Standard Motor Company Build Records PT 2: 1954-1957

It is boom time in the Canley factory, as Phil Homer continues his forensic examination of the production records of the Standard Motor Company – which of course includes all Triumph TRs

- Phil Homer

In March 1954, the diesel version of the Phase II Vanguard was introduced, the first UK series production diesel car. This, someone decided, was sufficiently different to the Vanguard to be given its own prefix, DEC. Like the TR2 before it, the first two examples, DEC1 and DEC2, were built and commissioned off the line at Banner Lane on 10th March. DEC1 was in Metallic Blue, DEC2 in Light Grey, and both had crimson interior trim. So DEC3 was the first to come down the production line on the 18th, and this was in primer with a brown interior.

The ‘cheap and cheerful’ Standard 8 of 803cc was a great success, but it had always been the intention to build a bigger-engined car, so the company introduced the 948cc version called the Standard 10, prefix BE. The earliest record I can find is BE2DL built on 5th May in Elfin Grey and Red interior. BE3DL was built the following day. There are no records associated with BE1, but if it was built on the line it would have been in late April or the first week of May.

Production of 10s was very faltering at first, but overall production was ramped up during the spring. As a result, 12th May is a typical day’s production from around this time and shows 65 Vanguards of all types, 30 TR2s, 100 Standard 8s, 30 Standard 8 Deluxes, plus 80 Vanguards CKD and 40 Standard 8s CKD. That’s over 350 vehicles in a day, or 1750 per week. On top of that the occasional Saturday morning was being worked, mostly to satisfy demand for Standard 8s.