On Thu, 7 Jan 1999, Lonn Howard wrote:
> My wife and I just returned from three weeks in Thailand...pull into an
> artist's refuge (very cool but another story) and in the driveway is
> sitting an ancient Standard motorcar...
Any guess as to the vintage and/or model? Any pictures?
> Anyway, he told me that Standard was a precurser to British Leyland and
> therefore qualified as an LBC. I hate to admit my ignorance... Is he
> right?
Absolutely. Standard dates to 1903, making it one of England's older
manufacturers. Under Captain (Sir) John Black, Standard picked up what was
left of Triumph (1923) in 1944-5. Leyland (not British Leyland at that
point) picked up Standard-Triumph around 1960-1, and it was then or not
long after that Rover became part of that mix. By 1968, that Leyland group
had been custom-blended with the British Motor Corporation (Austin,
Morris, MG and the rest) to become British Leyland Motor Corporation.
That, in turn, went through a couple of name changes such as BLMC, BLMH,
Jaguar-Rover-Triumph and others. Then Honda picked up part ownership in
the 1980s. Jaguar went away from the mix and became part of Ford, and BMW
later sailed in and picked up the rest. (Anyone know if Honda still holds
a stake in what is currently referred to as, I think, the Rover Group?)
Kind of like a soap opera, ain't it? :-)
So Standard is very much an LBC, even though automobiles produced under
that name ceased after about 1963. And much of what makes our beloved
Triumphs mechanically is Standard Motor Company in origin: Vanguard
wet-liner engine for the TRs, the 803cc Standard four cylinder engine that
went on to expand in size and power Heralds and Spitfires and (in 6
cylinder form) Vitesses, GT6s and later TRs.
In a way, about the only "true" postwar Triumph engine is the slant-four
(Saab, TR7, etc.) and its V-8 derivative (Stag).
--Andy
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