The eventful life of the original Singer: A brand sporting TT and Le Mans racers in the 1930s
The sublime Californian Porsche 911 restomods of Rob Dickinson, guest on a recent episode of the Autocar podcast, are called Singers.
The name was inspired by both Rob’s time in a rock band (his cousin Bruce also dabbles…) and the influential 1970s Porsche engineer Norbert Singer. And Rob’s brand has become world-famous – just like its 20th-century namesake once was.
The original Singer Motor Co was entirely unrelated – and itself had nothing to do with the seminal sewing machine maker. The former was founded in Coventry in 1875 by George Singer, the latter in New York in 1851 by Isaac Singer (whose German father had shortened their surname from Reisinger).
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Further potential for confusion arises from George’s previous work on sewing machines and the fact that one of Isaac’s 26(!) children, Paris Singer, ran a competing motor company under his own name in the 1890s. (Incidentally, Paris later became Rolls-Royce’s first-ever customer.)
George was one of the first makers of modern bicycles, inventing the curved fork. Then, in 1900, he bought the manufacturing rights to a one-cylinder engine that nestled within a wheel to create “unquestionably the handsomest motor bicycle that we had ever seen”. “All who tried the machine were struck with its extreme ease of management,” we gushed.
Its neat drop-frame design, simple control layout and uniquely reliable ignition (thanks to novel magnetos) made it the first motorcycle truly suited to women, claimed Singer – confirmed by our own Isabel Marks.
Three-wheelers soon followed, then proper cars from 1905 – first a licence-built 8hp Lea-Francis, then punchier four- and six-cylinders of the Coventry factory’s own design.
In 1913, a Singer dealership was established in London by Robert Bamford and Lionel Martin, who also modified the cars for greater performance. Martin successfully campaigned them in road and track races and hillclimbs; in May 1914, we relaid from Buckinghamshire’s Aston Hill that “the smooth running and easy climbing of Martin’s Singer and the Bugattis were remarkable” as he won Class I – a performance that would inspire the name for his own car company, Aston Martin.
Another notable performance by a 10hp Singer came just months later, Beatrice Blore becoming the first female driver to conquer the imposing Great Orme tramway in Llandudno, with its 1:3 gradient – despite being six months pregnant.
We first road tested a Singer in 1926, finding the Six saloon, at £375 (£20k today), to be “a very promising newcomer, with creditable performance, good roadholding qualities and a quiet, smooth-running engine”. Having long been a fixture in Brooklands races, Singer ventured to Le Mans in 1933 with its new roadster. In a “brilliant race” won by Alfa Romeo, it came 13th and last, but reaching the finish was a big achievement for the essentially stock 972cc Nine.
Singer created a souped-up version for the next year and duly came seventh, beating an MG to victory in the sub-1000cc class. The 1935 Ards TT race would be a disaster, however: three Nines crashed badly in quick succession at the very same spot, due to identical steering-arm failures. Thankfully nobody was killed, but Singer’s reputation suffered terribly. Still, it survived until the war, when British industry transitioned en masse to military work, and in 1948 was able to rejuvenate itself with the all-new SM family saloon.
This spawned a sporty roadster in 1951, which we found “a compact, willing little car with a lively performance” – and was endorsed by no less than Marilyn Monroe.
Nevertheless, Singer’s financial situation remained poor, leading its directors to accept a £235k takeover bid by the Rootes Group in 1956.
This was a full-circle moment for William Rootes. As a car-obsessed teen, he had been apprenticed to Singer; then sold his chicken farm to set himself up as its Kent dealer; and with his family’s help rapidly built a car-making giant. Even half a century later, some employees at Coventry still remembered him.
Singer was transformed into an upmarket rebadger of Hillmans, but Chrysler saw no point in continuing this exercise after it bought Rootes, killing the marque, aged 95, in 1970.
The brand departed our pages with little fanfare, and its factory became a humble supplier of plastic components.
