Eric Camwell

I was an apprentice at the Raleigh company in 1930 and later worked for Daimler.

When they were joining with Jaguar, we were on short-time working, so I went to the union and they told me there were nine vacancies at the Standard. That was about 1956 and I worked under a foreman called Frank Knott, who later became a superintendent.

I was a coach trimmer and I joined the TR3 production line, putting hoods on. I later worked in process engineering and went on to be a section leader. I retired aged 62 in 1978 when the firm amalgamated with Rover.

It was a most friendly place to work, and everyone in the city had an ambition to work there because the wages were good.

Sometimes things slowed down because parts suppliers had industrial disputes. I remember that if we were short of a component, then cars would go off the track into a compound. We would come in on a Saturday to fit the parts when they arrived and that gave me the chance to drive a TR3 back down to the track. The TR3 was a lovely car and the best one I worked on.

I owned Standard cars from 1950 onwards and my favourite was a secondhand Standard Eight. Its engine was very tired so I paid pounds 5 for a 1200cc engine which had been used for demonstrations in the Fletch North planning office. I got that fitted and it didn’t half move!

Leave a Reply