Standard, Triumph & related car companies

I've seen a couple of Herald convertibles in Cov recently, top-down My cousin restored a Vitesse in the late 80's and sold it to Lynval Golding from The Specials.

I remember during the late 70s, probably 1978, they had a Japanese delegation visiting the Canley plant, this preceded the Triumph Acclaim and was initiated by Michael Edwards, whom Maggie Thatcher entrusted control of British Leyland cars. The problem was that there were a lot of veterans who served in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, many of which saw service in the Far East and suffered shocking treatment as POWs under the Japanese. The company decided, due to the strength of feeling against the Japanese, to give those employees who served in the Far East etc a day off with pay. Any ex-Standard Triumph employee would know that the internal road that ran from the Fletch gate to the Canley gate was always known as the "Burma Road"

I worked with a lady, circa 1963, who used to say that her husband helped build the first Standard Mayflower by hand.

Here is one now! PS They were actually Triumph Mayflowers, not Standard

Hi Whilst watching the Flying Scotsman show, I enjoyed the motorway clips of 1957ish motors. A few bits of history, even a Standard Vanguard that looks like a cross between an A4 & a streamline Duchess going backwards.

I lived in Australia for a couple of years as my sister was there. Her husband's family were all Pommies and all ran Coventry cars. They had two Dolly Sprints, a Stag, a Sunbeam Alpine, a 2000 Estate and they fully restored both a Standard Vanguard and a Triumph Mayflower. I recall they had contacted a British car parts supplier down there to get some bits for the Vanguard. The parts all arrived in their original 1950's packaging fresh from the crate they had been shipped over in from new. The cars fetched some serious money down there even in the early 90's. The bodies were immaculate with no rust but the engines usually had high mileage.

Yes that did happen Mister D though the management were always in on it as well!

I'm sure they were, Neil. Blind eyes must have had a cost, and being part of the enterprises makes sense. They must have had access to storage for all the goods they sold, as well as co-operation of management since I was led to believe some employees did virtually no work for the company. What sort of scale were these things on? And surely it must have happened in other workplaces too.

There was a guy in the corner of 23 shop at Canley who worked in a booth, a paint repair booth if my memory serves me correctly, who had all sorts of goods "openly" on display there, I remember him telling me that he had sold over 1,000 "Red Arrows kites" at £1 each, I bought one. That was in the mid 70s when they used to have big air displays at Baginton Airport. When I worked at Massey Ferguson, there was a guy in assembly with a locker full of cigarettes, I was one of many who used to get some off him on "tic" then settle up on payday, you could also get your haircut in your lunchbreak, or put a bet as there were a few bookies runners there. Both these managements knew exactly what was going on. I still work in the car manufacturing industry and the most you can get is the odd copied dvd now.

I'm sure I saw a four-wheel-drive Triumph 1300 parked behind the Canley factory which likewise never made it into production.

Standard Triumph produced prototypes of a four seat version of the TR7 with a Scimitar style back end. Under the codename of "Broadsword" it never made production because of internal "agreements" between Jaguar, Rover and Triumph. There was also a project coded "Lynx" which became the TR8. The TR7 was never a "Coventry" car though. Assembled at the Halewood plant, you could put your finger into the gaps between the panels. GKN purchased a Triumph Stag which was converted into a four wheel drive vehicle. This car still exists. The Stag was originally intended to use the Rover 3.5 litre engine but inter factory rivalry meant that it was designed so that the Rover engine would not fit it! There was also an estate car style Stag, but it too never made it to the showrooms. The four wheel drive derivatives of the 1300/1500 range were intended for overseas markets, but fell victim to Leyland accountants. Canley's development department produced amazing cars. It was a dire shame that Triumph was a victim of the Leyland failure. Perhaps the best car Triumph ever produced was the TR250. This was a TR6 with the Lucas fuel injection removed and triple Stromberg carburettors fitted. They certainly went like stink and were extremely enjoyable. These vehicles sold well in the USA and, if you can find one, and have enough money, you could buy one of these collectable cars.

I am a member of the Stag Owners Club (although Stagless at the moment), and believe that the "Estate" Stag is still alive a kicking and lives in the Shipston on Stour area. The Stag Owners Club is the largest single marque club in the world. My membership number is 2636, which dates back 30 something years

"The TR7 was never a "Coventry" car though". The TR7 finished it's production at the Canley plant, I was on the carpet fit in the "rocket range". "Coventry built" was supposedly a good selling point secondhand. The Stag would probably have been a lot more successful had it been fitted with the 3.5 Rover V8 engine as the 3 litre Stag engine was flawed from the outset with overheating problems, the Rover V8 unit or 2.5 straight six Triumph engine were popular replacements for the original V8.

I put the 2.5 in my Vitesse in 1969 and boy did that thing go, it would beat anything from a standing start, it was grossly overpowered, one day I sheared the diff, I have grown up a bit since

I found this photo, and also wondered about the building in the background. Standard Vanguard