Description
TODAY'S offering from Martin Howey Classics (Est. 25 years) is a 1954 Standard 8. Just four months older than me!
This is a really early and rare model with sliding windows, early style seats, different steering wheel etc. The rear seat backs fold down individually so as to allow access to boot space. In order to save costs, the early 8 models were built without an opening boot. Car manufacturers in the 80s probably thought this was a new concept. But here was Standard doing it 30 years earlier! These chirpy little Standard offer an ideal alternative to the likes of the Morris Minor and Austin A30/ 35. Cheap and cheerful, I always think that the 8 and the 10 are much better cars than people give them credit for.
This little gem has got a tremendously straight rot and rust-free body which shines up really well in gleaming black. She is a lot neater and sharper than countless more expensive classics around from that era. A very pretty little car indeed. An ideal starter classic. Engine sounds sweet and she moves fine through the gears. The block is painted in a shade of blue I have definitely seen before in these small Standards and so that must have been..... well, standard I guess. She needs front indicators fitting which are supplied with the car.
This description is based on my opinion of the vehicle, the paperwork that comes with the car and anything I have been told about it. The vehicle is 68-years-old and this cannot be taken as a definitive statement for obvious reasons. As with most classic cars, there may be faults and quirks whilst, almost inevitably, some degree of tinkering and care will always be called for. Such are the joys of owning an antique vehicle and they must be taken within their own context and not compared to modern day cars. They are sold as old, mainly out-dated machines and come without any comeback whatsoever. They are my terms and conditions.
My classic cars are motoring antiques. This car, for example, is 68-years-old. It's not two, five or even ten-years-old as your own everyday car may be. It has been in service for more than half a century and so will have quirks and faults in there somewhere. However, faults on these old girls are not always apparent when buying and selling classics which is what I do. I do not restore them, nor do I pretend that they are concours cars. The majority of them go out as they came in, and I continue to enjoy finding more - a skill which is becoming increasingly difficult as many of you will be aware. They deserve to be taken on as "family pets" and cared for through thick and then. They don't make them any more and demand now out-strips supply. Please bear all this in mind, and enjoy your classic car. I can also assist with delivery and so please ask for a quote.
I have now been established as a one-man band classic car dealer for 25 years and pride myself on my buying prowess and - due to small margins - my prices which I firmly believe are up there among the very best in the UK classic car marketplace.
Thanks, Martin. the details below.
