The Indian automotive market has seen a lot of imported and rebadged products in the past. Standard 2000 was one such vehicle. It was the rebadged version of the Rover SD1. It was first launched in 1985, and after three years of production, Standard 2000 went out of production.
The Standard 2000 was launched after lengthy talks with the British manufacturer and was launched in the Indian market as an exclusive product. What if the car makes a comeback in the modern day market? Well, it is what it will look like in the recent day form. Cartoq’s in-house rendering artist, Vipin Vathoopan has made the image.
The Standard 2000 was way ahead of its time in terms of design. When it was launched in the market, no other vehicle could compete with it concerning looks. The notch-back design of the Standard 2000 attracted a lot of eyes, mainly because of its sleek body design and extremely raked front and rear windshield. The vehicle carried quite a few resemblances to the Ferrari 365GTB Daytona, which is known as one of the best looking Ferraris till date.
The modern-day iteration of the Standard 2000 looks exceptionally futuristic. It carries almost the same design as the 1985 Standard 2000, but it gets modern-day set-up. The front of the vehicle receives modern LED lamps with bright LED DRLs forming the signature of the modern day Standard 2000. The headlamps are joined with the help of a thin LED strip that is as wide as the body of the Standard 2000. The shape of the headlamps remains sleek reminding us of the good old Standard 2000.
In keeping with the changing times, the bumper of the Standard has been given a modern look too. It gets angular fog lamp housings that have been placed smartly on the side on the air dam. Moving to the side, it gets big 17-inch wheels with low profile tyres and a flowing body line. It retains the notchback design even in its modern form that adds a lot of glass area to the vehicle. The rendered design indeed shows what the Standard 2000 could have looked like in the modern day the vehicle remained in production.
The Standard 2000 was the best-looking car in its time, and the rendered modern avatar can take the same credit. Well, it will never become a reality, but we now know how it would have looked like today.
In 1985, the Standard 2000 came with a price tag of Rs. 2.12 lakh. A total of 12,000 sets of Rover SD1 body panels were to be supplied to Standard in India. The car came with a 2.0-litre engine that also powered the Standard Vanguard model. The four-cylinder diesel engine produced a maximum power of 83 Bhp at 4,250 rpm and came with a 4-speed manual transmission. It was quick too and could reach a maximum of 145 km/h.
The Standard 2000 came with higher ground clearance when compared to the Rover SD1 but the premium price tag and unreliable engine did not help the vehicle to gain much popularity in the market. Eventually, it was discontinued. There are a handful of immaculately maintained Standard 2000 models in India owned by the enthusiasts.
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