Until the end of the 1920s, Standard was a relatively small Coventry car maker, but the advent of Captain John Black, first as general manager, and later as managing director, galvanised it into further expansion. Black wanted Standard to be one of the ‘big six’ manufacturers, an ambition he achieved partly thanks to popular mass-market cars like the ‘Big Nine’.
Like the Ford Model T (which had already disappeared) and the Ford 8 Model Y which soon followed, the Big Nine was intended to serve the mass market at a price they could afford, so it was engineered and equipped accordingly. Supported by Standard’s ever-growing dealer chain, it was the sort of car the emerging middle class motorist could buy, use for business or enjoy at weekends: commuting, as a habit, was still rare in those days.
The first of the Big Nines was launched in 1928, and was one of the first Standards to use a new type of four-cylinder side-valve engine which (in four-cylinder and six-cylinder form) would find a home in many Standards and SS models in the next decade. The definitive Big Nine of 1930, though, was the first to combine coil ignition, a spiral bevel axle, and a new radiator style – but, unlike its predecessors, no union flag badge or mascot. |
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In many ways the first of Standard’s mass-production cars, it influenced the Standards of the early 1930s in many ways, with its angular six-light saloon body style, its simple engine and transmissions (a choice of three-speed or four-speed), and its amazingly low prices, which started at only £195. In spite of what the traditionalists would insist, many aspiring motorists had not been able to afford a hand-built ‘vintage’ car, and it was this type of mass-produced machinery which was eventually going to put them on the road.
This was not a quick car, for its comfortable, and natural, cruising speed was no more than 40-45 mph, but at least it could record up to 40 mpg in daily use, and was simple, robust, and easy to service and maintain. In its road test, The Autocar called it ‘a remarkably attractive car, especially in view of its moderate price.’ Tens of thousands of Big Nines were eventually made, and their characteristics passed to the later, more stylish, Flying Nines; Standard’s future was assured.
The Standard Big Nine was a car intended to serve the mass market at a price they could afford and was easy to service and maintain.
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