Len Barr reports on his recent acquisition
The SLO in question was photographed at the recent Standard Register Rally
I have recently purchased a 1922 Standard model SLO to add to my collection of pre-war Standards which now totals four.
The other pre-war Standards in my collection date from 1913, 1928 and 1935, so the 1922 SLO fills a gap between the 1913 and 1928 nicely. This particular car has an interesting history.
My SLO is from batch 6, number 969 out of a batch of 1000 examples that was sanctioned in 1922. This was the last production of this model, which was soon replaced by the SLO4 model which carried a bored-out engine to increase the cubic capacity from 1598 cc to 1944 cc (11.6 H.P. to 13.9 H.P.) This larger engine was then married to a four-speed gearbox - hence the digit '4' on the end of the letters SLO.
My car carries the original registration number which is a Peterborough number and the car was to spend the first 34 years of its life in Cambridgeshire, Rutland and Lincolnshire until it moved down south.
I have an old-style buff log book that came with the car and the first entry is a George Day of Peterborough with a date stamp of 3rd April 1950. Although how long Mr Day had owned the car prior to this I couldn't say. The car was then transferred to Oswald Humphrey de Bolam of Normanton Park, Empingham, near Oakham, Rutland on 6th April 1950. In 1975 much of the valley was flooded to create Rutland Water and Normanton Park is now a hotel on the shores of Rutland Water.
The car was then transferred to a Gordon Howard Valentine of Peterborough and then to a Richard Alan Hepworth of Peterborough before it was sold to a Derek Neville Herbert of 22 Linden Way, Boston, Lincolnshire on 6th September 1954.
Derek Herbert entered the car in the Vintage Sports Car Club (VSCC) Buxton Rally that was held over the weekend of 2nd - 3rd April 1955. My first picture of the car was taken on this event, in the village of Castleton in the Peak District, some 10 miles from Buxton. The pictures (that follow) are courtesy of Simon Hunt and are from a series of several pictures of this event that were taken by his father.
The 1955 VSCC Buxton Rally outside houses in Castleton, with the same location today taken from Google Earth.
The SLO out in the Peak District during the 1955 VSCC Buxton Rally
In November 1956 the car was sold to the Standard Triumph Agents in Croydon, "Carrs Auto Services Ltd" sometimes known as "Carrs of Croydon". The car remained a garage showroom exhibit until the garage shut down in the mid-1980s. The picture below shows the car in the garage showroom in the late 1950s (note the rear end of a Phase 3 Vanguard and an 8/10 in the background)
The car very rarely left its warm garage showroom, except to take part in the annual local carnival parade. One of the few exceptions was in 1961 when the car attended the 1961 Standard Rally that was organised by the Standard Register and was a drive from the Southampton distributors to the Montagu Motor Museum at Beaulieu.
This picture shows the 1922 Standard, driven by Francis Carr about to set off on the road run.
The car still carries a plaque from the 1961 Rally which was exclusively for Pre-1930 Standards. My 1913 Standard Rhyl also took part in the 1961 Rally, so out of an entry list of 34 cars, I now own two of them.
Towards the end of its ownership by Carrs Auto Services Ltd, the car was on the Standard Motor Club Stand at the 1983 Classic Car Show that was held at The Hotel Metropole, Brighton. The car even picked up an award "Car of the Show" in the pre-war category.
If any long-standing Club members attended the 1983 Classic Car Show and took any pictures of the car on the Club Stand, then I would be delighted to see them.
When Carrs Auto Services shut down in the mid-1980s, the SLO moved to The Bentley Wildfowl and Motor Museum, Halland, Near Lewes, East Sussex, where it was to remain until the Museum shut its doors for the final time in 2018.
After the museum shut its doors in 2018, it was sold through a dealer - Malcolm Elder, and was purchased by the late A J C Spencer of Tysoe, Warwickshire.
I purchased the car from the deceased estate in May this year.
Len Barr
LINE OF C
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