1950s Standard 10 Companion - a VERY rare British classic car!

Standard Companion Estate - 1957

This Standard Companion Estate from 1957 is based on the Standard 10 and was introduced in 1954, the companion might be lesser spotted than say the 8 or the 10 at a classic car show and even this rally today, but they did actually outlive both the 8 and the 10; with the 8 and 10 ending production in 1959 and the Companion marching solidly on until 1961 when it was replaced by the Herald Estate.

First of all, lets talk capacity - because if you were going to step up from the faithful Standard 10, what could you expect to gain?

The load capacity of the car is described in hundredweights, but I wanted to give it you at home in simpler terms to perhaps show off the capability of the vehicle a little better. The car was said with four passengers to have luggage carrying capacity of 112lbs or 50 kilos and with the back seats folded to maximise load capacity, it was said to take 560lbs which is around 254kg.

In 1956, Farmers Weekly tested the vehicle to see if it was suitable for life on a farm and found even with the back seats up you could load in 6 30-dozen egg boxes or 5 empty milk churns and by lowering the seats, they got in an impressive 11 milk churns. This might seem utterly redundant today, but for many rural family of the 50s, this would’ve made the vehicle an attractive prospect.

I imagine that was probably pretty slow at full load, but a lot of vehicles of this era were - this wasn’t unusual. There were no additional engine options for somebody who perhaps needed to operate at full load and go a little faster and your only engine option was the overhead valve 948cc engine - which is also used in the Standard 10.

The 948 engine is paired with a 4 forward speed box, again, exactly as you were getting in the 10 and again, with no synchro on first. This is pretty usual for the era, so we’ve got no complaints. There was the option to add overdrive at an additional cost, but this hasn’t been fitted to this.

There was also another option for transmission and one which I’ve never seen in person - the Standrive two pedal control - I believe with the limited information online I’ve managed to glean, this is some sort of early automatic transmission option.

However, always a massive beware on stuff like this in today’s world, because when they’re rare they’re a pest to find parts for when they go wrong!

You know what else is optional? The heater - although I am not surprised because this was pretty usual for a vehicle of this age, especially one which might be used commercially. All the frugality kept costs low and made it easier for people to buy a new vehicle.

However, despite life in the slow lane, it does well on fuel and you can expect 57mpg at best on long runs at a consistent speed, but even around town and varying speeds you can expect low 40s in your miles per gallon.

The aforementioned Farmers Weekly review also looked at MPG when fully laden and found it to be slightly under 40mpg - which is still not to be sniffed at.

The suspension to accompany all of this is coil springs at the front giving independent front suspicion and semi-eliptic springs at rear.

The brakes are hydraulic and two leading shoe at front and leading and trailing shoe for rear…so pretty much as you’d expect! Farmers Weekly described them as excellent and gave them an efficiency rating of over 80% when stopping at 30mph.

Today, the Companion is a rare thing indeed. It was well thought of at time of launch and for reviews still accessible, it is spoken of in high regards and it’s well received in today’s classic car world where it always seems to be greeted with a smile. Sadly, because of the workhorse capacity of the vehicle, many have been used and put through their paces and no longer exist today.

[moazzambangalore]

My neighbour still drives a Standard 10 in Bangalore India. It is his every day car. He is 80+ years old but he still drives

[Inspiral-parquet]

Hi Steph, just a piece of information on the early supply of spare parts for cars like this one.
When they were built spare parts would almost only be available from the manufacturer (ie a Ford alternator was difficult to buy from anyone but Ford) and the same would be for all cars in the UK at this time. A man called Eric Quinton Hazell noted ( while serving in the military during WW2) that US vehicle spares were provided with a code number which made sourcing a correct spare part much easier. He set up a spares supply company named after himself who supplied the fan belt fitted the car you were driving. (as seen in your video)
The company was later bought out by Unipart who quite possible supplied spares for your morris Minor. 
Without these companies many of these older cars would have probably been scrapped due to the cost or buying or lack of availability of spares to keep them running.
Sorry if that was a bit long winded. I hope you found it worth bothering to read.

[graemew]

I drive a 2011 Panda as my daily car and if this was 65 years ago I would certainly have bought one of these as both this and the Panda suit my needs perfectly, a very smart, practical little car.

[matthewwrites]

Dear Steph, I admire the way you present this classic. I adore your presentation. The classic cars collectors need presentators like you. Thank you for you passion and adorable presentation.

[RobertHaynes-kwsk]

Hiya Steph. I visited the British Motor Museum at Gaydon yesterday, and I saw some of my very favourite classic cars including a 1964 Vauxhall Viva, a 1967 Austin 1100, a 1967-68 Ford Anglia Super, a 1965 Jaguar S-Type 3.4, a 1958 Metropolitan 1500, a 1972 Morris Marina, a 1965 Vauxhall Cresta, a 1955 Armstrong-Siddeley Sapphire 346, a 1965 Triumph Vitesse 6, a 1961 Ford Zodiac Mark 2 and a 1972 Rover 3.5-Litre V8 series P5B. Even though it was some 10 miles away from the nearest train station and served by a somewhat infrequent bus service, it was a really nice place to visit for classic vehicles that have been vastly ignored for decades. I even saw a guy cleaning his classic, a 1969 Riley Elf, the Mini based saloon with the sticking-out boot.

[ranamitra]

It's very very nostalgic - we had exactly one of these, just the colour combination was blue with cream.

[lordleonusa]

I've been a member of the Triumph Sports Six Club since 1981, and yes, it's true, the Standard Owner's Club members are, like the old Standard advert used to say, "All that's best in Britain".

[ladyconstanceOBE]

My father had a later Companion in green and white which was a lovely car.
It had a one piece rear door.
One thing sticks in my mind was it had a reserve petrol tank controlled by a brass tap under the rear seat.
It was replaced by a Triumph Herald Estate.

[ianjay]

Our immediate neighbour in Bangalore had a Standard sedan. It must have been a 10 because it had wind up windows. The owner had a chauffeur (who dressed in a gray suit and a cap) who drove him to work. On weekends, we would drive into the country and visit tea plantations. My father took many pictures but sadly never took any of the Standard (or the SS100 Airline coupe we also had rides in) It was the early sixties and these were just old cars!

[eye]

Your classy voice takes me to good all days.
Salute you

[radioactivezeek]

Your presentation is top tier. The initial pan around the exterior, engine bay, and interior is something I hope you never change. Many a presenter could learn from you.

[michaeltreadwell]

WOW Steph, what a gorgeous little car, and how practical too. I've never seen one in real life, only the Saloon 8 or 10 version. I could easily live with one of these - that load space would suit me perfectly - I LOVE IT ! Fantastic review Steph - obviously ! Thanks for sharing this lovely car with us. Take care 🙂

[brentfairlie]

Here in New Zealand way back in 1982, one of my college teachers had one of these. Same colour. It had "standard drive". It was fun to run around in. Sadly his son rolled it and it got scrapped. Thanks for the video. Brings back memories.

[stefantrnacek]

My first car was a Standard 10 with Standrive. It still had a clutch but no clutch pedal. The clutch was operated by an electric button on the gear stick knob. The switch operated a vacuum solinoid, which in turn operated the clutch slave cylinder. Vanguard also used the system as well.

[xjet]

This is great... memories of my early motoring experiences with similarly aged (and older) Brit cars.

[rogerBolton-xdqv]

Hi Steph. My Dad had one of these in the late 1950s. We used to go on holiday as 4 adults and three children, two on stools in the back. I later had one in the 1960’s. OWO340. Usually had to push start but only cost £50. Thanks for the memories

[MrLouA]

That's a lovely little estate, kudos to the owner for keeping it so well.

[rogersnelling]

My father had a later version called a Standard Pennant.

[daviemaclean]

Great pair of Standard videos. Love the "rustic" bolts on the rear door and the rear of the back seat, and the shoestring started just topped it off! Cheers

[lesklower]

It's such a quality restoration and that engine bay so colourful and all the shiny paint on the metal parts of the engine