Back in the 1950s, when the Indian automobile industry just began to come into existence, there were three companies. Hindustan Motors, Premier and Standard. These three were the only options people had to choose from. Standard was known for making cars that were affordable, comfortable and powerful. One such is the Standard 10. The Standard 10 was so popular, especially in the south region of India that the customers had to wait for a long time to get one. But what made the car so special? Let’s take a look.
1954 – Standard 10 comes into existence
The British automaker, Standard was known in the Europe region for making family cars at an affordable price. In India also, the company started off with Standard 8 which was not able to get a huge audience. Then based on the 8’s platform with the same engine, the company launched Standard 10.
The name comes from the company’s initial range of cars that had engines which were capable of producing 10hp of power. But no, this does not mean that this car also made the same specs.
What makes the car a good choice?
Do you really want to know about why people chose this car? Ask a Standard car owner and he will tell you why. This car and other cars from the carmaker (except one) make the owner confident enough to trust the car for its reliability, performance, comfort and style.
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Reliability
The monocoque construction with a rigid body was made to last long. If you are able to spot one even now, don’t get amazed as it’s build quality makes it an easy to preserve the car. Ask a person who has restored the car and he will tell you about the reliability this car comes with.
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Performance
Standard 10 was powered by a 948cc engine that was capable of producing 33hp of power. This power figure might sound small but for comparison, the 1.5-litre engine that used to power the HM Ambassador at that time was able to churn around 48hp of power. And this small engine was also fuel-efficient. It could easily cover around 17kms in a single litre of fuel.
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Comfort
Although the car might look small at first glance, it was easily able to seat 5 people comfortably with ample luggage space still left.
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Style
The dual-tone body colour The sturdy body was not only made to last long but to also make an impression that would last longer too. It had beautiful body lines and optimum curves and a distinct dual-tone colour while other carmakers were stuck with the single colour options at that time.
Standard, later on, launched a station wagon version of the 10 too which was named Companion. Another car launched by the company with the name Pennant was also known as Standard 10 by some people due to its striking resemblance. This car had a good run in India. But eventually, the cars like HM Ambassador and Premier Padmini took over.
Have a look: Standard 2000 | A Story of Poor Build Quality & False Claims
