The Phase 1/1a Standard Vanguard is a British car which I have never owned but have always admired. However, I do own two Standard Vanguard hub cap emblems which someone kindly sent me! One of them appears at the top of this page. The Standard Vanguard first appeared in 1947 when I was ten years old. Being brought up during the Second World War I had never seen such a streamlined car before or even a car painted in such exotic colours.
I wandered the streets of Swindon, in Wiltshire, where I was born and brought up, looking for parked Standard Vanguards. When I spotted one I was overjoyed and would examine it closely. First, I would peer closely at the paintwork. The metallic colours were a great attraction to me because I could see thousands of shiny flakes deep within the paintwork but the paint was so thickly varnished that I couldn't put my finger on any single flake. The colours were out of this world - silver, gold, sky-blue and others. The sky-blue colour was my favourite.
Peering in through the driver's window I could see the steering wheel, itself a work of art, and those luxurious, thick leather seats. My family had no car at all and it was unthinkable that we ever would have one. Even the old bike I had was made up from bits taken from rubbish bins on dustbin days before the dustman could get around to emptying them.
I also looked underneath at the coil springs of the newly introduced independent front suspension. It was a habit of mine to bounce up and down on the running boards of any interesting parked cars I saw to check how good the the suspension was. After finding one that bounced well, I would peer underneath to see what sort of suspension produced that sort of effect but it was mostly leaf springs in those days. Hence the attraction to me of the new 'independent suspension' coil springs. The Vanguard was impressive from this point of view as well!
When I was called up into the RAF for National Service in 1958, imagine my delight to find that the Standard Vanguard was the official RAF transport at that time! The CO of the Unit had one and there were Vanguard estates and pick-up trucks too. I even got to drive one but they were not Phase1/1a Standard Vanguards!
In the 1960s, I briefly visited my elder brother in Cairns, Queensland, Australia. What a surprise to find that he had just finished reconditioning a sky-blue, Phase 1 Standard Vanguard! The trouble was, he had already sold it and the buyer came and took it away. Here is a picture of the back of it. Click on the picture for a larger version:
In 1949 the Standard Motor Company issued a book called "The Story of the Vanguard."
Click on the illustration below for more information:
The Heritage Motor Centre at Banbury Road, Gaydon, Warwick CV35 0BJ UK (see Links below) is the largest purpose-designed road transport museum in the UK. It is said to hold the world's biggest collection of historic British cars. There are examples of many British car makes including Standard, Triumph, Morris, Jaguar, MG, etc. They hold records of the various motor companies and can even supply parts made to the original specifications.
On arrival, I made for the Standard section to see the Standard Vanguard but there was only an empty space where it should have been! Disappointed, I half-heartedly looked around the other exhibits and eventually asked a man who was polishing the brasswork on an old Standard what had happened to the Phase 1. He told me that it had been withdrawn temporarily and was outside awaiting work. When I explained that I had made a two hour trip especially to see it, he stopped polishing the brasswork and took me outside into the yard. A black Phase 1a Vanguard was standing there in all its glory but looking rather wet and sad in the intermittent rain.
The man, J Macarteney, told me that he once worked for Standard as did his father before him and that he had written a book called "In the Shadow of My Father". I later purchased the book and read it with interest. While I was looking around the Phase 1a and taking photos he proved to be a mine of information on Vanguards but, stupid-like, I didn't take notes because I was concentrating on photography and it also kept raining. I remember he said that the first few Vanguards only had two forward gears and one reverse gear. He also very kindly got the keys and let me get inside to take more pictures.
The following digital pictures are four of the many I took at that time. Click on any picture for a larger version.
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The Coventry Transport Museum is situated in the heart of the city near the cathedral and the bus station (see Links below). The address is Coventry Transport Museum, Millenium Place, Hales Street, Coventry CV1 1PN. To quote, "See the world's largest collection of British Road Transport in displays that bring the story to life."
The following digital pictures are some that I took during my visit. Click on any picture for a larger version.
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Keith Hoult inherited his father's 1951 Phase I Vanguard in 2002 after his father gave up driving at the age of 90. Keith grew up with this car and learned to drive in it. Click on the picture to read more:
The picture below is used with the permission of The Standard Vanguard Enthusiast's Guild (see Links below). It shows a Standard Vanguard enthusiast driving away with his newly acquired treasure which he has just rescued from a shed. The other Vanguard pulling the trailer is his Dad's pride and joy. Touching, isn't it? Click on the thumbnail for a larger picture:
Fact 1: During the two years from 1954 to 1955, Standard produced a diesel version of the Vanguard, which had the distinction of being the first British diesel car. The 2-litre diesel engine, already fitted to 30,000 Ferguson tractors, was noisy, smelly, and slow. If you were behind one on the road, you knew it was a diesel because of the black smoke. Not surprisingly, the model was discontinued in spite of delivering 50 m.p.g. fuel consumption. The diesel engine was also fitted to many black London taxis as a modification.
Fact 2: The name "Standard" was adopted by R.W. Maudslay for the Standard Motor Company which he set up. The name reflected his idea for building cheap cars using standard or readily available parts. This concept was far-sighted in an industry whose practice it was, in those days, to custom-build each car individually.
Fact 3: Sir John Black, who later became the chairman of Standard, was involved in the design of the first Morgan, a three-wheeled car.
Fact 4: The Standard Vanguard engine was used in the first four-wheeled car produced by Morgan.
Fact 5: The chassis for an early Jaguar model, the SS1, was built by Standard as was the engine. It is not known whether the "SS" stood for Standard Swallow or Swallow Special. The "SS" was dropped after the Second World War anyway because many people associated it with with the Nazis! The SS Jaguar then became simply Jaguar.
Fact 6: Sir John Black, the chairman of Standard, sketched out the lines of the Standard Vanguard himself and would not allow the designers to deviate from them. As the length of the wheelbase was therefore set, the body itself had to expand to provide space for the various components of the interior.
Fact 7: When Sir Stafford Cripps, the Chancellor, inspected the Standard Vanguard at the factory, he deemed it to be a failure because he could not wear his top hat whilst sitting in the back seat.
Fact 8: Standard took over Triumph in 1945 and many of the later Triumph models were fitted with Vanguard engines and transmissions.
Australian Standard Vanguards This site has many interesting features, especially the "Spotted Standard" page, where enthusiasts report on any derelict Vanguards they have spotted.
The Heritage Motor Centre Well worth a visit if you can get there!
Coventry Transport Museum The Standard Motor Company plus lots, lots more!
The Standard Home page Good contact for spare parts.
UK Club UK Club home page.
The Standard Vanguard seems to be a little known car these days. Some motoring books mention it in passing and may even give a picture but usually only of the later models. Very little information is readily available.
One reason for creating this web page is to collect information on the Phase 1/1a Standard Vanguard. If you know of any, I would appreciate receiving any pictures and/or details of them, and I will add them to this site. Whether the Vanguard is someone's pride and joy or just rotting away in some forgotten corner, doesn't matter.
I have other web sites you may like to visit:
For the remarkable 1957 Morris Oxford De Luxe visit The 1957 Morris Oxford
For Robin Hood visit Robin Hood, Sherwood Forest and Edwinstowe
For my National Service visit: National Service, RAF Marham, V-bombers and 207 Squadron
For my early life visit Life in the Swindon Railway Village 1937-1958 (or the Memoirs of a Swindon Nobody)
For thoughts on the meaning of life visit God's Viewpoint
Home address of this page: http://www.johnw55.freeuk.com/vanguard
Page updated 22 July 2008