When the Standard Eight and Ten were new, many features were available as optional extras only, in order to keep the base cost as competitive as possible. Some of these optional extras might seem a little extreme today - they included the hub caps, the interior light, the heater, the passenger side windscreen wiper... some of these later became standard equipment, so the later cars tended to be better equipped. PCD 716 has most of these features, but no radio or heater. Many owners have now fitted heaters, making mine quite unusual without one. I intend keeping it that way and buying a big thick coat instead.
There were numerous details which changed along the way. PCD 716, being one of the older cars, has the smaller rear windscreen. It also has its horn mounted on the left (later cars had it on the right, which incidently necessitates a different wiring loom). It has the petrol filler pipe coming through the rear wing; on earlier cars the pipe came out through the bodywork, and the panel inside the boot still reflects the earlier design with a small 'cut out' for the pipe which isn't there. PCD 716 also has a headlight 'main beam' warning light - not all of them did.
I have been told (by someone who used to work for Standard-Triumph) that none of these cars had the bonnet 'missile' (which actually serves as a handle) when new, but that many owners fitted them as an accessory. There are a few different types, but my car is quite unusual (though not unique) in having an extra large missile from a Standard Vanguard.
For such a small car, the number of variations is quite remarkable. Quite apart from the options noted above, and the obvious things such as paint colour, there were subtle differences along the way which seemed to depend on what was bits were to hand on the production line that day.
For example, PCD 716 has what I believe to be quite an unusual AC air filter. At one of the shows I attended I noticed that a 10 about a month newer than mine had the same air filter, but another one 3 months newer had one which looked more like the older type - so it seems that they went through a batch of these and then changed to something else. This makes owning and restoring one of these cars a fascinating experience as you are always discovering new things!
PCD 716 has one feature which I used to think was unique, and that is the brake light. The very early cars had trafficators, so the tail lights had double filament bulbs which also served as the brake lights. My other 10, VPF 169, has this arrangement. When flashing indicators were introduced, they were combined with the tail lights at the back, so the brake lights were changed for a single brake light in the middle of the boot, in a combined unit with the number plate lamp.
The very early cars therefore had a number plate lamp with a chromed (or painted) cover, mounted on a narrow spacing piece. The later cars had the chromed piece replaced with a red brake light, with the spacing piece altered to incorporate a cover over the top. Mine, however, is different...
PCD 716 has a centre brake light mounted on the early spacing piece, making the brake light so that red shows all around the sides and top, not just to the rear. I had never seen another one the same until May 2003 when I parked next to an older one (the only surviving ex-works rally car, no less) at Gaydon. The owner told me that the older ones had this transitional arrangement, so I now know not only that mine is correct, but it is one of the oldest ones I've ever seen (though not as old VPF 169, obviously!). I've since seen one or two others with the same arrangement, but they're very much in the minority.