Singer Nine Le Mans Special

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From the late 1920s to the mid ‘30s the Singer Car Company made a prolific range of machines and by 1928 had become the third largest manufacturer of cars in England.

What really set Singer apart was their success in the trials and reliability events of the day. As with many sports cars in the early 1930s, Singers were thinly disguised competition vehicles that could be driven on the road as normal transport during the week, but with little more preparation than the removal of a spare wheel could be entered in a sporting competition at the weekend, with a reasonable chance of success.

In 1933 Singer entered a field of 9hp Sports models at Le Mans with considerable success. To celebrate this, the firm introduced a new ‘Le Mans’ version with a lowered chassis, close ratio gearbox and tuned engine which sold for £215. Its 34bhp engine gave it 70+mph performance, the car acquitting itself well against the all pervading MG J2s.

By 1935 power had risen to 38bhp thanks to a further increase in compression ratio and the addition of a Scintilla Vertex magneto. These later cars had counter-balanced crankshafts which replaced the earlier 'bent-wire' items which, like in its MG rival, had a propensity to snap with the spirited use to which they were often subjected. In addition to the open body style, an attractive Sports Coupe version was also offered.

As a Singer Owner’s Club dating certificate in the history file confirms, this particular car was originally a Sports Coupe and was sold new in March 1936 to first owner Mr A Smith of Bristol via the local Singer distributor, Coventry & Jeffs.

Not much is known of the subsequent history of the car until it was acquired by another owner who decided to have it fully restored and converted to Le Mans open two-seater spec in 1997. The bulk of the work was entrusted to Ian Blackburn of The Singer 9 Workshop, Macclesfield, with many bills on file documenting the works carried out. The engine was fully rebuilt by Brunts of Silverdale including a balanced crank, lightened flywheel, plus various other modifications to make it suited for competitive events.

Since gaining VSCC papers in 2005, the car has competed in many vintage trials and was enthusiastically campaigned by a Dr Thorp who owned it from 2010 to 2013, spending much money to keep it in peak condition including further work to the engine and the addition of new wings and running boards (bills on file). A run of old MOTs back to 1998 show that the car has been in regular use since the restoration/conversion, clocking up some 10,500 miles.

The current vendor acquired the car a year ago and reports that it drives beautifully with everything working as it should. It certainly fired up promptly and ran very sweetly as we manoeuvred it for these pictures. The last MOT expired in July 2013 (with no advisories recorded) and it no longer requires a test certificate under the new regulations. It is taxed until the end of March.

In really lovely condition throughout and as clean underneath as it is up top, it is only reluctantly being offered for sale because a rare and exciting sports car project has unexpectedly come the vendor’s way and he now wishes to concentrate all his time and resources into getting that car back on the road.

Supplied with the aforementioned history file and an original ‘Singer 9 Sports Instruction Book and Repair Manual’ (now a collector’s item in its own right), this beautifully prepared Sports Coupe conversion is being offered here at a fraction of the price of an original open two-seater Le Mans and is ready for immediate action on road or track.