The Singer Motor Company

Commentary

In common with a number of other British motor manufacturers, the origin of Singer Cars lies in the nineteenth century cycle industry.

In early 1875, George Singer and his brother-in-law, Charles Stringer, set up their own company, Singer & Co., manufacturing high quality bicycles.

Their business, characterised by innovation and development, was a great success. Although largely a maker of “ordinary” cycles (better known as penny-farthings), Singer was the first to manufacture Harry Lawson’s “Safety Bicycle”, in which the large front and small rear wheels of the “ordinary” were reversed, making the machine much easier (and safer) to ride. Singer’s first tricycle was based on a similar design, and was the first to be built with wire wheels and rubber tyres. In 1881, a folding model also became available.

At the 1883 Stanley Cycle Show, Singer exhibited 30 different machines and, although not selling to the mass-market, the company’s reputation was second-to-none, and frequently the choice of sporting cyclists. In 1886, the world 20- and 50-mile records were both set on Singer machines.

By the late 1880s, it was clear that, if Singer was to maintain its growth, the company needed larger premises; and, to this end, work began in August 1890 on the construction of a new factory on Canterbury Street, in Coventry.

Opened in 1891, with a French chateau-style frontage, almost 90 metres in length, the two-storey office building possessed a grand entrance hall with a mosaic inlaid floor. Covering about five acres, the manufacturing section of the factory to the rear, comprised about 25 rows of sheds, housing, it was said, enough drilling, turning and milling machines laid end-to-end to stretch for almost a mile.

With the cycle market in Britain peaking in the mid-1890s, there followed a severe downturn in sales both at home and overseas. Singer was particularly badly hit by this and, in response, chose to diversify - into motorised vehicles.

In 1900, Singer obtained a licence to produce the “Motor Wheel”, a four-stroke, single-cylinder engine, fitted between the spokes of an aluminium wheel, developed by another Coventry manufacturer, Perks & Birch.

The Singer Motor Wheel, as it became known, was fitted to the rear wheel of the company’s bicycles and to the front wheel of its tricycles, giving machines a speed of around 15 mph, and a range of up to 50 miles.

Despite reasonable sales of the Motor Wheel, the company’s profits were relatively low, and in December 1902, Singer announced its first ever losses, prompting a major re-structuring. In February 1903, a new company was registered – the Singer Motor Company – for, according to its articles, the manufacture of motor cycles and cars.

By late 1903, Singer was offering a wide range of motor cycles, with the engine now fitted within the frame. In early 1904, the company introduced its first tri-cars, and at the beginning October announced its intention to begin motor car production.

Singer’s first car didn’t actually go on sale until 1905 and, as with the Motor Wheel, was built under licence from an outside source. In this case, it was a design developed by consultant engineer, Alexander Craig, for Lea and Francis (later to become Lea-Francis) who, like Singer, began in bicycle manufacturing. They were located in Lower Ford Street, a little more than 100 yards from the Singer factory.

The two models offered, a two- and three-seater, developed eight and twelve horsepower, respectively, from an underfloor, horizontal two-cylinder engine. With a 4-inch diameter bore, the engines were fitted with 32” connecting rods, enabling the crankshaft to be placed relatively closely to the rear wheels, eliminating the need for long drive chains.

The new cars were well received by the press, although this may be completely theoretical. It is difficult to find either a motoring or local journalist who had actually driven one of the new machines.

Over the next twelve months, small improvements were made to both models, but these were eventually replaced by a larger 12/14 h.p car of more conventional design, initially powered by an Aster engine and, later, a White and Poppe unit. This proved to be highly successful, obtaining a class win in the 1908 RAC 2,000 mile International Touring Car Trial.

Although Singer’s Tricars were also doing well in the sporting field, the motor division was experiencing heavy losses and was a significant drain on company finances. In October 1908, the company once again went into administration and, a few months later, a bad situation became worse when, in January 1909, the company founder, George Singer, suddenly died at his home at Coundon Court.

With a number of other Coventry cycle and motor works also up for sale, the administrators decided that it was not a good time to sell the Canterbury Street factory. This, together with a belief that the Singer name and reputation remained a significant asset, meant the company was instead restructured, and in May 1909, Singer was back in business.

Within two years, it had completely re-vamped its line-up, and was becoming increasingly prominent in motor sport. Gerald Herbert, an assistant manager at the factory, achieved particular success in reliability trials and racing, with a special-bodied 16/20 h.p model, nicknamed ‘Bunny’.

Sporting success continued over the following year. At Brooklands, in October 1911, the same car (‘Bunny III’), set new records over distances ranging from half-a-mile to ten laps, reaching speeds of over 90 mph. With some elements of the press asking how this was possible, Singer released a statement emphasising that they, unlike others, did not build special engines for such events, but gained all their victories with engines of a standard design.

For 1912, the 15 and 20 h.p White and Poppe-engined cars remained in production, but towards the end of the year, three new models were announced, all designed in-house, with 25, 14, and 10 h.p engines. It was the last of these that was to prove to be the most significant.

Singer’s new small car was of lightweight construction, weighing just six hundredweight. This, together with its four-cylinder, 1096 cc engine made it, technically, a cyclecar. (A class of vehicle with an engine size limited to 1100cc and weighing no more than seven hundredweight.)

Although launched at the Cycle and Motor Cycle Show, the 10 h.p Singer was judged to be of great design and workmanship, making it one of the first proper, practical, light cars. As a notice in the Hampshire Post and Southsea Observer stated: “It has all the advantages and refinements of the larger car and, at the same time, ensures an economy in upkeep to the purchaser.”

In its standard form, the little car was capable of around 45 miles per hour. But it was not long before tuned versions were being entered for hillclimbs and trials. Over the next two years (until the outbreak of war), Singer became a major force in British motorsport, particularly in the cyclecar class, but also in open competitions against larger and more powerful machinery.

Over a period of four days, towards the end of September 1913, Singer works’ drivers, Bramwell (or Bramley) Haywood and G Baker, broke almost every world long-distance cyclecar record – from a kilometre to 250 miles, and from one to nine hours - lapping the Brooklands circuit at over 70 mph.

Much of the preparation of the Works’ Singers was undertaken by Singer agents, Robert Bamford and Lionel Martin, at their premises in Chelsea. Both men were accomplished trials and hillclimb drivers, and it was their experience with Singers that led them to develop their own car. This became known as the Aston Martin; named after the hillclimb where they achieved much of their early success – driving a Singer.

With the onset of war in 1914, the factory was largely turned over to the production of munitions. However, although not available for public sale after 1915, Singer continued to build the 10 h.p car, as passenger transport for the army, and also as a troop carrier, with a box body and strengthened springs mounted on a standard chassis. In fact, war work appears to have been quite profitable for the company, placing it at the end of hostilities in a much stronger financial position than it had been at the beginning.

Singer did not resume car production until 1919, with the Singer Ten (close to its pre-War spec), being the only model offered. For 1920, the range was extended to include a sports model, a coupé, and an open phaeton with a dickey seat.

It was during this period that the company also acquired several other businesses, primarily to gain more factory space. These included the motorcycle and cyclecar manufacturer, Coventry Premier Ltd., based nearby in Read Street and, in 1926, Calcott Bros., located about half-a-mile away in Far Gosford Street.

In 1922, Singer launched a 15 h.p model with a two-litre, six cylinder engine, but for the next five or six years, the company’s manufacturing and sporting efforts seemed to focus almost entirely on developing the Singer Ten.

In 1926, they introduced the Junior model; initially, a simple four-seater tourer, but with an innovative 848 cc overhead camshaft engine; a unit that formed the basis of much of the Singer range for the next 30 years.

Sales of the new car were very encouraging, to the extent that by 1929, Singer were being described in the British motoring world as “one of the big three” , although some way behind, it must be said, Austin and Morris.

It was to meet this higher demand, that Singer once again extended its factory space with the purchase of another new premises in Small Heath, Birmingham, together with the Aster Engineering Works, in Wembley, Middlesex.

Although it took more than six months to be fully functional, the Small Heath site was much more modern than Singer’s factories in and around Canterbury Street, and, with production now being undertaken on multiple sites, it was perhaps inevitable that Singer would seek some form of rationalisation.

As a result, car assembly was gradually shifted to Birmingham, whilst engine, gearbox and chassis production remained in Coventry, with the company’s more specialist cars being built at Canterbury Street.

Within a year of its introduction, the Singer Junior was beginning to make its mark on motorsport. One driver who, in this respect, deserves particular mention is Eric William (Bill) Deeley, manager of the Aylesbury Motor Company, the then Singer agency in the Buckinghamshire market town.

On the evening of Sunday 6th November 1927, Bill Deeley with, his friend and colleague, Charles Graham, left Marble Arch in central London, in a Singer Junior, with the intention of driving to Edinburgh and back within 24 hours.

The car was standard in every respect, except for the fitting of a second petrol tank (in the dickey seat), carrying 26 gallons of fuel. The journey began well, but progress faltered when they reached Newcastle, with the road covered with a carpet of snow. For the next 70 miles they could do no more than 15 mph.

After a 15-minute break in Edinburgh, and fortified with a whisky and soda, the two men began their journey back to London. With no respite in the weather, progress for the first 100 miles remained slow although, thereafter, things picked up, with “good progress being made to St Neots”, at speeds of over 50 mph.

Just under 25 hours, the pair were back in London having covered the return journey of 786 miles at an average speed of 31.5 mph.

Not long after this, and no doubt full of confidence, Bill Deeley apparently took a small wager with the former managing director of a ‘well-known Italian motor firm’, that the 8 h.p Singer Junior could undertake an even more arduous test; namely, to be driven continuously for six days and nights over a distance of 3,500 miles.

At 6.00pm, on 27th December 1927, an unmodified Singer Junior, save for a second fuel tank and large non-standard headlamps, began the first of thousands of laps of the Montlhéry Circuit, in northern France, about 20 miles south of Paris.

At the wheel was Mrs Hilda (or Gwynneth) Deeley, who with her husband, Charles Graham, and Reg Bicknell, son of Singer’s work’s manager, took turns in driving the baby Singer around the track for the next six days and nights.

As luck would have it, weather conditions in France were no better than they had been in Britain a month before. On the first evening a gale swept round the track, tearing large sheets of corrugated iron from the grandstand on to the track. On the second night, Reg Bicknell fell asleep at the wheel, crashing into the outer retaining wall.

The third and fourth days were mild and spring-like, then came 3-4 inches of snow, followed by extreme frost, turning the track into an ice rink, forcing them to stop the run for nearly five hours. However, by this stage, the 3,500 miles target had been achieved, at an average speed of just over 41 mph. After six days, more than 5,500 miles had been completed.

At the end of the trial, the crew and the car, and their luggage returned to London via the Dieppe to Newhaven Ferry, stopping in London on their way to Coventry, where the car underwent a final examination, reaching speeds on up to 50 mph on route.

Following further development of Junior and Singer Six models, Bill Deeley once again hit the headlines with a Singer Junior. In December 1928 he completed 100 ascents of Porlock Hill in Somerset (gradient up to 1 in 4) in 15 hours.

The Junior continued to be produced until 1932, although by this stage, sales were falling, and the car was beginning to feel quite dated.

Its replacement was the Singer Nine. A slightly larger saloon, and not dissimilar in appearance to its predecessor, it was designed by a team that included Charles Beauvais, and powered by 972 cc overhead camshaft engine. Described by Singer’s as the most luxurious light car in the world”, it was indeed well-equipped, with leather upholstery, winding windows, door pockets, ashtrays, a clock and fuel gauge.

With disappointing sales, the following year’s car was significantly revised. With a re-designed engine (still 972 cc), an upgraded gearbox and new chassis components, the 1933 Singer Nine was altogether a different model, and it was this that enabled the company to produce multiple versions of the model, including its first four-seater sports car – the Singer Sports Nine.

Styled by automobile artist and designer Eric Neale (whose work later included the Austin A40 Sports, the 4-litre Jensen Interceptor and the Jensen 541), the new Singer Nine was widely praised from the outset. “A lusty car of fine performance, yet modest price”, was The Tatler’s verdict. Priced at £185, the Nine was more than £100 cheaper than the rival 9 h.p Riley Lynx.

Once again, the new car quickly made its mark in the sporting world. In April 1933, Singer opened its own competition department and two months later, ran a Sports Nine in the 24 hours of Le Mans. Although the last of just 13 finishers, suffering an hour’s delay when the driver had to replace a faulty contact breaker, the car stood up well to the rigours of racing.

Keen to benefit from this, Singer launched the 9 h.p Le Mans just three months later, followed shortly afterwards by a six-cylinder 1.5-litre version. It was two of these cars that the company took to Le Mans the following year, finishing a creditable seventh and eighth overall. (Three smaller 9 h.p Singers also completed the distance.)

!934 saw further innovation and development with the launch of the Singer Eleven, available as a six-light saloon and also with a more aerodynamic body, known as the Airstream.

Described at the time as the first British fully streamlined production car, the Airstream was designed by Capt. D Fitzmaurice of Airstream Ltd., 122a High Street, St John’s Wood, London NW8 7SG. Unlike the Singer Eleven, on which it was based, the more specialist Airstream was largely built at Canterbury Street.

Press reaction to the new car, with its innovative design, was extremely favourable. However, although costing only £55 more than the standard Eleven saloon, the Airstream failed to sell, despite the car’s use by members of Jack Payne’s Dance Band as transport for their national tour in 1935.

In the same year, Singer also diversified into producing marine engines for the Percy M See boatyard at Fareham in Hampshire, using the 972 cc Singer Nine Le Mans and 1½-litre six-cylinder units. (It was in a boat built by Percy See that the Hon Mrs Victor Bruce had crossed and re-crossed the English Channel in 1928 in a record time of 107 minutes.)

The mid-1930s possibly represent Singer’s highpoint, with generally higher sales and continued success in motor sport, both at home and overseas. One Singer driver, who stood out in this respect, was Merlin Minshall. Amongst his victories was winning a Gold Cup in the 1934 D’oro del Duce, in a 1.5-litre Singer Le Mans.  The race, held as a prelude the football World Cup, hosted by Italy, was 6,000 km in length and run over a period of just three days, covering the length and breadth of Italy.

In 1935, anxious to maintain sales, Singer launched a new economy car, the 9 h.p Singer Bantam, which was available for as little as £120. The company’s sports cars remained largely unchanged, and continued to form the basis of Singer’s racing team.

Four cars were entered by Singer in the 1935 Ards T.T race, held on street circuit linking three towns situated to the east of Belfast.

The first half of the race went well for the team, with Singers largely getting the better of the FIAT Balillas, their main competitors in the 1100 cc class. However, on lap 16, Alf Langley’s Singer crashed with a steering failure on Bradshaw’s Brae, just outside Newtownards. Three laps later, Norman Black’s car also crashed, about 100 yards further down the track, apparently for the same reason. Both drivers were unhurt.

By this stage, the third member of the Singer team, SCH Davis, was running in second place, only for the same problem to occur on lap 25, at exactly the same place. To make matters worse, Davis landed on top of Black’s stationary car. The fourth Singer, driven by Donald (JD) Barnes, was retired shortly afterwards.

Although the company undertook an investigation into the cause of the crashes, the results were not made public. However, one direct outcome of these failures was the closure of Singer’s competition department. The accidents also, almost certainly, inflicted considerable damage to Singer’s reputation.

However, even without the T.T calamity, Singer was, like other motor manufacturers, still facing major difficulties, with losses in 1936 of over £200,000. Kevin Atkinson, in The Singer Story, suggests that the underlying causes of this were the cost of the numerous sites that Singer had acquired, together with its policy of producing a wide range of different models.

Despite these setbacks, Singer continued to find sporting success, with outstanding performances in the Monte Carlo Rally and the Land’s End Trial. One other event in which Singer excelled was the international rally, run over nine days, prior to the start of the 1936 Summer Olympics in Germany. With 124 entries, and just over half from Germany itself, competitors set off from any one of 36 cities, spread across 26 countries.

Amongst the entrants, was just one British driver, Betty Haig, who was still in the early stages of her motorsport career. A member of the Haig whisky family, she was the great niece of Field Marshall Douglas Haig, commander of the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front in World War One.

Betty, with her friend Barbara Marshall (whom Betty described as a “passenger”) drove a works-supported 1½-litre, six-cylinder Singer Le Mans, and was one of just two entries that set off from Birmingham. They covered the 2,500 mile journey to Berlin via a southerly route through Belgium, Germany and Austria, before turning north into the Czech Republic and south west Poland; finishing in the Avus Stadium in Berlin.

Although travelling on varying standards of roads, their journey seems to have gone extremely well; so well, in fact, that their Singer was the first car to enter the Avus Stadium, with an unbeaten 2162 points. In almost all other circumstances, Betty and Barbara would have been declared “winners“; but on this occasion all those competitors whose tally exceeded 2,000 points were awarded the “Olympic Competitive Tour Medal in Gold“.

Unfortunately, victories of this kind did not improve the company’s financial position, and in August 1936, the chairman of Singer approached the Rover Company suggesting that they might take over the Singer business. After some consideration, the Rover board decided against this but, shortly afterwards, Singer was thrown a lifeline by the British government to build aero engines, as part of the nation's re-armament programme.  It also received an order to supply the Royal Air Force with a large number of vans, built to RAF specification.

The failure to find a buyer led to a change in management and yet another financial re-construction. Now under the name of Singer Motors Ltd., production of the Nine, Ten and Twelve, became almost entirely based at the Birmingham Small Heath factory, with Canterbury Street making the sports cars and handling the more specialist production.

One of these models was the Singer 9 Roadster, launched on 6th March 1939. Sharing the chassis and many mechanical parts with the Bantam saloon, it was - unlike Singer’s earlier sports cars – built down to a price.

With its coach built aluminium body and softer, less racing lines, the four-seater car was marketed by Singer more as a tourer than and out-and-out sports car, perhaps because of the damage to the company‘s reputation following the accidents at the Ards T.T. With a top speed of 65 mph, the Roadster sold for £169.

Production of the Roadster and a new 10 h.p Light car continued for only six months following the outbreak of war. Thereafter, Singer, like most other British motor manufacturers concentrated on products for the war effort – and in doing so, managed to regain profitability.

Like Singer’s other factories, the works in Canterbury Street manufactured a wide range of aircraft components, steel helmets, shell casings and also jerry cans, reportedly stamped with the letters SM. Because of their strategic significance, Singer’s factories, like those of many other Coventry motor manufacturers, were heavily bombed, and Canterbury Street was no exception.

With the end of the War in 1945, motor production was gradually resumed, amid huge shortages of raw materials. Singer’s model range was much as before: the Super Ten, Twelve, and Roadster, with some improvements made to each model in the light of the engineering experience gained during the War.

Further detailed changes were made in 1946, but few of the cars produced were seen at home. With the Government earmarking steel for export, most new cars were sent overseas.

The first post-War Singer was announced in November 1947. The SM1500 was a four-door, six-seater saloon; with straight-through integrated wings, it was a very different design from it predecessors.

Motoring journalists responded favourably to the new car, praising its roominess, comfort, good roadholding and the lively performance from its 1506 cc overhead camshaft engine.

Against the prevailing trend, the designers had opted for a separate chassis, and were keen to ensure that the inside of the car was as roomy and accommodating as possible. This they did by placing the rear seat well ahead of the back axle, providing greater passenger comfort, but giving the car a distinctly upright stance, very different from its competitors.

It was almost a year before examples of the SM1500 began to appear for sale, and then they were for export only, under strict regulations laid down by the British government.  Sales of the new car in Britain did not get underway until the summer of 1949, and were disappointingly slow. Although it had been received well overseas, particularly in Commonwealth countries, the SM1500 was little known by the British buying public, not helped by the Singer name becoming less prominent due to its limited range and reduced sporting involvement.

The price of the car, almost £800 on launch, may have also worked against it, particularly when an Austin Devon or Morris Oxford, both smaller and less well-equipped, could be bought for three or four hundred pounds less.

1949 also saw upgrades to the Singer Tourer, and in 1951 it was fitted with the SM1500’s engine and independent front suspension, becoming a firm favourite overseas, particularly in the United States.

Limited access to raw materials, fuel shortages and rising wages continued to cause the company problems and forced Singer into diversification. For a brief while, in 1948, they made industrial deep-freeze cabinets and, in 1952, took on work for Rolls-Royce, the Bristol Aircraft Company, and Alvis (making the gearbox for Saracen armoured personnel car). A year later, Singer bought the tractor company, Oak Tree Appliances, marketing their small tractor as the Singer Monarch.

With rumours circulating that Singer was in trouble, a fibreglass-bodied Roadster, named the SMX, was shown at the 1953 Motor Show. A year previously, the Italian coachbuilder Ghia had designed and built three or four examples of a very attractive coupé, also based on the Roadster chassis.  Although warmly welcomed by the press, and initially earmarked for export, the SMX failed to make it into production .

In September 1954, Singer announced the launch of the Hunter; a mildly re-styled SM1500, with a more substantial and traditional radiator grill, and greater use of chromium decoration. Initially, the new car was fitted with a fibreglass bonnet and side valances in order to reduce its overall weight; but the quality of the new material proved to be sub-standard, leading Singer to revert to a full steel body shell.

Like its predecessor, the Hunter, which was built at Singer’s Birmingham factory, remained significantly more expensive than its rivals, partly because, as Alfred Hunt, the company’s managing director, stated, "we cannot and will not attempt to produce cheap cars“.

Back in Canterbury Street, a small section of the factory was walled off for the development of an experimental steam engine which was installed in a Hunter bodyshell. News of this was reported by local and national newspapers in early November 1954, with reports of these (unregistered) cars being taken out for test runs at night and to the Motor Industry Research Association (MIRA) track near Nuneaton. However, the anticipated costs of refining and developing the design led to the project being quietly shelved.

At the 1955 London Motor Show, Singer exhibited the Hunter 75. Based on the existing Hunter, the new model was fitted with a twin-cam engine, jointly developed with HRG, to whom Singer had earlier supplied their 9 h.p engine.

The 75, so named because the engine developed 75 bhp, was further upgraded with larger brakes, a redesigned dashboard, and improved seating.

The standard Hunter continued as before, with a third model, the Hunter S, introduced at a lower price. The S had a painted grill, a floor gear change, no heater, fog lamps and clock, and also, no spare wheel.

Despite the introduction of these models, Singer was continuing to trade at a loss. At the beginning of December 1955, after more than two years of speculation, Alfred Hunt, Singer’s chairman, recommended that shareholders accept the offer made for the company by Rootes Motors who, he stated, “had agreed to retain the services of existing personnel so far as conditions permit“.  Many years previously, Billy Rootes, whose father ran a garage at Hawkhurst in Kent, had served his apprenticeship with Singer in Cantrebury Street.  The takeover was a controversial acquisition, but the deal was finally approved by Singer's shareholders on December 29th 1955.

Within a month of the takeover, the new Singer Hunter 75 was cancelled, the Hunter S renamed the Hunter Special, with the standard Hunter becoming known as the Hunter de Luxe. Production of the Roadster, which was largely handbuilt and unsuitable for mass production, was discontinued.  Nine months later,  Rootes introduced the Singer Gazelle.  It was the first Singer of unitary construction, and based on the new Hillman Minx, launched a few months earlier. With a different grille, and higher quality interior fittings, the Gazelle was really an upmarket Hillman – except in one respect – the retention of the overhead camshaft, 1497cc, Hunter engine.

After mild revisions to the Gazelle in October 1957 (known as the Series II), further changes were made, less than six months later, when it was fitted with a 1494cc Minx push-rod engine, giving better performance and greater economy.

By mid-1958, the old Hunter engine was no longer required and Singer’s presence in Canterbury Street came to an end with production of the Gazelle moving to Rootes‘ main plant at Ryton-on-Dunsmore, south-east of Coventry.

For the next five years Canterbury Street was used by Rootes for the manufacture of suspension and other components and, in May 1963, it was put up for sale, although not actually sold.

In the years that followed, the factory produced moulded plastic components for Hills Precision, a subsidiary of Rootes and, later, Peugeot. Vacated in the late 1980s, the site was redeveloped as accommodation for students at Coventry University, opened by the British athlete, Steve Cram, in March 1995.

The Singer name remained in the Rootes catalogue for a few more years with the Gazelle, Vogue and Chamois.  At the beginning of March 1970, this too came to end when Rootes announced that the Singer marque would no longer be part of their range - 95 years after George Singer produced his first cycle.
_{Much of the information in this article has been drawn from The Singer Story (see below).}

Further details
• The Singer Story: cars - commercial vehicles - bicycles, motorcycles, Kevin Atkinson, Veloce Publishing, 1996.

Other locations
Coundon, Warwickshire