Prewar Flying 8 Saloon in South Africa

I'm emailing from Bloemfontein , South Africa , and must say, since I acquired my little Flying 8 Saloon I've been obsessing about Standards and visiting The Standard Club hompage twice a day !!!

I bought the car little more than a year ago almost fully restored. Only problem was the engine was completely stuck....! After taking it apart I found that the top cover had corroded between no. 2 & 3 cylinders with water leaking on top of the pistons. With the car sitting in storage for a year or two, the rings along with the piston had got stuck completely. I carefully took out each ring and cleaned it along with all the ring gaps. The top cover was repaired at a cylinderhead specialist shop in town, unfortunately I had to reuse the rings & the old top gasket but will replace
it as soon as I join the club.

After allot of tender loving care she sparked to life early in January.  We had some trouble
with starting, but with a lot of persistence and huffing & puffing the "old granny" fired up.....!!!!

There's still a lot to be done, body work is good although I spotted some rust on the bottom of the windscreen rubber, there's some finishing touches to be done on the interior, she has no brakes on the back wheels, but apart from that there's no other major problems.

I would like to join The Standard Club but with the unfortunate state of world economics the South African Rand is a bit weak against the British Pound, but  be sure as soon as I take care of more pressing financial matters I'm joining the club !

Attached are some photo's, please let me know what you guys think and what model it is as I'm not sure myself ? Feel free to use these pic's as you see fit.

Thanks & regards.

Thys Jansen Van Vuuren

Thanks for your photos, Thys.

As you say its a Flying 8 Saloon. I make the car to be a late Prewar model, the commission number page puts it as mid 1940. Hope you enjoy the car and have the benefits of joining the Club soon.

Phil Homer

Your car can be preserved on the Internet, forever! I am always pleased to see stories of Standard restorations,  including photos, some taken during the process if possible. Send them to webmaster@standardmotorclub.org.uk for publication on this site. 

Return to Top of Page

Return to Flying Standard Features