Standard Vanguard History

Announced in July 1947, the Standard Vanguard was the company's first post-war car and one of the first all-new British designs to appear after the Second World War, owing nothing to pre-war models. Its full-width, American-influenced 'beetle-back' body (styled by Walter Belgrove) and 2,088 cc overhead-valve four-cylinder engine let Standard rationalise its entire range around a single model aimed heavily at export markets.

That rugged 2.1-litre 'wet-liner' engine became one of Britain's most important post-war units: it powered the Ferguson TE20 tractor and, in tuned form, the Triumph TR2/TR3 sports cars, as well as the Vanguard itself. The car evolved through the separate-chassis Phase I (1947–1953), the Phase II (1953–1955), and the much lower, monocoque Phase III (1955–1958), restyled for 1958 by Giovanni Michelotti with Vignale.

A six-cylinder Vanguard Six (1,998 cc) was offered from 1961 to early 1963 after Leyland Motors took control of Standard-Triumph. Both the Vanguard and the related Ensign were replaced in 1963 by the Triumph 2000, and the Standard name disappeared from the British market after 60 years.