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To say Tony Pounder is an aficionado of the Standard Eight/Ten family would be a mild understatement.

For starters, his fleet includes two 1958 Tens – one blue, one white – that are very much on the road.

The first 'was originally purchased by a Standard employee using his staff discount. He kept it until 1986. The second owner kept it until 2006 when I stepped in!'. Meanwhile, the white car is used as "everyday transport'!

Meanwhile, work on a 1954 Ten Rally Car is reaching completion.

'This car was built by the works for the pre-war racer Leslie Brooke, and it took part in the 1955 Monte Carlo, the RAC and the 1956 Monte Carlo Rallies  - alas without much success!

However, it retains many unique works features'.

And if that were not enough, Tony's garage further includes a Pennant a Companion and a brace of restoration projects; a 1955 Rally Car ('supported by the works for the Army Rally team’) and a 1955 Ten with 'twin carbs and overdrive'.

When the Standard Eight made its bow at the 1953 Motor Show it was evident that it was aimed at a different market to the Triumph Mayflower. 

That was transport for retired Majors and anyone who thought that listening to Johnnie Ray records was grounds for instant deportation to Antarctica.

Still, the new Standard was the "first car" for many households.

It also appealed to many as a "second car" to a Vanguard Phase II-owning household, and S-T urged prospective buyers to 'Make a Date With The Standard Eight'.

The four-door unitary body (Canley did not offer a two-door model) was a noteworthy feature, as were the single wiper, sliding windows and the fact that hubcaps were optional extras.

The Eight also featured a 'roomy dust and rain sealed boot';  as demonstrated by this Pathe news short access to the luggage compartment was via folding the rear seat as there was no external lid. 

However, such economies were in the name of ensuring £481 worth of Standard was cheaper than the Austin A30 and the Morris Minor Series II.

Yet the Eight was far from crude and Tony argues that its front suspension 'was much better than the BMC competition with double wishbones and telescopic shocks.

Apart from a few detail changes was used in its entirety in the final Spitfire of 1982'. S-T expanded the range in 1954 with the 948cc Ten and the Eight De Luxe, both of which featured winding windows, twin sun visors and even a second wiper.

Advertisements featured illustrations of a happy family in a drawing of a Standard made to look as large as a Jaguar Mk.VII via a cunning artist.

By the end of the year, Standard introduced the Companion, the only British-built five-door estate in its class.   

The Ten was a familiar sight as a competition car during the 1950s with the Jimmy Ray/Brian Horrocks Standard achieving an outright victory in the 1955 RAC Rally.

'A convincing victory by a big margin was won by a works twin-carburettor Standard Ten driven by BP Supermen J.H. Ray and B. Horrocks,' praised Motor Sport. Two months later they positively raved about the Standard:

In an Editorial preface to our report on the RAC Rally in the April issue we stated that the Standard Ten is Britain's outstanding small car.

This statement was based on the fact that the Standard Eight and Ten have ohv engine and four-speed gearbox in contrast to Ford's predilection for side valves and three speeds, and their possession of happier gear ratios, and more urge than the Austin A30 or Morris Minor.

At that time we had not sampled the car on the road and suffered slight pangs of conscience; now, after covering 676 miles in a Standard Ten we can endorse our bold opinion.

By 1956 the Eight lost its sliding panes, and the Super Ten featured an opening boot lid.

The brochure described this luxury feature as suited 'for those who prefer to have their luggage accessible from outside the car' – i.e. nearly everyone.

There was also the optional of "Standrive" semi-automatic transmission.

As memories of ration books and austerity began to fade, early 1957 saw all but the entry-level Eight retained the sealed luggage compartment, You could even specify your Standard with overdrive.

October of that year marked the advent of the Pennant and who could resist the combination of a more powerful version of the Ten's engine, a remote control gearchange and seats trimmed in the finest "Vynair" upholstery available to humanity all for a mere £728 17s?

Best of all, the Pennant featured 'Excitingly handsome lines and the two-tone colours you've always wanted'.

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The Herald succeeded the Eight, Ten and Pennant saloons in 1959 although the Companion continued until 1961.

The employment of the Triumph name on S-T's latest small car was near-inevitable given the profile of the TR sports cars; some export market Tens were already so-badged.

Tony thinks the Herald 'has the better steering but is a lot heavier than the Standard with its separate chassis. In original single carb 948cc form (the same engine as the last Tens) they appear sluggish compared to the Ten'. He also notes that 'the Ten with its monocoque bodyshell was lighter than even the Spitfire!’

When asked which is his favourite of the range, Tony thinks it's the late-model Ten saloons made from 1958 as 'they feel more complete!

The Companion and Commercial variants were hand made from supplied body shells and tend to rattle - well the ones I owned did!!

The car's Achilles Heel is the small steering box which although adequate is not a patch on the rack and pinion steering of the Herald'.  

Naturally Tony enjoys the Eight/Ten many screen appearances, and he cites his favourite 'the Standard-Triumph rally films of the 1950s especially their coverage of the 1955 and 1956 Monte Carlo Rally's where my cars crop up occasionally!'.

Then there is the 1956 Tulip Rally where the Manufacturer's Prize went to Standard and' a lone Austin A30 is hunted down by a gaggle of  Eights! Marvellous stuff!'

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