Standard Super Ten

History

It is sometimes easy to forget what an austere place Britain was in the early 1950s, but the Standard Eight is a useful reminder. Launched in 1953 to compete with the established Ford 100E, Morris Minor and Austin A30 models, it came only as a four door saloon and was so basic it had no hub caps, no external boot lid, fixed rear windows and a single windscreen wiper! It's 803cc engine gave it a top speed of 60mph but the children would have grown up before it got there.

However, for the family that could afford to eat their gravel warm, Standard launched the Ten in 1954. Costing a princely £510 10s, this used an all new 948cc version of the Eight's engine and could streak to 60mph in 34 secs with another 9mph in hand. It also had hub caps, a boot lid and a full set of wipers! Even better was the Super Ten which further flattered its lucky owner with the obscene luxury of overriders on the front and rear bumpers.

This 1956 Super Ten appears to be a highly original machine with a particularly well preserved interior. It still retains its fully stamped up service book from 1956 to 1966 at which point it had 21,184 miles on the clock. It then appears to have been taken off the road for many years until brought back into service in 1996. With lots of bills and old MOTs to show regular maintenance since then, it now has 44,000 on the clock which is believed to be genuine. Fitted with a stainless steel exhaust in 2004, it is also accompanied by an original workshop manual. Said to drive well, it will give its new owner a really authentic feel for Suez era motoring – the door pockets are just the right size for ten Woodbine and a pack of spam sandwiches.