned, the guy liked the car but needed to chat with his wife for a few minutes and returned to his car that his wife was sitting in. Big Al looked at the car and told the owner he would take it and the engine for the full asking price and handed him the cash. The gentleman returned from talking with his wife and proudly exclaimed he would take the car! He was not amused when the owner informed him that it had been purchased!

Big Al thank you and we will miss you greatly

So Sad....so sorry to hear.  Saw the news on FB this morning.
Never had the opportuntiy to meet him in person, but swapped many parts and stories over the years.

Rest in peace big guy!!! Thanks for the Mini Ride!!

Big Al was bigger than his name suggested, and is entwined throughout the history of this message board and Mini Meets in NA.

I'll never forget wandering round the parking lot at MME in Magog 2003 when we formulated PACE (BABE) which became a buzzword for a decade, even if the BABE bit did get dropped.

RIP my friend. Many a day we sat at the Mini meets and Spring Flings talking about our adventures. When I surgery from my Rescue work at the WTC on 9/11, Al was one of my few true mini friend's that reached out to help me during that difficult time. He was a one of a kind old school mini man. He will be sorely missed. God speed my friend............Moke on!

Wow!! I am still shocked to hear about his passing. Although, I never had the chance to meet him in person, we talked and exchanged emails over the years. I really appreciated his honest advise and willingness to help any Mini enthusiast. A great loss to the Mini community.

Always a friend to me (and most of you as well) Big Al was doing stuff for me w/o being asked even before I had my first Mini.
I drove his baby-poop green Mini Auto at a MME in QC in 2003 and he didn't really even know me that well.  Just tossed me the
keys and said "off you go Mike".  That was the first time I had ever been the driver of a Mini.

I'll post some cool pix in a day or two, to this thread, to remember him by.  They're on another HDD.

RIP my friend.

Very sad news. He was a nice guy and always willing to help. RIP, Big Al. 

Heard about Big Al's passing today on FB. Sad day, I just text'd him the other day about shipping some TR6 door panels to Canada. He h=gave me some advice. I asked how he'd been and he said Just fine. Then I hear this today.

Sorry to hear. 
Did he ever sell his Moke? If not, we could try to help the family sell it if they need assistance? In case anyone sees the ad on here and doesn't know him, they will be trying to contact him for it. 

Very sad day for me!!  We had emailed very recently and I believe he said he was 88 or 89, as Hugh states.

I have been out of the mini scene for about 15 years, or so, but we always kept in touch.  I must have bought at least a half a dozen Minis from Big Al over a 10 or 15 year period, including one that I made him take back, when my excellent mechanic said it was a lemon, and he couldn't fix it!!

Ever the Gentleman, Al came and hauled the car away and refunded my purchase money....

I had been counting on Big Al to be our sponsor for us to move to Canada, if and when the US politics explode, which I expect may be imminent with what's going on now.  He volunteered to sponsor us and help us move if it came to that.  

There is a hole in my heart, where Big Al still lives, and I will never forget him.

Does anyone here know how his wife Joy is?  I know he had grown kids, adults now, and they will carry on for him.

Anyone wants to contact me privately, it's bill (@) mitchel (dot) net.

Sorry to hear of this. Condolences to his friends and family.

So sorry to hear this- Mini Meets will just not be the same.  Blessings to his family and friends.
Photo shows why he was called the Mini Mover-Al with two Minis for sale at MME in Ohio 2017