The Last Of A Famous Line
The famous motoring name Standard is to disappear after sixty years .
Mr Stanley Markland, managing director of Standard Triumph, said yesterday that in future all cars produced by the company would be called Triumph.
Editor and creator AROnline at AROnline
Created www.austin-rover.co.uk in 2001 and built it up to become the world's foremost reference source for all things BMC, Leyland and Rover Group, before renaming it AROnline in 2007.
Is the Editor of the Parkers website and price guide, formerly editor of Classic Car Weekly, and launch editor/creator of Modern Classics magazine. Has contributed to various motoring titles including Octane, Practical Classics, Evo, Honest John, CAR magazine, Autocar, Pistonheads, Diesel Car, Practical Performance Car, Performance French Car, Car Mechanics, Jaguar World Monthly, MG Enthusiast, Modern MINI, Practical Classics, Fifth Gear Website, Radio 4, and the the Motoring Independent...
Likes 'conditionally challenged' motors and taking them on unfeasible adventures all across Europe.
Is the Editor of the Parkers website and price guide, formerly editor of Classic Car Weekly, and launch editor/creator of Modern Classics magazine. Has contributed to various motoring titles including Octane, Practical Classics, Evo, Honest John, CAR magazine, Autocar, Pistonheads, Diesel Car, Practical Performance Car, Performance French Car, Car Mechanics, Jaguar World Monthly, MG Enthusiast, Modern MINI, Practical Classics, Fifth Gear Website, Radio 4, and the the Motoring Independent...
Likes 'conditionally challenged' motors and taking them on unfeasible adventures all across Europe.
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Looking back what could Standard have done to further bolster its position prior to the Leyland takeover and discontinuation of the marque in favour of Triumph?
Aware that John Black would have ideally wanted Standard to have switched over to (Morgan / post-war Triumph 1800 / Renown spec) OHV and IFS for its Flying badged range of cars before WW2 in better circumstances. Would Standard have also been better off reviving the pre-war Flying Ten as the post-war Standard Ten between the post-war 1945-1948 Eight and Twelve?
Also aware that John Black acquired Triumph during the war partly on the basis of wanting to get back at SS-Jaguar because of how his pre-war contract with William Lyons on Standard based engines was said to have prevented Standard from making use of the Jaguar spec (Weslake fettled) crossflow inline-4/6 OHVs and felt short changed.
With that in mind, was Standard ever in a position to acquire Triumph earlier on during the 1930s with the pre-war Triumph Dolomite making use of an uprated OHV version of the Standard Flying V8 engine (if not prior to Triumph selling off its motorcycle division to Jack Sangster at Ariel)?
Based on what happened to Standard with BMC acquiring Fisher & Ludlow, would Standard have been better off continuing to make its own bodyshells instead of stopping in the mid-1930s or manging to absorb Mulliners much earlier? Could Standard have acquired a declining concern like Singer Motors for additional production capacity if needed (provided Singer’s debts are not too off putting)?
Did Standard under John Black with its deal with Ferguson in producing the TE20, actually intend to acquire Ferguson before the latter’s merger with Massey-Harris to form Massey Ferguson and was it actually possible Standard was in a position to absorb the former during slump periods in the 1950s (or would Ferguson itself have sufficed for Standard), similar to what Leyland would do with BMC?
Were there any other missed opportunities by Standard that they could have taken advantage of before being renamed as Triumph?