Standard Ten - a 50s British classic saloon car we just don't hear enough about (a rival to the Morris Minor and Austin a30)

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After the Second World War, car manufacturers which had been away from the drawing board for a number of years due to supporting the war effort were suddenly back with pencil and paper and drawing for a new world with new demands; however many of these companies didn’t have the budget to create something totally new.

We often talk of the successes which came from the 1948 Earls Court Motor Show but we talk less of what post-war Britons really wanted, which was motoring but as cheap as possible. People were willing to accept an awful lot less than perhaps they would nowadays.

Sir John Black who was head of Standard and quite a canny businessman had done well in the 40s, he’d purchased Triumph cars and Ferguson tractors and with that, he boldly pushed on with his strategy to create a car which would rival the Morris Minor as a budget saloon.

Which meant that in 1953, the company welcomed into the range the Standard 8. Take a look at the 8 hp which ran until 1948 and you’ll see the styling leap is enormous; the new Eight felt and looked a darn sight more modern.

The car was a completely new design for Standard and paired with the Standard SC overhead valve engine. Offered as a 4 door saloon, it was paired with an 803cc engine and offered no luxuries at base spec - there wasn’t even a boot lid - you accessed the space by pulling down the rear seat; although if you paid a little extra from 1954 onwards you could get all the nice to haves like wind up windows that you’d been missing out on.

Which leads us nicely into 1954 - the year of the Standard 10 as we’re testing today. The 10 shared the body and running gear as used in the Eight and a little like the ‘eight’ naming convention had been used before, the 10 name had been used on cars since 1906.

However, unlike the Edwardian 10 hp Standard, these post war Standard 10s offered so much more than the namesake and the eight.

The engine jumped from a wheezy 803 up to a 948cc and achieved 0-60 in around 38 seconds and I’m reliably informed that even when driven with enthusiasm can still command a number around the mid-high 30s in terms of miles per gallon.

Size wise, the car is 144 inches long/3.65 metres with a width of 60 inches/1.52 metres. A morris minor is the same width but 4 inches longer if you want something to visualise it against.

In terms of your running gear we talk about the engine and how it compares to the competition later, but your suspension is independent front suspension by coil springs, double wishbones and telescopic dampers.

The rear is banjo type live axle with leaf springs with lever arm dampers.

Brakes, as you’d expect, are drums all around and the steering is something people love to pick apart in reviews but you’ll see isn’t actually all that bad. It’s the Burman worm and nut arrangement which is pretty much lifted from the early flying standards of the 30s but hey, for a budget car, it’s not bad at all.

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