Lot Ended
Description
Restored in 2017 and
carefully used since; lots of money spent; very pretty and very rare, believed
to be one of only around 14 surviving
By the late 1930s Standard
badly needed a new budget car to break into the tax-busting 8hp market which was
being dominated by the hugely popular Austin and Morris Eights. Introduced during late 1938, the Flying
Eight was a brand new design that not only looked good but was cheap to buy and
run.
Notably one of the first small
cars to feature independent front suspension, it also marked a distinct
departure from the upright, boxy designs of the early 1930s with a number of à
la mode styling cues such as a ‘waterfall’ grille, sloping roofline, beetle back
and bulbous wings.
It was powered by a 1,021cc
four-cylinder side-valve engine with a counterbalanced crankshaft and aluminium
cylinder head, mated to three-speed manual transmission. With a heady 31bhp on
tap, Standard claimed a 60mph top speed with 45mpg economy and effective
stopping power from the Bendix brakes.Available as a two-door
saloon, a drophead coupe and an open tourer the Flying Eight cost £129 and
around 26,000 were sold (only about 1,500 of them open tourers) before the
outbreak of war put an end to production in 1940, although a revised model was
also produced post-war (1945 – 1948) which was simply called the
Eight.
First registered in June 1939,
this Flying Eight comes with no early history but the DAB 544 number plate
implies that it was first registered in Worcestershire and research by the
previous owner shows that it was first owned by a Mr Edgar Rastall of Evesham. A
copy of a 1960 buff logbook shows that by 1960 it was owned by a James Davies of
Worcester and from 1965 – 1972 by a Mr A Dean of
Cheltenham.
The trail then goes cold until
2017 when the previous owner, a good friend of the previous vendor, acquired
‘Monty’ as the car is affectionately known, from a Mr Atterbury of West Sussex.
He had owned the car for at least 25 years and had been slowly restoring it in
fits and starts, including fitting a new ash body frame, but never actually
finished it.
By this point DAB 544 had
fallen off the DVLA radar so the previous owner succeeded in getting Monty
re-registered and reunited with its original registration number with the
assistance of the Standard Motor Club who certified that it was a “substantially
complete and genuine” Standard Flying Eight Open Tourer (see last
photo).
However, the 1960 buff logbook
called it a Saloon so whether this was a mistake or it was converted to a Tourer
at a later date isn’t clear, although the current V5C calls it a Tourer and it
was certainly a Tourer when Mr Atterbury owned it – all rather
confusing.
The previous owner finished
restoring Monty, as detailed by various invoices and a CD on file. This included
getting the gearbox rebuilt by Nicol Transmissions of Kidderminster; new
radiator core; new fuel pump; new carb; new wiring loom; conversion to 12v
electrics with dynamo charging; new lights; full interior retrim; five new tyres
and no doubt many other new parts for which there are no
invoices.
Our vendor acquired Monty from
an earlier Brightwells auction last year, and decided to reenter the car due to
not have the time to enjoy the car properly, the previous vendor fitted with a
new hood and side screens in August 2024 which cost
£1,800.
Aside from the aforementioned
documents and correspondence, the history file also includes lots of useful
technical literature plus some lovely period brochures and road tests which must
be collector’s items in their own right.
Starting promptly and running
well as we have moved it around on site, with healthy 60psi oil pressure, this
super little Standard is on offer here at a fraction of the amount it must have
cost to restore.
Contact
james.booth@brightwells.com