As a manufacturer "Standard Motor Company" may not stimulate your memory banks but you'd be surprised at the variety of vehicles produced by that venerable firm during its 60 years of production. Think Triumph and TR, for example, after it acquired the company. Or the cars that used Standard parts: SS, Swallow, Jaguar, Morgan, Railton, among them. To me it was the Standard Vanguard that stands out, a family sedan that was available, for a time, in Canada during my Brit-car-enthusiast period. Good-looking car, decent 2-liter engine, spoiled by inadequate marketing/service facilities in North America. During an earlier era the company produced several desirable sports cars, among them this 1931 Standard Avon Special that appeared at the 2008 Steamworks Concours in Vancouver. Research indicates the body was designed by the Jensen brothers (of Jensen Cars fame) and built by Avon of Warwick. Hence its uninspired name: 1931 Standard Avon Special. I love it, regardless.

[Photo: Nigel Matthews]