Standard Cars are 'Built to Last'

This year’s show theme ‘Built to Last’ is epitomised by hard working vehicles which have also contributed to technical advances in motoring.

Standard was the parent company of the Triumph marque after 1945, and in the 1950s was the fifth largest British motor manufacturer. The Standard Motor Club will be celebrating 70 years since the launch of the Standard Vanguard and 60 years since launch of the Standard Atlas on their stand 4-572 at the Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show, with Discovery.

The engine of the Standard Vanguard family of cars was the precursor to the Triumph TR range of sports cars as were many of their mechanical parts. The Ferguson tractor engine was also derived from that of the Vanguard and many other vehicles also used Vanguard derived engines and parts, notably Morgan, Swallow Doretti, Peerless, Leyland 15 and 20 and even the Indian version of the Rover SD1.

On stand 4-572 you will be able to see the 1952 Vanguard Estate Car KOR 394, an early ‘MPV’ with a gruelling history: First owned by an army lieutenant-colonel who became a pig farmer and later by a firm of Isle of Wight undertakers. Since being preserved it has appeared in several TV programmes and films, including: an early episode of the soap Doctors, a documentary on Ruth Ellis - the last woman to be hanged, a short film docudrama about the theft of Sophia Loren's jewels and a documentary about the Braybrook Street police murders in London. It is pictured in the more convivial setting of Walton Hall, Warwickshire fully loaded with the club’s show material for their annual Standard Motor Club International Rally which took place in June… showing that it is still going strong 66 years after it was built! 

There will also be a 1958 Standard Ensign 6853 JW on display.  A simpler version of the later Vanguard with similar mechanical parts to the earlier car, this example has been owned and greatly loved by the same Black Country family for almost 50 years.

A third vehicle, a 1959 Standard Atlas 9237 CR celebrates the launch of the Atlas range by the Standard Motor Company. The Atlas was one of the first small vans which was not car derived and were therefore able to have capacious bodies in much the same manner as Ford designed the later Transit in 1966. The van on show is a Camper version but there were all types of vehicles in the range including pick-ups and chassis cabs. This vehicle belongs to someone who has rescued some 20 vehicles built by the Standard Motor Company thereby ensuring that they will continue to last into the future.
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About The Standard Motor Club
The Standard Motor Club is dedicated to the preservation of Standard Cars 1903 – 1963. Offering an online 24/7 Spares Shop with the largest stock of Standard Spares available anywhere plus a full-colour monthly magazine. With their active Local Groups and lively UK wide events programme, if you own any Standard, or intend to own one in the near future, you owe it to yourself to join!
Love Standard?  Visit www.standardmotorclub.org to find out more.


THE LANCASTER INSURANCE CLASSIC MOTOR SHOW, WITH DISCOVERY 2018 IS DELIGHTED TO PRESENT THE WORLD’S BIGGEST GATHERING OF CLASSIC VEHICLE CLUBS WHO BRING JOY AND KNOWLEDGE TO THE SHOW ALONG WITH THEIR BEAUTIFUL VEHICLES.
Click here to see the full list of classic car clubs attending.