Standard Vanguard Phase 1

[cletrac (RIP)]

I was given a Vanguard phase 2 pickup the other day and when researching it I came up with these pix of RAF Vanguards. The last pic is the one I have to haul home. I don't think it was military but it does have brackets for top bows on the box. I think it'll get a 2.5 litre motor out of an S10 complete with the 5 speed overdrive tranny.

[Mike K]

Hi Cletrac

What a oddity ,well, to me it is , a LHD Vanguard . We had them as family cars in the 1960's , a phase 1 beetleback on to a 1958 estate car . My father worked at Standard Triumph Australia for 20 years ,they morphed into AMI and thus began the Toyota invasion. There was a supply of parts on hand for the Vanguards .. direct from the store ! I've still got the envelope with the invitation to the Xmas party for employees kids . They got into all sorts of weird collaborations , such as assembling Mercedes Benz cars and Ferguson tractors . The last batch of Vanguards they assembled in Melbourne ,were the 6 cyl. utes , around 1964 . In the early 70's, the Jap invasion was well and truely the future and they junked a huge amount of parts for old obsolete Standard cars .. all to the tip .

Until 2 weeks ago, there was a phase 2 sedan , about 2 km down the road from me, it sat there for 20 years .The property is being auctioned this weekend , they had a cleanup and the car has dissapeared .

I've got a fancy decal somewhere , depicting the Standard Triumph logo.

Mike

[Mike K]

The decal ....

They also had some little satellite workshops dotted around Melbourne e.g., a panel repair shop in South Melbourne on the corner of Haig and Cecil Streets and a little workshop in Beach road, Brighton Beach. They assembled a few Standard '10 Woodies' there at Brighton Beach. They did a few Standard 10 utes too .. these are very rare today. The big Boss in England, Mr Black, would venture out now and then.

Mike

[Mike K]

One of the more informative sites:

There was at one point , two clubs in Melbourne .. don't know if they are still up and running

http://www.users.bigpond.com/spacemaster1/

[cletrac (RIP)]

Mike, it's quite an oddity to me too. It's the only Vanguard pickup I've ever seen. I've only seen a couple of Vanguard sedans in total too. They weren't very popular in Canada I guess. I was surprised when I looked under the pickup and saw that it has 14 spring leaves on the rear.

[Les Freathy]

Hi Cletrac

My memory of the vangaurds was they were bulky but comfortable to ride in and out and out rust buckets, whats your like underneath. Attached is a data on the phase 2 hope its of use
cheers
Les

[cletrac (RIP)]

Les, living in Canada must give one a different outlook on some things. I just can't grasp thinking of the Vanguard as being bulky. There must have been quite a change in military minds between WW2 and the 1950s too. If my C8 is 8 cwt then how can the Vanguard be 12 cwt?
We towed it home yesterday behind an old 1966 Mercury pickup. Onlookers must have thought it was the Clampetts moving in.