Standard Flying Eight - the underrated 1930s pre-war classic car
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.ค. 2024
- Standard Flying Eight
How many cars can trace their history back, let alone a car from 1939? Well this particular car can, because all the owners are on file from new and it’s retained a large amount of originality; which the current owner is stedfast about keeping and something I wholly admire in today’ world of overly restored, shiny cars.
The car, although wearing her age at a first glance, has recently benefitted from a sympathetic schedule of work including a chassis off resto and a complete engine rebuild; complemented by suspension and brakes fully overhauled.
The car, now residing in Yorkshire, was first registered to a lady residing in Scotland, which is interesting in itself due to the low female ownership of vehicles at this time especially from new and she kept the car until 1966 and it then bounced through a few owners until 1969 when the car was taken off the road and then put into the Museum of Transport in Glasgow. The museum kept it until 2016 and the current owner purchased, as ninth owner, in 2019.
Now with these cars being so old, a lot of people don’t fully appreciate that the Flying range was a big deal for Standard in those post Second World War years; with the Flying Standards giving buyers a range of family friendly cars to choose from and from the mid to late 30s, there was a choice of budget through to mid-range saloons through to fast, luxurious for the era cars.
Standard were bold: they kept the range updated, looked at the competition and tried to stay one step ahead of the game; which might be why we see independent front suspension on this, but more of that later.
Of the Flying 8, you’ll notice a lot of pre war cars are called something or other 8, 9 or 10. This is due to the taxation classes of the time and this fell into the 8hp bracket. It’s calculated on the cylinder surface area by the way.
The engine as I tell you later on as well, is the 1021cc 4 cylinder engine and it’s a rear wheel drive car. I’ve seen a couple of different top speeds for this lovely car listed ranging from mid 50s to low 60s; which both sound awfully like we’d be thrashing the poor thing, but it’s good to point out these aren’t the slow coaches many seem to think pre-war motors are. It’s also a pretty budget friendly motor on the mileage too, you can expect to get in excess of 40 miles per gallon when driven considerately.
Although these were popular cars in the late 30s, by the time the war kicked into full swing and Standard’s factories and workers were commandeered for war efforts; those years leading into the mid-40s changed the appetite and tastes of the buying public.
The ‘Flying’ name was dropped and new cars, very much derived from the pre war cars, were introduced but this was all slashed to bits with the one model policy when the Standard Vanguard was introduced.
And that, is a very brief overview, but what’s it like to drive? Well, hop in! - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
As an American, this is so cool. It is tiny (and adorable) compared so American cars of the same years. With that pretty dark blue paint, it must have been quite the looker in 1939.❤
I love it too , but I have to say the Americans produced some stunning cars.
And it's a flat head 😊.
One other thing that hurt Standard was the changing perception of what standard meant. Pre war, it would've been understood to mean the flag, something to be proud of (hence the Ensign). Postwar, it became understood more as meaning basic - "it's not luxury, it's only standard".
There was also the idea originally that it was "setting the standard" that others could only aspire to. The use of the Union flag on the radiator was a later patriotic marketing device.
Spot on. It's like the modern way businesses say "quality". I like to ask is that high or low quality?! It was just as well Standard took over Triumph, which is a name that has stood the test of time. The Standard cars look like under-rated bargains. Nice cars.
With most businesses nowadays, it means shoddy quality 🙂
@@ac2litre if Standard acquired Triumph, why did they keep the name Triumph. It was that name that survived thru to the 70s
I’d never considered it like that - makes sense!
I'm in Australia and own two! A 39 tourer and a 47 saloon like that one... so glad you're featuring prewar Standards!
Wowza that’s some dedication! How is your spares supply
@idriveaclassic pretty good. I've owned the '39 for 20 years and it came with lots of mechanical parts. They are very rare over here though.. the Standard club over there is excellent help too. I'm feeling spoilt with your videos lately, I was a long term owner of a 51 MM series Minor and would love another 1000 model, loved your video and answers to those who criticise them, but I also bought a Jowett Javelin to finish restoring a few weeks before your video on them and now this Standard video too.. love the channel Steph!
@@chriscansdale6389 ahh we must have very similar tastes then 😂😂
Me too - I had 1948 model, my first car.
My Great Uncle Arthur had one these and being a successful greengrocer, also had an Austin 12 at the same time which was only to be used only on Sundays. The Standard normally took my Great Aunt Annie, my parents and myself to the seafront at Weston Super Mare where he parked it proudly outside the Winter Gardens whilst we had afternoon tea! His was gleaming black with brown leather and he kept it until the early 1960’s but it was lost decades ago of course. Meanwhile my Uncle in London had the very rare Standard Flying 16 V8 which was very special but cost a fortune to run…12-15mpg at best…now that would be one to test Steff!!! 😃😃😃😃
I have a Standard flying 12 from 1938. Daily driver- super slick 4 speed box. Same sort of condition but I am just having the seats retrimmed as there is more stuffing on the outside than the inside. I have done 2 x 1000mile tours around France in recent years and I love it.
how many miles has it done?
@@g-r-a-e-m-e- it shows about 65k but no idea if it has been round the clock. It is even better now the seats are done, really comfy. Everything still works too, including the wind up clock. Built like a tank
What an adorable car. The condition it is in adds a character and charm that would be missing if it was mint. Full credit to the owner. As long as the condition is managed I'm all for it.
Yeah, god yeah. Simon is a whizz, I was so impressed by his dedication to his cars.
Love the way this has been preserved as original. This will bring back memories for students at university around 1960 because they all drove cars of this era in this condition.
Love the pieces of broken rope still attached to the front bumper. My 1957 Ford Prefect had the same arrangement!
Merry Christmas and happy new year from Kyle Austraila
I drove one of these to university in the early 1980's in Australia. The cable brakes were hopeless and trying to get the alloy head off the steel studded iron block was a nightmare. Overly complex front suspension no better in practice than the beam axled Morris 8 I had after the Standard. Good memories though.
I wish more cars were kept like this one. I'm not a fan of "full" restorations!
I love it! It reminds me of being a kid in the back of my parents' car when I was a kid in the 1970s, and Mum or Dad would say, "Hey, look at that old car" to us.
In the '70s there were still a few pre-war cars knocking around on their last legs and still in regular use. And they ALL looked like this! After the boom in classic car prices in the late 1980s, a lot of those that remained got restored because it now made economic sense to do so, so it's now rare to see a scruffy one.
Love the permanently attached tow rope. One of your best videos ever.
Michael that’s so lovely of you to say. Thanks
Yes!
That's what I used to tow it out of the river 😂😂
Someone in southern Vermont has a 1946 Standard 8 tourer that's been there from new, an original US export car with left-hand-drive and sealed-beam headlights - and a phone number in Coventry on the firewall plate! Even the closest dealer was a long way off, it was supplied by J.S. Inskip in New York City.
Nice car nice. nice to see it as is
a little gem steph
GREAT VIDEO STEPH. THANKS. MERRY CHRISTMAS.
It's hard to convey to non petrol heads ( my girlfriend 😬) how deeply one can get attached to a classic vehicle,each with it's own quirks and reliability issues......but I'm gradually winning her around...I hope 😂😂
My uni boyfriend once got shitty after some mechanical trouble with Nancy and said ‘well you can’t keep her. Not long term’.
What he didn’t realise was, was the car meant a whole lot more despite only arriving a year prior 💀😂
Needless to say Nancy is now outside the house with my name on the log book and he’s…well I dunno. Somewhere else 😂
@@idriveaclassic it's always advisable to check the warranty.....sometimes even the one on the car 🤪
@@markriding1267 😂😂😂
In 1964/65 I had a 1938 Standard 8, it could just about reach 60 mph after about 4 miles on a straight flat road, and once when at that speed I applied the brakes something snapped on the brake drums and made the car swerve, but luckily I stopped safely and managed to drive home only using the handbrake.
Lovely to see a car from that era that gets driven, I have some classic bikes, the one I use and enjoy the most is unrestored and largely original.
Many thanks Steph for another excellent video. What a great car. What i like about cars of this era is the way that they look . They look more friendly and inoffensive if that makes sense. A lot of the most modern stuff look very aggressive cold and clinical and obviously are totally devoid of any charm or character. The Standard is full of charm and character. I think this one tells a story with its imperfections on the bodywork and interior and its better for it better reflecting its history and fact that it is still useable after all of these years.
I live in Panama and this was my mother's first car she had here after leaving England after the war.
Great to see a fantastic survivor like this.
It’s incredible to think this car lived through so many brilliant historical moments.
Very nice, thank-you. A lovely car in the era of railway travel to everywhere.
The car that I learned to drive in.
These ancient gearboxes respond well to the "double declutching" I grew up with it (and had to!) because the A30 I was about to take my driving test on had worn-out synchro. For you youngsters out there, I'm sure that the internet will enlighten anyone who wishes to enhance their experience of coping with these ancient vehicles..
My father's A30 had weak synchro , it also had a tendency to stick in second , you had to move the selector with a big screwdriver after taking the gear lever out. Eventually he just used 1st 3rd and 4th . They were pretty awful boxes.
Oh, I'm 57 years old, and I learned how to double clutch. I had a truck I borrowed that did better with that. Maybe a late 1950s Ford?
Top patina - right up my alley. Cheers
Its wonderful! I love it!
I clicked on the video straight away due to the original patina'd look ,which is very cool, but then I saw the lovely blue on the boot lid and the blue interior which make the car look great if the body and interior were restored as well. Totally down to the owner but if it were me it would be a decision I would be struggling with !
It’s hard to justify wiping out the history, even if it’s not ‘pretty’
Its so great that you're featuring a Flying 8. My dad had one as his first car in the early 60s, he decided it needed a bit of restoration and started to take it apart until he reached the point where he was surrounded by parts and realised he had no idea how to put it back together! He still rather misses it after all this time. We often watch your videos together so he's going to love this one especially. Keep up the excellent work, your videos are always a pleasure to watch.
Just lovely, thanks Steph.
Brilliant, very enjoyable and entertaining. Thanks Steph.
I was watching this clip on TH-cam where this guy was showing his viewers how to drive a three speed column in a 1948 Plymouth, and he was saying that a lot of old cars, like the Plymouth, didn't have synchro on first. So, clearly, it was very common for those times.
Love this little car, my type of classic travelling, nice one stef.😊
My dads first car in 1950 in the Netherlands. Car long long gone but one photo of it survived till today…..🙂
Reminds me of the cars relatives of mine used to drive as their daily transport in the 80s she had a Morris 8 and he had a Standard 10 . They both did about 20 miles a day on 50 mph limit roads. By properly fixing things both cars were depenable,
Loved the car,shame about the negative comments,i have just purchased a new coil for my triumph and your right about the quality.
OMG. How amazing is this. A gracious older lady who carries her age with pride. No facelifts, no botox, 84 years of life's battle scars and still kicking. That is true beauty.
I care not for vintage cars but if I can be in this condition and still this charming at this age I'll die happy. 🤗
Thought you were talking about me at first. Very evident I need some Botox 😂😂😂😂😂😂
@@idriveaclassic Bwahahah. You nutter. 🤣 BTW.. FABULOUS hat! I want one!
@@CathodeRayNipplez I bought it at Space Vintage in Harrogate 😊
@@idriveaclassic That's only 16,513km away from my place 😬 Amazing how small the world is on YT until one has to go there.
@@idriveaclassic Dont change a thing Steph you look fine to me !
Excellent video Steph. Strange to think that people were driving this car when Hitler was invading Poland!
Yeah it’s like I was once laid in bed unable to sleep thinking about all the historical moments my morris had lived through what a sad act I am.
@@idriveaclassic 😂👏
@@idriveaclassicI have done the same, thought about what was happening in the world when my Humber Hawk was new. The Beatles had just started out & JFK was alive.
I enjoyed this video, nice to see a car that has been allowed to keep its age.
I went to the Glasgow transport museum in the 90s so I might have seen this car there.
You may well have done!
Don't get me started on what they've done to that place. I'm glad this car escaped! The new Riverside Museum is awful.
Just Love the car!!! It has way more charm and style then the boxes we drive today. The engine is so easy to work on. Plugs, coil, generator, distributor all easy to get at! Really I wish I had one now! You showed it off very nice 👍😉
It's hard to express how deeply I love a car that has its original bodywork, and interior. If it runs, steers, and stops good, that's more than good enough for me. There's just something about an almost fully original car.
Steph, I think your videos are great. How you remember all the facts and figures whilst shooting footage I don't know. I've done a bit and it's hard, and driving a car you don't know at the same time - amazing!
I have some 60's cars, but my first car was a 1938 Austin big 7. This really takes me back. Thanks and keep 'em coming! 👍
My Dads first car in the mid 1950s was a Standard Flying 8. I don’t know how old it was but the registration was BUT165. Thanks for the memories.
Ah, the memories! My father had one of these - he chose it because it was the only car in its class with ifs. Like that Scottish lady, he bought it in 1939, and he kept it nearly as long, until 1960. His one was black with tan upholstery. You have brought back a part of my childhood. Er, showing my age there...
Really enjoyed watching this, love old pre-war cars, they have character.
We had a convertible when I was young. We towed a trailer with it and went on many camping trips in Devon and Cornwall with it
KVX 808 was a great car. Sold in 1960 and replaced with a 105 E Anglia .. Great video Stef.
My first car was a Standard 8 when I had just my driving test at 17 the garage I was working for put me through back in 1959 I bought for £6 the fuel pump was useless I bought one fitted it and drove It for 9 yrs with hardly any problems I carried a few spares and that was all it never really let me down even used it on my honeymoon.
This Flying Eight was built at a time when Standard were supplying mechanical components to SS Cars Ltd for their pre-war Jaguars (Jaguar only started building their own after WW2).
That was very interesting. Thanks!
what a really wonderful and well deserved classic car from the 30's and in good shape for it's age and I enjoyed watching it.
From across the pond, I just love it. I live on an island and small cars are very out numbered. The wheels stand out. They are reminiscent of what we refer to as "artillery wheels". My neighbors 34 Chevrolet had them. Thanks. Narragansett Bay
Ah well at least we got a bit of a test drive. she didn't disgrace herself it was cold after all. Lovely old car and the colour is nice where it showed, many cars of this era being in black of course. Thanks for another video Steph. 👍👍
Such a cute little car 😍
The original condition looks so great!
Amazingly characterful car as I'm sure the 1st Lady owner would have wanted it.
Great video Steph!
Ian would be impressed by the wiper performance… 😄 What a nice car! I love patina! 🇬🇧🥰🇩🇪
At least not a useless vacuum type!
What an interesting vehicle, had never heard of them before. As Bertie Wooster said, love the patina.
Really enjoy your videos. How you review vehicles that regular people used, rather than the expensive unobtainables. And your delivery is so enjoyable and refreshing, full of information, no silly jokes, no music and dramatic cuts.
Always loved the original.
My dad had a Standard 10 during the late 1950’s. As a youngster I learnt so much about steering mechanism, brakes and the engines on that car.
Always very interesting to see cars that are before even my time. Good one. Thanks Steph.
It’s a car you so rarely see nowadays
That was great! It is part of the charm when every trip is an adventure. Well done!
Haha an adventure it was
lovely to see an original example i have done very much the same with my classic a mechanical restoration but keeping body and interior original
In the early 1960s I used to get a lift to school in one of these - that gearbox sound is very evocative. I loved that car and remember the dashboard - as you say, a really good instrument display. Great review!
We had a 1937 Standard 8 in the late fifties. It was the first car Dad was able to buy when I was a lad. In those days most cars in use in the UK were relics from before WW2. Mum and dad and my sister and I used to get in and Dad took us for days out in the countryside in the south of England. The fastest speed I ever saw on the speedometer was 55mph.
I have an identical car, Standard Flying Eight from 1939. Starts, runs, goes and I'm currently refurbishing the fuel system. The body is a bit shabby at the moment - but I do love my classic and doing bits to it!
30mph is usually where you are at the majority of the time around the countryside/town etc but you can get it up to about 40mph or so, it's pretty leisurely to drive and 3rd is quite a fast gear.
Thank you for this lovely piece of nostalgia - my late brother owned one of these in the late 1950s or early '60s. He brush painted it (very nicely) in a two-tone pale and dark blue colour scheme after doing some essential bodywork repairs. I recall that it always ran well.
What a lovely little car. Well done :)
Morning Steph, great video I do like very much the variety of different cars you demonstrate on your channel.
Thanks Vince. Next week is something mega rare.
My first car bought for me by my Dad secondhand in 1961 - on the first day I reversed it down our drive across the pavement, then the road and into the hedge on the far side - cable brakes didn't work in reverse and never did. Easily carried seven mates squashed in.Would have preferred a Morris 8.
Excellent little video and I feel as if I was there experiencing what it's like to drive a 1930s Standard Flying 8.
What a loverly car
Great to see this Steph, thanks for reviewing an older classic ( like me 😅). NIce to see the Proton too....looking good!
You can't beat the patina on this Standard 8
I am in love with this car, it looks amazing and knowing it's all mechanically restored makes it all the better. I love your fashion and how you tailor to the colour of the car, I'm so relieved you didn't go for the Compo look with this one though 🤣
Charming little car - and SO nice that the current owner kept the "patina" on it, rather than turn it into a showpiece that everybody's afraid to touch! (Plenty of those cars out there, to be sure.) One thing I really got a kick out of: the gauges made by Smiths. Same maker of the gauges in my 1977 Triumph TR7! And of course, as a Triumph Guy, I appreciate Standard's heritage it reviving the Triumph after the War. Sir John Black was a fascinating character, too! (We can thank his being miffed at the success of the Jaguar XK-120 for prompting his decision to revive Triumph.)
The TR3 shared the rear axle etc 😄
What a lovely little Standard! I agree, as tempting as it would be to give it a nice resto, the honest patina makes a much stronger statement.
You’re correct. On a sunny afternoon you would have likely shifted at higher speeds and got the knack of a crash box before the old coil made its final blue sparks. They can be very daunting with their screaming straight cut gears. My 1929 Essex has rod actuated brakes, a three speed crash box and six cylinders but no water or fuel pumps. Convection moves the coolant and gravity/vacuum moves the petrol.All of the cars in my forty years of collecting are conserved survivors. Although I do go as far as replacing weather trim items because sometimes we get caught in the rain while time traveling. Speaking of which, your hat was ideal!
Well done for getting as far as you did. As you said, the patina on the paintwork, revealing patches of the vibrant original blue and the interior imbue it with such spirit 👍👏👌
My grandfather had a flying8 used to say it was tired it didn’t like hills
He sold it
When I was five years old
Not put off the make he bought a new std 10!!!!!!!
Blue color was nice
My mother used to take me to kindergarten in a green one. Lovely!
I owned a 1948 Standard 14 in the early 1980s
It looked much like this Standard 8HP but larger and had four doors
Apparently the 1948 Standard 14 HP hadn't change very much since the prewar Stardard 12 HP and still had cable brakes when our local Australian cars from that time would've had hydraulic brakes
It had features like a windscreen that could be wound out by a small crank handle on the dash, a steel sunroof and a roller blind on the rear window that was operated by a cord from the drivers postion and suicide front doors the four doors all hinged from the centre door pillars
It was a really nice very original car I wish I still had it
My dad's best friend had a Vanguard lovely car , my dad had had a prefect not good
Thanks for a really enjoyable video. The history of the car that you recounted was as interesting as the car itself.
I would not have the gumption to try to drive the car so well done indeed for doing it!
What I find nice about this car is that it's all there. It just needs a little TLC.
She's a beauty. Love the looks so cool. ❤
Despite the hiccup, it was lovely to see
Poor old beastie it really deserves some TLC
Do you mean a full respray? I love the fact she wears her entire life story.
Beautiful cars ! Keep them rolling . From Canada . Happy Holidays to you .
What a super video, thank you.
My old man had one of those standards as a second car in the 1950’s into the early sixties it was a convertible probably one of our Australian body builders built the body on it, I can just remember it
I saw that and others like it as a boy …..wonderful…..thank you
Very nice and interesting car. I'm going to explore your other videos. Cheers, from Nashville, TN.
Owned one of these as a sixth former having "done it up" aged 16. Well remember the Bendix "self-energising" cable brakes always needing to be adjusted to work safely. Great little car though, bought a 1955 Standard 10 to follow, kept it through university, your video on this model brought happy memories
Great video 💜
Thanks!
Splendid! These cars are so similar to the Ford 7Y and the later Anglia 8hp but much better equipped.
I much prefer them
Nice more prewar car please it suits you well .
I d love to take this car for a drive like going to another country in this case pre war 1930s Britain.
As a Canadian I find the originality of this very cool! In 1939 we along with you declared war on Hitler's Germany. Canadian airmen, sailors, and soldiers no doubt saw this as a new car and others like it. Shortly after as arrivals from the Commonwealth Air Training Plan arrived in Great Britain these cars were a few years older. How cool is that!
Great review Steph! It's good to see your Proton out too. Have you done a review on the Proton? Forgive me if I've missed it.
Wow! Cool car! So cute! 😍😍
Nice review of an iconic little car. this lead on to form some of the earlier Triumph cars, i believe. well done Bob
Thanks Bob!
Good stuff and info as always … certainly a car with a lived in look .. bit more rat than rod😊
Wow! 89 years old. Some wear and tear, but I've seen many 15 to 20 years old cars in a lot worse conditions. Interesting to think about how the world was when this Scottish madam planted her bum in the seat for the first time.
Nice car & video, you're also looking great Steph ❤