Shaun Russell tells the story of his new purchase:
Mr Philip Radforth was the previous owner, he passed away in September 2021.
I heard about the car and had a chat with his brother who had decided it was now a number of months on and time to get the car a good home. He told me someone else was interested and he would await to see if they were purchasing the car. We spoke at length and I warned him about SS owners trying to get their hands on it and what would happen if they did. They would possibly cut it up for parts. I didn’t expect to hear from him again.
The next day, Saturday afternoon, he rang and said if I'd like to pop and look at the car on the Sunday morning, that was fine. I was pretty thrilled, he said it was in bad condition. I said that's of no matter, we would restore it regardless, for its rarity.
Well now I measured my trailer twice, decided the 20 may be longer than the Avon I'd owned and decided to weld a bar across the front of my trailer so extending the bed some 12 inches and it was a good job I did, as the car was a snug fit.
I rang my father and asked him to join me the next day for the run north up the M1 and came off somewhere above Wakefield. We were armed with as much cash as we could find and lots of cold drinks..
Pulling the car out of the garage - as found.
The chap was a Morris Minor enthusiast, he had three, one his wife had been driving for 45 years. We followed a few miles to some garages in an estate and prepared to open the shed door. He said you've come prepared, I said yes, we are taking the car. He said you may not like it - you've not seen it. I said come on then, let's have a look. Well what a find, the chaps the day before had blown up the tyres..and she rolled. We pulled her out into bright sunlight. The weather was very hot!!
The chap gave us a description of the car and his brothers use of it., he used to go to odd shows as an oily rag rolling restoration, and the brother would very much want to see it restored. I said that's no problem, as we looked inside the car the wood worm had had a field day - there wasn’t a bit of wood, hardboard, plywood left, it was all bits and dust. You touched it, it disappeared into dust, but the main thing, absolutely every nut washer fixings screws, Bakelite was there. I said it would be more of a job photographing and taking notes and taking things apart than the assembly.
The engine had the head off, someone had tried to weld it, on dear I thought, the gentlemen said he had put rings off a contemporary Rover on one of the pistons many years ago and it ran fine.
I kept pushing the old girl a little closer to the trailer; he said, you're keen. Sure I was, how many of these Standard 20s do you come across!
As we had agreed I was having the car, the gentleman told me of the people the previous day. They pulled the car out and looked under the bonnet for an hour or so and said they would think about it. He said they never pulled the car all the way out or looked into the rear of the car, so he asked one of their friends, sat in another car, had these guys got any other classics? He said yes, two SS cars, The chap I bought it off told them to get back to him asap and pushed the car back and shut the door. Thank god I'd pre -warned him of the SS boys wanting just the engine and the gearbox and running gear.
I was also told of a coat of arms that were on the car when Mr Radforth had purchased it.
So we agreed a price, and loaded up the car. Now I'm usually pretty good at this, but after getting the car half way on the trailer I had to have a sit down and drink in my Toyota with air con on full...it must have been getting up to 40 deg C, where we were. Any how, we loaded the car on. Thank God for the extension I'd made as the car just fitted nice. All strapped down and we were off. What an epic return trip, I popped alternative route in the SatNav and we came back through the Derbyshire Dales as well as up and down 3 in one hills, scorching temperatures and I'd never seen the tops of moors burnt brown and all the reservoirs empty.
We were also running out of cold drinks fast, but we arrived home in good time and popped the latest addition into a nice dry garage. The head is away with my brother at Slinden Services, he is a specialist welder. I gave the engine bay a de-grease and jet the very next day, once dry, I sprayed a full tin of wd40 all over the engine, carb and wiring loom to protect it until I start a full restoration...
The picture notes say the car belonged to a lady something in London.
Now in a book I've read it mentions that HRH the Duke of Gloucester owned a Standard 12 from 1932 and he was so impressed with the car that he bought his wife a Standard 20 in 1936/7. Could this be the coat if arms on the doors and the previous lady owner from London?
This Website will give more news as the restoration of this car progresses.
Safely in Shaun's workshop, ready to begin the restoration - already looking better with layers of dust and grime removed.
SEND US YOUR CARS STORY
Don’t be shy – why not tell us the story behind YOUR Standard and include some Photos? Please fill in this form HERE.
The feature will be preserved here forever.
Phil Homer
Historian
Standard Motor Club
LINE OF C
