Taking Flight

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The 1930s family saloon has not always been universally loved. Overweight and high-geared, it’s easy to see why they didn’t hold much appeal for the enthusiast when they were new. But for every seasoned enthusiast who mourned the direction in which car construction was heading, there were ten times as many ordinary folks who fell in love with the motor-car for the first time.

Standard Flying 12

Pressed-steel bodies, synchromesh, decent electrical equipment and so on helped transform the automobile from an expensive and inconvenient plaything for the few to an affordable, practical reality for most middle-class families. The Standard Flying 12 was typical of late 1930s family transport in every respect bar one: its styling. While their mass-market rivals pressed on apparently oblivious to the exciting developments in Art Déco fashion taking place all over the West, Standard took notice and released a car which was both a dashing Déco airline and a sensible family workhorse.

With its spacious interior, modest luxuries and a quiet 1600cc four which can be made to work hard without feeling overstressed, cars like the Standard have to be credited with the part they played in turning ordinary people into car-lovers. The Flying 12 in particular was a high-quality car for its price range. Zack Stiling is impressed by the 1939 prototype in the April issue of The Automobile, on sale now.

Words and photographs by Zack Stiling.

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