Coventry · 1903–1963 · the engine in a Vanguard, a TR3 and a Fergie · assembled in Christchurch
One engine design powered a family saloon, a Triumph sports car and half a million grey Ferguson tractors.
Reginald Maudslay founded the Standard Motor Company in Coventry in 1903. In 1945 Sir John Black bought Triumph out of receivership for £75,000, and in December of the same year signed the agreement with Harry Ferguson that filled Banner Lane with tractors — 517,651 TE20-family Fergusons between 1946 and 1956. The company became Standard-Triumph International in 1959, Leyland bought it in 1960, and the Standard name was dropped on 17 August 1970. The last Standard-badged car built in Britain was an Ensign De Luxe, in May 1963.
The engine crossover is the reason Standard parts matter beyond Standards. The wet-liner four of the Vanguard has a 92mm stroke in every car version, with the bore setting the capacity: 85mm for the Vanguard, 83mm for the Triumph TR2 and TR3, 86mm for the TR4 and Ensign De Luxe, 80 and 87mm for Fergusons — so liners and pistons are bore-specific, and the model name is not enough. The little SC engine of the 1953 Eight grew into the Herald, Spitfire, Dolomite and the MG Midget 1500, and the Vanguard Six of 1960 gave its straight six to the Triumph 2000. In New Zealand, Standards were assembled in Christchurch from 1935 — first at St Asaph Street, then at Tuam Street, which Standard-Triumph bought in 1954 and ran until 24 August 1965, when the equipment moved to Nelson.
Standard — the range, and what crosses to Triumph
- Vanguard — 1948 to 1963
- Phase I, II and III, Sportsman, Vignale and Six — see the Vanguard page. The Phase III of October 1955 dropped the separate chassis, so Phase I and II parts mostly do not cross to it.
- Eight, Ten & Pennant — 1953 to 1960
- 803cc and 948cc SC engines, Girling hydraulic drums — see the Eight & Ten page.
- Ensign — 1957 to 1963
- The Vanguard III body with cheaper trim and a 1,670cc four (76mm bore), four-speed floor change. Ensign De Luxe 1962–63: 2,138cc (86mm bore). A Perkins diesel was offered from 1960.
- Atlas — 1958 on
- Forward-control van and pick-up with the Ten’s 948cc engine, then the 1,670cc Atlas Major, then the 15/20 — later a Leyland.
- The wet-liner four
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Stroke 92mm always; bore sets the capacity: 80mm Ferguson · 83mm TR2, TR3, TR3A · 85mm Vanguard, Renown, 2000 Roadster · 86mm TR3B, TR4, TR4A, Ensign De Luxe · 87mm late Ferguson.
- The SC four
- 803cc Eight → 948cc Ten, Pennant, Herald → 1,147cc Herald 1200, early Spitfire → 1,296cc 13/60, Spitfire Mk3 and Mk4, Toledo, Dolomite 1300 → 1,493cc Spitfire 1500, Dolomite 1500 — and the MG Midget 1500.
- Pre-war Flying Standards
- 1936–40, all side-valve: Eight 1,021cc, Nine, Ten 1,267cc, Twelve, Fourteen, Sixteen and Twenty sixes. The Flying Eight was the first British mass-produced light car with independent front suspension. For these, ask us.
- Earth polarity
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We cannot tell you for certain, and we will not guess. We could not find a source we trust that settles the earth polarity for any Standard. Check the car before you order a coil, a regulator or a radio.
