6 photos

1934' Standard Twelve

£10,995

Published 4 July 2026ID: edbGhJ

Yorkshire
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Information from the owner

Body: Wagon

Age: 92 years

Mileage: 79250 km

Displacement: 1608 cc

Fuel: Petrol

Transmission: Manual

Exterior color: Black

Seller's comments about 1934' Standard Twelve

VY 5384 is a show quality Standard Twelve with a fascinating history – it is a car which we first encountered in as a ‘barn find’ in a York City Centre garage in 2011. We first sold the Standard shortly after in its unrestored condition knowing little about its early history other than it had been used regularly until the head gasket had blown. This had happened on the A166 York to Bridlington route towards Garrowby Hill historically a notorious peril for West Yorkshire holidaymakers heading for the East Coast. It was then left untouched by its owner for 35 years until we recovered it to our showroom. The proud new custodian then undertook a thorough body off, bare chassis restoration and finished the car to a remarkable standard. We welcomed the car back into our showroom in 2023 following over £10, 000 of expenditure, and countless hours of labour and we had no doubt it was the best example in existence.Between our first and second encounter with VY 5384, it had a further owner in Bude, Cornwall. The 12 comes back to our showroom in the same impressive condition in which it last left from a York-based regular customer of ours. Clearly a little more research on its history has been carried out and we have a copy of the York vehicle licence records which show that in 1934 Standard car VY 5384 and Austins VY 5385 and 5386 were allocated to a York company NMU Ltd. Our car was allocated its number on April 24th 1934. NMU was Northern Motor Utilities, a transport and coachbuilding concern originally founded by retired World War 1 officers who started out with ex War Department wagons. During the 1920s and 30s they built truck and bus bodies, and these three new cars were supplied to the company's head office on Fosse Islands Road in York. They built commercial vehicles for the huge Joseph Rowntree chocolate works in York, including cocoa tankers and it seems that by 1953 Rowntrees owned the company. Standards were a popular model and by the mid-1920s had been selling in similar numbers to Austin. Our car is a Twelve Deluxe model, with its chromed headlamps and leather upholstery. It features a 1608cc side valve four-cylinder engine and a rare transmission in this model, the Wilson Pre-select gearbox which was an optional extra. This provided a smoother and more advanced transmission than the standard manual offering. A motor car of this quality in a city where cycling was the most popular form of transport would no doubt have been supplied to one of the directors. The historic values of this model would make a full commercial restoration of this quality unviable. Our sister company Malton Coachworks carries out restoration work of this kind and a body and trim restoration like this would undoubtedly cost four times the price of this car. Clearly, it was a labour of love, and the results speak for themselves. The car is a peach, and we found it particularly smooth on the road, with a lively engine and very precise pre-select gear change. The leatherwork headlining, carpets, paint and chrome are all fabulous and of a quality which could achieve a class win at a Classic Car Show. Truly a specimen example unlike any other, we expect the new owner to be absolutely delighted with this unique car.