Imperia and the not-so-standard Standards

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One of the lesser-known Belgian car-makers was Imperia, which built cars in Nessonvaux, near Liège, from 1906 to 1949. However, in Britain and perhaps in other countries, too, it is better-known for its ties to the Standard Motor Company. After it stopped building its own cars in 1949, the Imperia works was used for production of the Standard Vanguard, including of an attractive convertible variant never offered by the Standard factory in Coventry.

The connection clearly goes back to before the war, though, as evidenced by these pictures from Stef van den Bergh, which show a 1937-48 Standard Flying 12 or 14 wearing very neat cabriolet bodywork. With its slim pillars and pert, sloping tail, it looks very much like a product of Germanic styling. In silhouette form, there is a likeness to the Opel Kadett cabriolet and, to a lesser extent, the Mercedes-Benz 170V Cabriolet B. It certainly appears to have far more in common with them than the bulky, upright Austin cabriolets which would have been its nearest rivals in Britain. Apart from the grille and the wings, all the panels including the bonnet look visibly different from those used on the Coventry Standards.

Unfortunately, we know nothing at all about it except for the fact that it was bodied by Imperia and is believed never to have gone into production, which leaves us with lots of questions to ask. How many were made? Was the body adapted by Imperia to fit any other chassis? Who commissioned it and who designed it? Tragically, much of the archive at the Musée Imperia was destroyed by floods in 2021, so we don't know where we might find an answer.

We're sure there are some Imperia experts out there, though. Perhaps you can tell us a bit more?

Words: Zack Stiling; photographs: Imperia/Stef van den Bergh
 

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