Standard Flying Standard History

Saloon · 1936–1948

Sample hero image — replace with real model photography.

History

Announced at the 1935 Olympia Motor Show and reaching the market in 1936, the Flying Standards replaced Standard's upright pre-war range with bodies that had a streamlined front, a sloping fastback-style rear and a distinctive 'waterfall' grille topped by a Union Jack badge. The line spanned the Flying Nine, Ten, Twelve, Fourteen, Sixteen and Twenty, covering most of the family-car market.

A short-lived Flying Standard V8, using a 2.7-litre side-valve V8, was offered around 1936–1937 in small numbers — a rare and unusual British V8 of the period. The four-cylinder Flying Fourteen (announced October 1936) and the six-cylinder cars were the volume sellers.

After the Second World War, Standard briefly resumed production of revised Twelve (12CD) and Fourteen (14CD) models that shared a common, slightly wider body derived from the pre-war Flying Twelve. These carry-over cars were sold until 1948, when the all-new Vanguard swept the entire pre-war range away.

Generations

Pre-war Flying range · Flying Nine–Twenty + V8 (1936–1940)

Photo: “1938 Standard Flying 10.jpg” by Calreyn88 / Wikimedia Commons , licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

The streamlined range introduced from 1936 — Flying Nine, Ten, Twelve, Fourteen, Sixteen and Twenty, plus the rare ~1936–1937 2.7-litre Flying V8.
- 1937
  Photo: “MHV Standard Flying 9 1937 01.jpg” by unkonwn / Wikimedia Commons — Public domain
- 1938
  Photo: “1938 Standard 9 (5893927594).jpg” by ifor.griffiths / Wikimedia Commons , licensed under CC BY 2.0
- 1939
  Photo: “1939 Standard Flying Nine.jpg” by Andrew Bone / Wikimedia Commons , licensed under CC BY 2.0
Post-war carry-over · Twelve (12CD) & Fourteen (14CD) (1945–1948)

Revised post-war Twelve and Fourteen sharing a common wider body derived from the 1939 Flying Twelve; sold until the Vanguard replaced them in 1948.