An inexpensive piece of RAF history!
 

http://www.angliacarauctions.co.uk/e...dard-vanguard/

I haven't seen one like this before. Seems reasonably priced, air con as well. Didn't the V Force use a latter version? I seem to remember them in a promo film of the time.

In its day, these were the Station Masters car.

Nice to have air con in the 50's! Must have been a sluggish old beast though.

I'm guessing the aircon was a special order as the car was destined for hotter climes (Aden or Singapore perhaps)?

One of our number who I haven't seen on here for a while was OC RAF Detachment at Offutt and had a huge Ford station wagon as his staff car (ideal for picking up visiting crews and delivering them to the Ramada Inn!) It didnt have aircon and the RAF wouldnt stump up for a retro fit until he left a meat thermometer in it one day, which recorded 130F. They relented!

Wasn't there something about some retired RAF air marshal being on the board of Standards which is how they got the contract? I dont remember these in service, but the later models in the early 60s which rolling 20 refers to were pretty much hated by MT drivers who breathed a sigh of relief when they were replaced by Mk 2 Zephyrs.

We had a ex service one in Singapore - cetainly no air con. Built like a tank, had 2 1/2 years use out of it, with minimal maintenance cost, and sold it for what I paid for it.

Sluggish, it may have been.....the handling was suitably quaint,too!
The Staish at a certain piston-engined transport base in Wiltshire managed to roll his on the road back from the village - at night - I suspect the headlamps were also somewhat lacking.

Rolling20
That gentleman was Marshal of the Royal Air Force the Lord Tedder!

Fascinating insight into retro RAF transport chaps. I am tempted to bid myself to replace my X5 which caught fire in Germany a few days ago. I don't think Mrs Rolling would like to do the school run in it though!

Tankertrash
Wasn't there something about some retired RAF air marshal being on the board of Standards which is how they got the contract?

My Dad told me that tale a long time ago. A bit of a scandal at the time, apparently having bought it it then required something like 40 odd mods embodied before the Service would let it on the road.

"Inexpensive piece of RAF history".. unfortunately the seller makes no claim to an RAF history. Nice paint job though.

"Fortune has pandered to the man with a Standard" ran the adverts when it first came on the market post-war.

With an oversquare 2088 engine it was ahead of its time. In '52-'53, the Station Commander at Thornaby (W/Cdr Malcolm Sewell) had a beautiful sky-blue one (his own property): he was much envied.

Didn't know the RAF bought any as Staff Cars (we had to be content with a pre-war pattern Austin Sixteen), but they bought a fleet of "Ensign" pick-ups; these (bargain basement "Vanguards" with a smaller engine) were not very popular with the MT mechs.

D.

That picture had my remaining brain cell whirring that something was wrong! Took a while to register but then it clicked - the boot!! The Vanguard, as I recall it, had a roofline-to-bumper rear end, not a separate boot ... yes?? :8Looks quite odd with that back end:hmm:

A long time ago....
 

.....on a V-force station not a million miles from Lincoln, my B-i-L drove one as the crew transport out to their Vulcan in a "scramble". He didn't park it very carefully and the crew chief didn't notice and, heavy though they were, it was no match for 4 Olympuseses and it spun off into the darkness at the back of the ORP as they surged out onto the runway. His staish wasn't amused.

The Ancient Mariner

You're quite right Cornish the boot is definitely not standard!


Rgds SOS


P.S.


Thanks to all the above posters for treating a mildly interesting thread with some interest but no bitching or quarrelling. You've quite restored my faith in PPruners.

That's a Phase II Vanguard. The Phase I had the round back up until 1953 and then the Phase II with the 3 box shape came in. It was replaced by the Phase III in about 1957. The RAF used all three versions including the estate version for QRA.

An airconditioner suggests an export model as they were quite popular in Australia. It could well have been brought back by a returning serviceman or just a traveller.

There may well be a couple deep down in the Indian Ocean when a number of cars travelling as indulgence freight had to go over the side when one of Her Majesty's carriers had to do a 180 for Brunei and cancel its voyage to Portsmouth.

The 'boot' shape was introduced on the Phase II Vanguard - the Phase IA had the 'beetle' back end where the roof line swept majestically down to the rear bumper.

Had a lift in one once, driven by a WRAF officer, when hitching a lift home from RAF Halton. Very nice too! (the car was average, but better than walking!).

But not the same key as opened the Vulcan?.....

I don't think we used Vanguards for QRA. We had Standard Pennant estates with a blue light on the roof. I well remember them as the co-pilot drove. I got a bit enthusiastic one day and drifted the thing and slid it alongside the Vulcan. Wasn't allowed to drive again for a while!

ACW

Mickj3
ISTR that one of the mods was to remove the radio! :ugh:

Had a lift in one once, driven by a WRAF officer, when hitching a lift home from RAF Halton. Very nice too! (the car was average, but better than walking!). - Null Orifice

Surely that should have been a Standard Vanguard pickup....:ok:

Standard Vanguard Pick Up 1952 Ex RAF

Here's another photo of the "original" in the military vehicle section at a steam rally, which perhaps suggests that it is indeed kosher light blue

https://www.flickr.com/photos/332560...n/photostream/

and I note that the car is also currently insured.

Jack