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Quotes

YOUR QUOTES
“Had some great times, looking back, was probably the most enjoyable job I’ve ever had. Just didn’t realise it then. We used to go over The Herald Pub at lunchtimes quite often. It was always packed out.” 

“The Specification Office was on Tile Hill Lane, there were 3 girls and around 12 guys in the office. We used to go for a lunchtime drink at The Newlands.”

“The Engine casting checking fixture known by us as a Doghouse Fixture as the block fitted inside it. Happy days at a good company.”

“An uncle of mine worked at Canley for many years until he retired; my dad told me he worked on back axle assembly.”

“My father worked at the Standard, Banner Lane and was made redundant after 20 years. As far as I know he was a ‘fitter’ but I was too young to know much more than that. I remember he hung his bike up in the shed and there it stayed.”

“I remember during the late 70s, probably 1978, they had a Japanese delegation visiting the Canley plant, this preceded the Triumph Acclaim and was initiated by Michael Edwards, whom Maggie Thatcher entrusted control of British Leyland cars. The problem was that there were a lot of veterans who served in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, many of which saw service in the Far East and suffered shocking treatment as POWs under the Japanese. The company decided, due to the strength of feeling against the Japanese, to give those employees who served in the Far East etc a day off with pay. Any ex-Standard Triumph employee would know that the internal road that ran from the Fletch gate to the Canley gate was always known as the “Burma Road”

“A friend of mine worked as an internal auditor for Standard Triumph. Under the Leyland regime, he had to make regular vists to Gaydon, where they stored cars, to locate up to a thousand cars at a time that had been “lost” by the accounting system!”

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Drawing Office Library – Recognise Anyone?

These great photos have been sent through by Dave Wagner, showing his Dad (in the glasses) making a presentation (probably to a worker who was leaving). He worked there from the mid sixties until he retired 1977.  We’ve enlarged the faces from the first photo to see if you can recognise anyone.

Continue reading “Drawing Office Library – Recognise Anyone?”

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Arthur Hutt VC

A new entry has spurred some extra research. This was submitted:
“My Uncle Arthur Hutt who won the VC worked In The Stores There a long Time Ago”

So, this is what we found out:
He was 28 years old, and a private in the 1/7th Battalion of The Royal Warwickshire Regiment, British Army during the First World War when the following deed took place at the battle of Passchendaele for which he was awarded the VC.

Continue reading “Arthur Hutt VC”

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Sir John Black (Obituary)

Black, Sir John Paul (1895–1965), motor vehicle manufacturer, was born on 10 February 1895 at Kingston upon Thames. Black was educated locally and studied law, which brought out an aptitude for clear-cut decisions that was further developed in the First World War, during which he attained the rank of captain. In 1919 Black was recruited by the Hillman motor car marque in Coventry. He soon became joint managing director, with Spencer Wilks. Their success led to Hillman’s being taken over by Rootes Ltd, a move which prompted both to resign in 1929.

Black joined the Standard Motor Company the same year, at the invitation of its founder, Reginald Maudslay. The marque was in dire financial straits and Black, who became general manager in 1930, set about restoring the company’s fortunes. He ended the costly in-house manufacture of components and started to introduce mass production techniques. Black also brought in Edward Grinham from Humber as chief engineer; he was able to interpret Black’s ideas for stylish and competitively priced models, especially in the Flying Standard series. By 1939 total car production had reached 50,000 units a year, making Standard Coventry’s largest motor car manufacturer and earning the marque a place in the ‘Big Six’ league of leading British-based producers. Although Black did not officially become managing director until Maudslay’s death in December 1934, he was effectively in command from the start.
Continue reading “Sir John Black (Obituary)”

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I Remember Cash’s Lane

In the ’20s, I remember the Standard Motor Company being situated in Cash’s Lane, bordered by the canal, O’Brien cycle factory, Foleshill Road, and Cash’s Lane, where Kwikfit tyre fitters is now.

I was born and lived in Arthur Street which at that time was a cul-de- sac. Test drivers from the Standard used to drive a chassis with only an engine, windscreen, and seat, out on the roads, and several of them used to come to Arthur Street to make adjustments, to brakes, etc.

I remember the smell of the new exhaust pipes, and when we inquisitive kids asked what they were doing, they used to explain to us instead of telling us to clear off.

They also told us to buy Standards when we were old enough because we knew they would be good, having seen how good they were before the bodies were put on. This ended when the Standard moved to Canley.

After I left School, I worked for a small engineering firm which made components for the bigger car firms, and I machined brake shackles, and also made brake abutments for Standard.

Years later I drove Standard 12s, Standard Roadsters and Vanguards, they were indeed, like the test-driver had said, good cars.

I hasten to point out that they were not my cars, I drove them in the course of my job.

William H Underwood, Shilton, near Coventry.

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Standard Triumph Monument

At 12 noon on 16 April 2000, a monument to Standard Triumph was unveiled on Herald Avenue, on the site of the old Canley factory in the outskirts of Coventry, just behind the Standard Triumph Recreation Club – the last remaining original building of the factory complex. Continue reading “Standard Triumph Monument”