This historical feature by Phil Homer traces how the cars came about and describes some survivors. Part 1 describes the features of the Model V1 and how it was developed into the V2
The history of the earliest of these cars is little documented, probably because they were not a success and relatively few were sold. The feature is accompanied by contemporary photographs of the cars, published here for the first time, but only one of these cars survives today - the subject of a restoration project.
In 1920, Standard’s current best seller was the side-valve Model SLS which was rated at 9.5 Hp. The company then introduced a slightly larger car, the SLO, which was launched in July of that year. It was priced at £595 for the 2 seater and £645 for the 4 seater.
This was quite expensive in the day, so that also created room in the Catalogue for a smaller, cheaper car.
V1 2 seater.
The new small car was to be called the Model V1. To be cheaper the car had to be lighter and simplified compared to the one that preceded it. No credit was afforded to a particular designer at the time, but clearly chief engineer John Budge must have had a great influence over it. It is rumoured that the company practice was that large drawings were poured over, and signed off, by the Directors on the Board-room floor. The photo of the car shows a curious line to the rear of the bonnet, in that it sloped backwards.
V1 - 4 seater.
The design featured a new, tiny 1087cc 4 cylinder engine, rated at 8Hp RAC. With The dimensions of 62mm by 90mm, these were the same as the pre first World War Model S so, the blocks could be machined on the same boring tools. In contrast to the outgoing Model SLS, the new SLO and now the V1 featured an overhead valve configuration, an advancement that was not achieved by Austin or Morris during that period.
V1 and V2 engine.
Unlike the SLO however, the V1 had all exposed push rods, rockers and valve gear, running in oil supplied from a small reservoir that dripped oil onto the rockershaft. Obviously this required periodic topping-up. Other cost-saving measures included using quarter elliptical springs all around instead of half-elliptical springs on both the SLS and the SLO - and the fitting of solid disc wheels rather than artillery wheels. A plus point was that both the main bearings ran in Ball bearings.
Drawing of the Oil Circulating Disc.
As there was no oil pump, the engine relied on splash lubrication internally. To assist this an oil circulating disc was attached to the crankshaft as shown in this drawing, as the crank turned, enough oil was splashed onto the bearings and the undersides of the pistons.
The rear axle was tied rigidly to the back of the gearbox by the casing of the propshaft and by two diagonal tie-bars. The aluminium central axle casing contained an underneath worm drive with a ratio of 4.6 to 1.
The rear axle.
Steering was by Worm and full Wormwheel design. This meant that when a portion of the wormwheel became worn, it could be turned to engage a completely unworn section, The author is of the opinion that this desirable feature should have persisted into later designs.
Braking was to the rear wheels, but two entirely separate systems were employed within the 10” drums. In each drum was a pair of shoes, side by side, one pair within each wheel being operated by the handbrake, the other pair by the footbrake. These were linked to the brake (right) pedal and the handbrake by adjustable rods with no compensators.
V1 and V2 chassis.
There were no brakes on the front axle. The 3 speed and reverse gearbox sat in the centre of the car driven by a short shaft with flexible joints off the back of the clutch. An extension off the gearbox to the right brought the gearlever under the driver’s right hand, This was exactly next to the handbrake so ones right hand could not be used for both changing gear and braking at the same time. (This statement was true for all vintage Standards) This might concern “modern” drivers, as it was quite difficult to bring the car to a halt using the footbrake alone. Indeed, the car was designed to be “Driven on the handbrake”
Centre of the car.
The starter motor also sat in the centre of the car and drove the Bendix at the flywheel by means of a shaft about 18” long.
The design was not without its innovations, principally Aluminium pistons with tubular con-rods. It has been previously documented that the car used Coil ignition but an examination of the Spare parts catalogue and the Owners instruction Manual shows clearly that an “old-fashioned” Magneto was still fitted.
(The accolade for the first British car to be fitted with Coil Ignition actually goes to the Austin 7 launched in July 1922)
As the roads were not universally tarmaced at the time, the exposed valve gear presented a problem to drivers in keeping dust out of the engine. The car was rumoured to be producing only 13bhp and was certainly criticised for being underpowered. Despite an attractive price of £325, the new car did not find favour with the public. Only 500 were built in it’s first season – and significantly, none of the cars survive today. (unless you know better!)
This was a very busy time for Standard’s Engineering department as a V8-engined model, based on two SLO Cylinder blocks and a common crankcase was also in development. I will come back to that car later….
So, returning to the plot, Standard decided to do something to improve the saleability, and announced the V2 for the 1923 season. The curious reverse slant at the bulkhead was abandoned but the disc wheels were retained.
V2 - 2 seater
An improvement in power was achieved by increasing the bore size to 68mm, giving a capacity of 1307cc and an RAC rating of 11.4 Hp. Despite this increase in power, the chassis does not appear to have been stiffened as the factory drawing of it is identical to the V1
V2 4-seater.
The dry clutch and Oil Circulating disc were retained. It is a measure of the similarity of both cars that the Owners Manual was reprinted entirely without alteration, apart from the revised engine capacity.
It is indicative of the competitive market conditions of that time that Standard seem to have been forced to drop the starting price from £325 to just £235! This was also less than half the price of the SLO, whose price remained unaltered. This car received a somewhat improved reaction, however, still no more than 1000 units were delivered. Yes, this time there happens to be just one survivor, which is a 4-seater, but it is subject to a long-term restoration presently.
This is the only known V2 as found ahead of restoration.
So, even a contemporary photograph is a very rare thing! I am pleased to have published a couple here above
A nice shot of a V1 out on a Country Drive.
The inset shows a close up of the brake linkages. Its not right to be hanging out of the car, but I can’t make out what is going wrong?
Part 2 of the story, next month, shows the improvements for the model V3 and the author tries to understand the reason for its success.
My thanks to Len Barr for his assistance in writing this feature.
Phil Homer
Historian, Standard Motor Club
The following are additional photos of the cars that might be of interest
Interior view of the unrestored V2.
Two engine photos.
This plan drawing is from the V2 Owners Handbook but contradicts the chassis photograph which was also in the same book (displayed above). I don’t think this one is correct.
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