Description
Welcome to the sale of my Standard Vanguard Vignale Estate Car, 4 Speed Manual with Overdrive. This vehicle was totally restored over a 5 year period from August 2015, including all necessary bodywork & a repaint to the inner/ outer body & engine bay. Following this the underside was completely Waxoyled.
All bright work was re-chromed or replaced new including bumpers, radiator grille, hubcaps, door handles, side lamp trims, light bezels & window winders, etc.
The engine was rebuilt with new pistons, big end & main bearings; cylinder head rebuilt with unleaded conversion; new correct Solex carb & new Accuspark electronic distributor and coil.
The gearbox was rebuilt by Overdrive Repair Services of Sheffield c/ w a new original spec. Laycock ‘A’ type overdrive unit & clutch.
The radiator was refurbished, water pump rebuilt & new cooling system hoses fitted.
The braking system was renewed - master cylinder, wheel cylinders, shoes & new brake pipes.
A bespoke stainless steel exhaust system was also made up by SES Exhausts of Sutton in Ashfield.
The wiring loom was in very good condition & must have been previously replaced so the principal addition was a new electronic control box from Classic Dynamo & Regulator Conversions. The car’s instruments all functioned perfectly from day one & continue to do so. The starter motor & dynamo were rebuilt & a new battery fitted to complete the electrical updating.
Other work included refurbishing the heater - a labour intensive task, sourcing a new Lucas Screenjet windscreen washer unit to replace the missing one & getting the headlamp sealed beam units re-silvered. New front windscreen & rear screen rubbers were also fitted.
The car then underwent a total interior re-trim including front & rear bench seats, door trim panels (restoring the good original covers), rear compartment panels & new headlining, finishing off with a new carpet set. The photos hopefully convey this work. While this was being done small amounts of rust damage to the bulkhead, a known problem area with these cars, were cut out & replaced with new metal. A fair amount of work was also involved replacing door & window seals & servicing the door & winder mechanisms.
Finally a new set of radial tyres were fitted. Vanguards of this period had 16” road wheels shod with 550 x 16 cross ply tyres. Radial tyres of this equivalent size are made but look very ‘skinny’ when fitted to the Vanguard. After a little research a set of modern radial tyres very close in size to the original cross ply at 175/ 75 x 16 were fitted, slightly wider & lower in profile than the crossply but perfect on the car. The Nexen Roadian CT8 was selected for the best wet grip, rolling resistance & low noise characteristics I could find.
As a result of the restoration the Vanguard performs superbly. The rebuilt 2088cc TR derived engine is renowned for its rugged reliability and it does not disappoint. It pulls well in all gears, holding 50 psi oil pressure from starting to fully warmed up. Road holding on the radials is far superior to the old crossplies & changing in & out of overdrive (in both 3rd & 4th of course) gets the most out of the performance. The car is also a very good starter & invariably fires up on the 1st turn of the key even after a period without use.
I always admired these cars as a young lad in the early 60’s so when this one came up for sale I knew I’d be buying it. Looking back through the archive of paperwork & photos is a reminder of how much research work & effort went into the restoration, but all worthwhile. Suffice to say I have the fabled 1” thick folder of bills, in chronological order, available for inspection. This reveals an outlay well in excess of the asking price with all restoration work done. As it is over 10 years since the repaint there are a couple of small areas needing a touch up, as shown in the photos.
The car is fully serviced, on the button & will be sold with a full MOT. This very rare Standard Vanguard Vignale Estate Car left the Canley Works in Coventry on 12th July 1960 & was consigned to the Cleveland Car Company in Darlington, the main Standard Triumph Distributors for North Yorkshire and South Durham. From there it was sold to its 1st owner over the border in Ayrshire with 1st registration for the road being made on 9th August 1960. The original registration number ‘PSD 312’ was changed by a previous owner, for reasons unknown, to ‘RSL 512’, also of Scottish origin, being the registration prefix for Clackmannanshire.
There are 6 keepers recorded in the logbook, not including the gentleman I bought the car from, who simply ‘flipped’ it on Ebay. I bought it ‘blind’ as it had a comprehensive description and photographic record, now in the car’s history file. It’s my theory that it must have been well looked after for a long period of its life & only later suffered some deterioration.
When examined the paintwork was the original factory finish & though some bodywork was needed, mainly new sills, the shell was basically sound. The 1st owner took the trouble to fit front seat belts which are the classic early ‘Britax’ type & still on the car. The demist panel attached to the rear screen is also an original fitment from the car’s Scottish heritage, made by Stearns Manufacturing (Scotland) Ltd. in Fife.
Sadly there is little history with the car up to my purchase of it in 2015. From then of course there is the full history - every job done, invoice paid & a comprehensive record of the restoration.
