page_title: Standard (Indian automobile)
section_title: Gazel
hierarchical_section_title: Standard (Indian automobile) / Gazel
caption_attribution_description: English: Rear view of a Standard Gazel (super rare four-door Triumph Herald copy built in Madras) seen in Goa, India, October 1994.
context_page_description: Standard is an Indian brand of automobile which was produced by Standard Motor Products of India Limited in Madras from 1951 to 1988. Indian Standards were variations of vehicles made in the United Kingdom by Standard-Triumph. Standard Motor Products of India Ltd. was incorporated in 1948, a company formed by Union Company Ltd. and the British Standard Motor Company. Their first product was the Standard Vanguard. The company was dissolved in 2006 and the old plant was torn down.
context_section_description: In 1972, the Standard Herald was remodeled (redesigned body, new suspension, and new differential) by Standard Motor Products of India as the Standard Gazel, with a different grille and headlights set far apart, purportedly inspired from the Triumph Herald 13/60. It received a new, more sober rear end with low horizontal rectangular tail-lights (which are also still used on some locally built buses and three-wheeled taxis in India) and without the characteristic tail-fins of the Herald designed by Michelotti. It also received a live rear-axle suspended on two leaf springs, purportedly copied from the Triumph Toledo instead of the Herald's swing-axle independent suspension, replacement of the Herald's front bucket seats with a bench, and underwent the retrograde move of replacing the shifter with a long-crank version as also found in the Standard Ten. However, the engine was the same 948 cc single carb. The Gazel was the first car to be remodelled and engineered in India.
  The new Gazel continued in production in this guise until 1974, when a modified version took over. The updated model (Mark II) received a 'standard' bonnet, hinged at the rear, instead of the forward lifting front end inherited from the Herald. This move was most likely because the normal Herald bonnets popping open on either or both sides during running was a common occurrence, especially on rough roads. This, however, resulted in making the body heavier due to the additional reinforcement needed on the front panel due to the bonnet modification.
  The Gazel was also built in small numbers with estate bodywork, the estate featuring a fiberglass tail-gate but with the saloon rear windscreen. Production of the Gazel ended in 1979 although another twelve cars were built in the 1980s, with a final, single car finished in 1983. It was not until the mid-1980s that Standard went into car production again, with the Standard 2000, a hand-me-down Rover SD1 with a local engine transplant.
caption: Rear view of the four-door Gazel
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