Peter's Nostalgia Site
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Meet the Cousins
It is fairly well known that much of
the SS heritage stems from The Standard Motor Company but when you
look at the rather upright form of the small Standards of the 1930s
it's difficult to see the family resemblances. Look into the
mechanical parts and the DNA matching becomes more obvious.
Both Standard and SS used rear axles supplied by ENV in the pre-war period so it's no surprise that there is much in common there. The Standard axle is shown on the left. Move a little further forward and we can see lots of commonality in the gearbox casings too. The internals are also very similar. The top cover is rather different but the dip stick looks very familiar. The inset (Plate H) shows the SS casings. The SS box may look a little more elongated but I think it is the same size as the Standard and the drawing is just a little deceptive. At first sight the side valve Standard engine looks less familiar but take a look at the front and rear ends and we see very similar timing sprockets, chain cover and water pump. The front camshaft bearing and the engine front plate are also very close relatives and the front main bearing and the alloy bridge piece beneath it are also clones. At the rear of the engine the bridge piece and rear main castings, rear plate and oil seal are again cloned in the SS and the flywheel could easily be mistaken too. If we look at a transverse cross section of the engine then again we see very similar cylinder block castings and the relationships between piston, crank and camshaft also match. In the collage below the SS Jaguar 2½ litre is on the left and the 1½ litre to the right of the Standard engine. The three drawings are not all sectioned in the same plane but if they were then the oil pump and drive shaft in the 2½ would show up just like that in the Standard and SS 1½ litre. There are in fact many parts that carry the same part numbers in the Standard and SS parts lists so next time you see a Flying Standard do give it a friendly wave. In the engine of the 1½ litre SS Jaguar 1938-48 we find 46321, 39428, 44460, i.e. crankshaft, oil pump and camshaft to name but a few that appear in the Standard 12 parts list. In the gearbox of the 1½ litre SS Jaguar 1938-48 we find 53020, 38701, 44717,44716, i.e. gearbox casing, 1st speed, 2nd speed and 3rd speed countershaft gears and it's a similar picture on the mainshaft with 37423, 44712 and 44713. Having looked at the mechanisms of the SS Jaguar and the Standard it's interesting to see how they performed. In July 1938 The Autocar tested the baby of the SS Jaguar range, the 1½ litre, and in April 1939 The Motor tested the Standard 14. Both cars had the same size 4 cylinder engine of 1776 cc although SS Cars claimed 65 bhp for their OHV version as against the 49 bhp of the side valve Standard. Both cars were about 14' 5" in length although the SS was about 1 cwt heavier at 26½ cwt. As has been mentioned earlier the Standard and SS 1½ litre used the same gearbox ratios except that the SS was much longer in the leg at 18.7 mph/1000rpm compared with 14.9 for the Standard. Fuel consumption was very similar for the two cars. Now to the performance figures: Standard 14 SS Jaguar 14 hp Top Speed 70mph 74 mph 0-30 mph 6.5 secs 4.7 secs 0-50 mph 17.4 secs 17.0 secs 0-60 mph 23.5 secs 25.1 secs 10-30 in top 11.4 secs 12.5 secs 20-40 in top 10.5 secs 12.7 secs 30-50 in top 12.0 secs 14.5 secs 10-30 in third 7.4 secs 9.3 secs 20-40 in third 7.2 secs 8.7 secs 30-50 in third 9.0 secs 11.1 secs Braking from 30mph 35 feet 31 feet Price £268 £298 The 14 hp comparison is perhaps fairly predictable given the bhp and gearing differences but things become less obvious when we compare the 20 hp models from Standard and SS Cars in the same period. The SS 1½ litre engine was to form a test bed for the XK engines.
The Standard 20 was tested by The Motor in March 1938 and the same
magazine tested the SS Jaguar 2½ litre in June 1939
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