MEET THE OWNER – SHAUN RUSSELL AND HIS STANDARD TEN COMPANION

Standard is one of the UK’s most famous car marques - one with a long and distinguished history. The Standard Motor Club - https://www.standardmotorclub.org.uk/ - does sterling work in preserving and promoting their vehicles, not least this rather stunning 1957 10 Companion in Lavender Grey, owned by Shaun Russell.

The narrative begins in 1953 with the Standard Eight, powered by an 803cc OHV engine and featuring a four-door unitary bodywork. The original specification was devoid of a second windscreen wiper, sliding windows and hubcaps. The Eight also featured a “roomy dust and rain sealed boot”; access to the luggage compartment was via folding the rear seat as there was no external lid.

March 1954 saw the launch of the Ten, featuring a 948cc engine, wind-up windows, twin sun visors, and even a second wiper. At that year’s London Motor Show Standard launched the Ten ‘Good Companion’. Mulliners of Bardsley Greene was responsible for the estate car bodywork. Autocar highlighted the neatness of the conversion, noting that the rear seat cushion lowered when the backrest was folded, creating a completely flat load bay.

By late 1955, the Companion – Standard eventually dispensed with the ‘Good’ prefix – cost £728 17s. This made it rather more expensive than the Morris Minor Series II Traveller at £635 2s, the Hillman Husky at £623 17s, the Austin A30 Countryman at £593 17s, the Ford Escort and Squire 100E at £622 7s and £668 17s respectively. But your friendly local Standard dealer could point out the Companion was the only UK-built estate car in its class with four side doors.

The Triumph Herald replaced the Eight/Ten family saloons in 1959, and the last of the Companions featured the grille of the discontinued upmarket Pennant until production ended in 1961. The Standard name itself was last seen on the Ensign

and Vanguard 6 in 1963 before the Triumph 2000 introduced a new era of executive transport.

Today, Shaun’s Lavender Grey Companion looks as though it has just emerged from a Rank comedy film starring Dirk Bogarde and Kay Kendall. It is also a reminder of when the ‘Standard’ brand was as much a part of British life as police telephone boxes and complaining about Teddy Boys. Shaun says:

The Companion drives great - it will cruise at 50 mph, is economical, and has good brakes. The engine is adequate - obviously we all want a little more horsepower. It has good vision, a large load area, a good heater and self-parking wipers.

Shaun is keen to remind people of Standard’s importance in the British motor industry. Apart from the 1957 Companion, his collection includes: “A 1954 10, the oldest in the world, a ‘sliding window’ 8, a 1959 6cwt pickup in Cotswold Blue, a 6cwt van in Lichfield green, two more Companions, two Vanguard 6s, an ex-RAF Vanguard Phase 2 Estate, an early Vanguard Estate Phase 3, a Leyland 15 van ...and so on”.

But that’s another story!

With thanks to Shaun Russell for his time.

With thanks to Shaun Russell for the permission to use the images in this blog.