FOREIGN TRADE: Coals to Newcastle

If Britain was worried about where she could sell autos, she could find a red-hot market in the automaking but auto-hungry U.S. In a matter of hours last week, Manhattan’s Fergus Motors Inc. sold out its stock (30) of bantam-sized Standards.The price, awaiting OPA approval, will be between $1,500 and $1,800.

Slightly bigger than the Crosley, Standards have a 90-inch wheelbase, a four-cylinder, eight-horsepower engine (U.S. rating: 28 horsepower),will cruise at 50 m.p.h., get 35 to 40 miles on a gallon of gas. The Standards come in three models, “tourer,” “saloon” (sedan) and “drophead coupe” (convertible coupe). Another shipment of 8 or 9 cars arrived in the U.S. last week.

But Fergus Motors will not get rich on Standards. It must pay £300 ($1,200) for the cars in England, a 10% import duty and a 7% federal tax, besides freight.