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123-427: The Singer Nine is a car which was produced by Singer Motors Limited from February 1933 to 1937, and then again from 1939 until 1949 as a Roadster only. It was offered as a new economy model, replacing the earlier Singer Junior series. The "Nine" engine was briefly fitted inside the body of the earlier Junior as a solution to production problems in 1932. The hybrids are known as the "Junior Nine" and are recognisable by

246-586: A 2+2 on the Junior chassis appeared, and the Senior disappeared, while the Six gained a 1,792 cc (109.4 cu in) sidevalve . This was joined by a Super Six , with a 1,921 cc (117.2 cu in) OHV and four-speed manual transmission. This was, said The Autocar , "the most impressive Singer yet" The 8 hp (6.0 kW) 848 cc (51.7 cu in) Junior of 1931, with styling resembling

369-480: A 1,308 cc (79.8 cu in) engine and modernized styling. It was offered in several models, from the £195 four-seat Popular to the £295 Saloon Limousine Del Luxe. At the 1926 London Motor Show, the company debuted the Junior , powered by a 16.5 hp (12.3 kW) OHV 848 cc (51.7 cu in). Priced from £148 10s as a four-seat tourer , it had only rear-wheel brakes to start. A racing 10 set

492-548: A 1.1-litre class, the 1079cc side-valve engine instead made it the smallest in class. A veritable squadron of Singers turned up to defend the class win from 1934. Eight were entered, including three new works entries for the Coupe Bienniale. Mindful of the British production regulations, the new model was called the "Nine Le Mans Replica". The racing-spec engine now put out 50 bhp. Fitted with uprated suspension and

615-486: A Bentley, and was teamed up with Corinne Eaton who had entered the 1932 Le Mans for Fox & Nichol but crashed en route to the event. Australian Joan Richmond had won the 1932 inaugural Brooklands 1000 miles with Elsie Wisdom. For this event, she raced with Eva Gordon-Simpson , who had been in the Triumph rally team with Eaton and Allan. The third car was driven by Doreen Evans and Barbara Skinner. A fourth, privateer, MG

738-516: A bigger and better cooled cast aluminium oil sump of roughly 2 Gallons in capacity. Power climbed to a sustainable 34 hp (25 kW) and a close-ratio gearbox was fitted. The chassis was dropped in the centre after the radiator, and thus underslung at the rear, giving the car a much lower profile relative to the road, as compared to the Sports variant. No running boards, a 12-imperial-gallon (55 L) external fuel tank and twin spare wheels finished

861-521: A broken starter motor – a fault that had already claimed their stablemate. All this chaos left “Heldé” with a 1-minute, half-lap, lead over Hindmarsh, having covered 131 laps by 6am, as the murky dawn appeared. This grew when the Lagonda had to pit for several repairs. The other Lagonda had eased up into third, while the Delahaye of Toulouse/ Mongin was having a trouble-free run and was now fourth. Over

984-413: A competition department. That, in turn, led to them entering Le Mans for the first time this year. The Type 138 Sports had a 3.2-litre engine race-tuned to give 100 bhp. Five cars were built, one for Lucy Schell and another sold to Parisian Henri Toulouse. Bringing it to Le Mans for its first race, he had pro-driver Marcel Mongin beside him. Prince Nicholas of Romania returned for a third attempt with

1107-418: A concrete post, but was able to carry on. The Talbot struggled on, but at midday, it finally retired with a broken oil-pipe. The race was winding down to a predictable finish, when Fontés pitted at 3pm, off-schedule. At the previous pit-stop, the car had not had its oil topped up. The Lagonda had a two-lap lead but had dangerously low oil pressure. Rules stipulated it was not allowed to be replenished outside

1230-426: A consistent race, though it was unable to keep up with the smaller British cars. Through attrition higher up, it was running 11th by mid-morning. However, the brakes were an issue and completely failed for Bodoignet as he cornered at Arnage, sending him up the escape road. As he reversed back onto the track, he almost collided with Stan Barnes in his class-leading Singer. Barnes swerved into the roadside ditch and thumped

1353-490: A copy right off Singer's stand at the 1912 Olympia Motor Show . Martin gave the car a thorough going-over, improving the engine's power and raising the top speed from 40 to 70 mph (64 to 113 km/h). Martin set up shop in Henniker Mews , Kensington , England, tuning the four-cylinder cars, and did a robust business. This was aided by the motor racing success of Martin's own improved Ten, in particular at

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1476-477: A dated fixed head. This new 15 used a chassis very similar to the 10's, and had one interesting feature, a retractable luggage rack. In 1924, the 15 was offered with a Weymann fabric body. Sales of the 15 were "modest". The 10's engine was converted to overhead valves in 1923 and monobloc , while the next year, the Ten also got a Waymann body option. The new 10/26 replaced the older 10 in 1924. it offered

1599-564: A debut for French manufacturer Delahaye . Most of the race was run in poor weather with intermittent showers, though fortunately there were no serious accidents. Sommer initially had the lead for most of the first quarter of the race, until delayed by engine issues and, with his co-driver too sick to drive, he retired. The race then became a contest between the Hindmarsh/Fontés Lagonda and the Alfa Romeos charging back up

1722-441: A female passenger, making good time in torrential rain. The first Singer-designed car was the 4-cylinder 2.4-litre 12/14 of 1906. The engine was bought in from Aster . Singer made their first four-wheel car in 1905. It was designed by Scottish engineer Alexander Craig and was a variant of a design he had done for Lea-Francis having a 2-cylinder 1,853 or 2,471 cc (113.1 or 150.8 cu in) engine. The Craig engine

1845-535: A four-seater version of the Le Mans was also available, somewhat of a hybrid of the Sports and the regular Le Mans. Also for 1935, the more spacious and powerful Special Speed version appeared. This had running boards, a bigger 13.5-imperial-gallon (61 L) fuel tank, and a bigger passenger compartment achieved by moving the spare wheels backwards. The Special Speed also received a tuned 38.5 hp (28.7 kW) engine with twin vertical Solex (30 IF) carburettors,

1968-620: A large rear wheel and small front wheels which could be folded aside. and in 1885 with a tricycle, rear wheels driven by chain, which also featured a handbrake (designed by Singer and his associate, R. H. Lea) on the rear axle. In about 1888, Singer introduced the Rational , a diamond-framed model with wheels the same size, each about 30 in (76 cm) diameter. It also offered removable handlebars and removable rear wheel. While safer, its performance suffered. Nevertheless, it proved popular with cycle tourers. In 1895, Singer Cycle faced

2091-483: A misfire and a water leak, losing seven minutes fitting new spark plugs. The other Lagonda, of Benjafield/Gunter, had got up to third until Benjafield stopped at Tertre Rouge with a mangled gearbox. He ran back to the pit, and then back again with a Lagonda mechanic, who shouted instructions as he did repairs to get it slammed into fourth. Back at the pits there was little options to repair, so they continued on driving with only top gear engaged. The Talbot saloon had had

2214-402: A moving assembly line in their latest acquisition, Singer's offerings were eclipsed by new models from Austin, Morris, and Hillman ; from 1932, these were joined by the new Ford Model Y . The Senior would be redesigned in 1928, with capacity increased to 1,571 cc (95.9 cu in) and an additional crankshaft main bearing added (up from two to three). And, like the Junior and Six,

2337-464: A new range of larger cars introduced. All cars were now White and Poppe powered. Singer experimented with a cyclecar, powered by a transversely-mounted aircooled engine in 1911–12. Instead, the company built a light car, the Ten , which debuted in 1912 with a 10 hp (7.5 kW) 1,096 cc (66.9 cu in) four-cylinder engine; its main drawback was a three-speed transmission built into

2460-592: A sales manager for the company and keen amateur driver. They resumed production, building bespoke sports cars to order named after motor-racing races. In 1934, AFN took over the defunct Anzani Engineering who made the Gough engine. Two models arrived at Le Mans from British gentleman drivers. The Shelsley was named after the well-established English hill climb event. It had a 1496cc Gough engine fitted with twin Centric superchargers that could make 95 bhp and get up to

2583-488: A single broken tail-light. Two of the little Austins were the last finishers, covering less than two-thirds of the distance of the winner, with the privateer John Carr beating home the works car. A week later, the Lagonda company was rescued from receivership by Alan Good, who brought in W. O. Bentley whose own company had been bought by Rolls-Royce . They ceased production of the Rapide and Rapier. In October, Luis Fontés

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2706-528: A speed cylinder head with angled spark plugs, a heavier cast iron flywheel and a counterbalanced web crankshaft. For 1936 and 1937, the Special Speed replaced the Le Mans model. In 1935, Singer added a Le Mans Replica to their catalogue. At more than twice the price of a regular Le Mans, this was intended for an uncompromising owner. In the end, however, only four of these highly tuned lightweight specials were built, and all remained with Singer until after

2829-522: A speed of 160 kp/h (100 mph). The other entry was a TT Replica which had the same engine, though normally aspirated. The class was rounded out with a Derby L8, driven by notable female racer, Gwenda Stewart , who had worked with the Parisian Automobiles Derby company to develop the car. Just a single Amilcar arrived this year. Clément-Auguste Martin's Équipe de l’Ours team again worked with Georges Boursin. Normally in

2952-462: A spoked aluminium wheel, known as a motorwheel . It was a 222 cc (13.5 cu in) four-stroke designed by former Beeston employees Edwin Perks and Frank Birch. A unique feature was that the engine, fuel tank, carburettor and low-tension magneto were all housed in a two-sided cast alloy spoked wheel. It was probably the first motor bicycle to be provided with magneto ignition. It was perhaps

3075-411: A stiffened chassis, it was almost 200 kg lighter than the standard "Nine Le Mans", and could get up to 150 kp/h (95 mph). Le Mans winner and noted journalist Sammy Davis was brought in as team manager to allow Singer's racing manager, Stan Barnes, to drive. His co-driver was Alf Langley, while Stan's brother Donald again raced with journalist Tommy Wisdom , and Norman Black/Roddy Baker ran

3198-406: A stone punctured the fuel tank of Labric's Bugatti. After repairs they fitted wooden slats on the floor to stop it re-occurring during the race. The most serious incident during the lead-up happened in the last practice on Friday night. De Valence in one of the big Bugattis had his lead mechanic with him when he lost control coming out of the first corner. Cutting the corner, the car then slammed into

3321-545: A third time, and were joined by the cars of French car run by Philippe Maillard-Brune (who had recently won the Bol d'Or race three weeks earlier) and Dutchman Edmond Hertzberger. A fourth car, in George Eyston's team, did not eventuate. Aston Martin mounted a serious assault for class and Coupe honours this year with seven entries. These were all the new Ulster model from Technical Director ”Bert” Bertelli to compete in

3444-402: A £600,000 "floatation by that egregious company promoter" Terah Hooley , but survived. It also weathered an industry slump in 1898 that wiped out many British bicycle makers. Singer Cycle Company began producing motor cars in 1901. Singer Cycle began motor vehicle production in 1901, purchasing the manufacturing rights to the Perks & Birch Motor Wheel, a one-cylinder engine contained in

3567-407: Is also worth noting that while the engine was listed as 34 bhp at 4600rpm, this is only theoretical, as the two-bearing crankshaft was not capable of reaching this speed. It was inadvisable to approach 3600 rpm, and not to maintain it under any circumstances. The maximum useable and reliably sustainable output from a two-bearing Nine engine is 28 bhp. For 1934 the front wings were elongated to protect

3690-407: Is now occupied by Singer Hall, a hall of residence for Coventry University . The main models produced were: e. & o.e. capacity stroke 1935 24 Hours of Le Mans A strong quartet of privateer Alfa Romeos, including previous winners Raymond Sommer , Earl Howe and Luigi Chinetti , were the favourites. Up against them for outright victory were five Bugattis, two Lagondas and

3813-583: The Aston Clinton hillclimb . The Ten would also be sold by William Rootes , former Singer apprentice turned dealer. On 11 July 1914, Beatrice Blore drove a Singer Ten car up the cable track (with a gradient of 1 in 3 in places) of the Great Orme , in Llandudno , North Wales , becoming the first woman to drive up the steep and challenging headland. She was six months pregnant at the time and

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3936-537: The Bantam Nine , as well as that car's three-speed gearbox. Singer (car) Singer Motors Limited was a British motor vehicle manufacturing business, originally a bicycle manufacturer founded as Singer & Co by George Singer , in 1874 in Coventry , England. Singer & Co's bicycle manufacture continued. From 1901 George Singer's Singer Motor Co made cars and commercial vehicles. Singer Motor Co

4059-511: The Brooklands lap record in 1921 at 74.42 mph (119.77 km/h). Meanwhile, the 10/26 became the 1,308 cc (79.8 cu in)-engined Senior , joined by the new Six , powered by a 1,776 cc (108.4 cu in) inline six based on the 10/26's and four-wheel servo-assisted brakes from Clayton Dewandre . The same year, Singer took over Calcott Brothers . In the 1920s, Singer sales climbed steadily, By 1928, Singer

4182-543: The "Junior Nine" of 1932, made as a stop-gap solution prior to the Nine's production, returned to Solex carburettors. The Roadster was a variant of the Bantam Singer Nine . After some years Singer cautiously returned to the sports tourer but not sports car market. The open four-seater Nine Roadster appeared 6 March 1939 with a lightly tuned version of the larger 1074 cc overhead camshaft engine already seen in

4305-528: The 1.5-litre class. As none of the works team had qualified for the Biennial Cup this year, the three works-cars were all entered privately under the drivers who had qualified: John Noël and Reggie Tongue had both run their own cars last year and their cars had regular Aston works drivers. Meanwhile, Roy Eccles had run an MG to fourth with Charles Martin. This year he stepped aside and Martin got Charles Brackenbury as his co-driver. Unusually for British cars,

4428-475: The 1935 Ulster Tourist Trophy , where all three wrecked, all from the same cause (steering failure) and all, incredibly, at the same spot. All the drivers literally walked away unscathed, but Singer's reputation in racing was beyond repair. In summer 1934, the Eleven was launched and was very innovative in its class by including the clutch-less "Fluidrive" Fluid coupling and Independent front suspension , and

4551-505: The 1939 racing season. One of these finished as the first one-litre car at the 1935 Le Mans (second in the 1.1 class). The Replica also saw action at Brooklands and at the Donington and Ulster Tourist Trophies . The replica has a 10:1 compression ratio and various other engine modifications. A steel channel-section streamlined body replaced the ash construction, and Electrum was used instead of cast Aluminium, which, when coupled with

4674-520: The 2-litre (MG), 1.5-litre (Aston Martin) and 1-litre classes (Singer). All three MGs of George Eyston 's all-female team finished, virtually in formation, after running trouble-free to a careful schedule. To avoid controversy and argument, this year the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) introduced a mathematical formula to calculate the target distances for the Index of Performance. This formula

4797-434: The 2-litre class. His MG Magnette was the only one to finish. After running mid-field through the night, by late-morning had got into the top-10. They finished ninth after a late-race contest with Falkner and Clarke's privateer Aston Martin ended up with them less than half a lap behind. The Singer–MG battle in the 1-litre class went the way of the former, with racing manager Stan Barnes, and Alf Langley, winning by 11 laps from

4920-508: The 508 in Italy, Gordini worked with SIMCA test driver Henri Louveau to modify the 6CV for racing. They worked on the 995cc engine, boosting its power to 36 bhp, improved the transmission and chassis, while shedding weight. Gordini drove single-handed to win his class in the 24-hour Bol d'Or in May. He used the prizemoney to buy that car and entered it into this race with Carlo Nazzaro (nephew of

5043-626: The First World War. The Singer brand was absorbed into their Rootes Group which had been an enthusiastic exponent of badge engineering since the early 1930s. The next Singer car, the Gazelle , was a more up-market Hillman Minx . which retained the pre-war designed Singer OHV engine for the I and II versions until 1958, when the IIA was given the Minx pushrod engine. The Vogue, which ran alongside

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5166-512: The Ford Model Y (a popular subject for copying), with two-bearing crankshafts and a 972 cc (59.3 cu in) engine; this, and its high £127 pricetag, made it uncompetitive. It had a two-bearing crankshaft and was the first Singer with a synchromesh gearbox, albeit with only three forward gears. Continuing decline in sales led to financial trouble, and Singer attempted to cut costs, such as by switching back to mechanical brakes on

5289-686: The Hunter in 1954; the high-priced Hunter was equally in vain. (Though specified with an optional HRG-designed DOHC engine, this was likely never sold. ) In the December 2011 edition of Automobile Magazine , a 1954 SM1500 was compared to an MG TD , finding the Singer the superior roadster. By 1955, the business was in financial difficulties and the Rootes Brothers bought it the following year. They had first handled Singer sales just before

5412-623: The Minx/Gazelle from 1961, was based on the Hillman Super Minx with differing front end styling and more luxurious trim. After 1958, all Singer products were mere badge-engineered models. By 1970, Rootes were themselves struggling financially. They had been acquired by the American Chrysler corporation, and founder (by then Sir) William Rootes had died in 1964. In April 1970, as part of a rationalisation process,

5535-489: The Nine in 1939. In May 1936, W. E. Bullock, who had been managing director from 1919 together with his son, general manager from 1931, resigned following criticism from the shareholders at their annual general meeting. No longer viable, Singer & Co Limited was dissolved in December 1936 and what had been its business was transferred to a new company, Singer Motors Limited. In 1938, the three-bearing 9 hp (6.7 kW) OHC engine of 1,074 cc (65.5 cu in)

5658-580: The Nine was discontinued in favour of this model. However, in 1939 the "Nine" name reappeared on a new Roadster model which depended heavily on the Bantam, meaning that the Nine was to continue in production until into 1949, and as the 4A/4AB until 1953. Produced from 1933 to 1937, the Nine Le Mans had a higher tuned version of the 972 cc inline-four, with stronger valve tappets, a thicker, sharply angled camshaft paired with flat-back rocker arms, and

5781-441: The Nine's introduction. Power output is 26.5 hp (19.8 kW). Power transmission was through a four-speed manual gearbox. A four-seat tourer model with abbreviated front wings and no running boards called the "Nine Sports" was also made from October 1933, and one of these managed to finish thirteenth at the 1933 24 Hours of Le Mans race. In 1933, celebrating this moderate success, a new underslung racy two-seat model called

5904-529: The SIMCA-Fiat of Anne Rose-Itier. After the duelling pair of Black/Baker and Viale/Debille had broken in the morning, they had a comfortable class-lead. After Barnes got his late-morning scare from the Talbot at Arnage, they were able to make it home without further problems and finishing 16th overall. The 5-year old BNC struggled against the more modern British cars. In what turned out to be the last outing for

6027-640: The Second World War, Solex offered car owners a free upgrade. They sent in their original carburettor, 30 IF or FHG, and in return they would get a modern, cast aluminium 30 FAI (vertical) or 30 AHG (horizontal) to fit to their car. The original carburettors were then melted down and re-cast into their modern equivalents. A few different carburettors were fitted to various Singer engines in the 30's. The Junior, Nine, 14hp, 1.5 Litre, and 2 Litre engines were mostly fitted with single or twin Solex, depending on

6150-565: The Singer Le Mans appeared. With twin vertical Solex (30 IF) carburettors, the Sports offered 34 hp (25 kW) at 4600 rpm, providing a 66 mph (106 km/h) with the wind screen down - impressive for the era and at a price considerably lower than the competition. The Nine Sports was also used in various other endurance races, finishing second in class in the Alpine 6-days trial ( Coupe Internationale des Alpes ) in 1933. It

6273-534: The Ten and Twelve saloons all returned to production with little change. In 1948, Singer's first streamlined car appeared, the SM1500 (designed by Technical Director Shorter ), which featured coil spring IFS. and a separate chassis, still using the SOHC 1500cc engin; It was, however, expensive, at £799, and hopes it would save the company proved in vain. The SM1500 was given a traditional radiator grille and renamed

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6396-534: The announcer admitted the mistake that the Alfa was, in fact, still 3 minutes behind on the same lap. By then it was too late to catch the ailing Lagonda and it came home for the first British win since Bentley at the start of the decade. A fine third place overall, and winner of the Index competition, Biennial Cup and 1.5-litre class, went to the Aston Martin of Martin/Brackenbury. They were only 7 laps behind

6519-401: The big 7-litre supercharged Duesenberg. Daniel Porthault came back with his venerable 1926 Lorraine-Dietrich , on the tenth anniversary of its first victory. The 3.5-litre car was re-fitted with a lighter, modern body. His co-driver would again be Just-Émile Vernet. Talbot returned to Le Mans after a 2-year absence, albeit in far different circumstances. The Sunbeam-Talbot-Darracq company

6642-446: The big Bugatti up to sixth, ahead of Hindmarsh's Lagonda. After close racing, Sommer took the lead on lap 3, only to pit to reconnect an errant sparkplug-cable. Then on the fifth lap, Lewis had to pit to get the distributor replaced that cost him over ten minutes and two laps. This left the order as Chinetti, Louis-Dreyfus, Veyron and Hindmarsh as the rain returned. Sommer excelled as it got wetter and had got to second place by 5pm. At

6765-660: The cars that ran at Le Mans. No more than four replica cars were built, and miraculously, all four of the cars have survived, and three of which still run to this day. And whilst advertised as "replicas" of the cars that ran at Le Mans, they share very little mechanically, having a different chassis, front axle, body mounting, and an altered ratio for the differential. The "replica" cars are far more powerful and faster than those they were supposedly designed after. The vast majority Singer Nines were fitted with Solex 30 IF "down-draught" carburettors. Some were made with 30 FHG horizontal carburettors, but few are known to still exist.. After

6888-554: The competition appearance, and added valuable weight to the rear axle. As opposed to the competing MGs, the Singer had more powerful and dependable hydraulic Lockheed brakes. The Nine Le Mans, while not particularly successful at the track which gave it its name, clocked up an impressive number of wins at hillclimbs, trials, and various endurance races such as the Liège-Rome-Liège and the Alpine Cup Rally . In 1935

7011-491: The cursive "Nine" badge adorning the radiator stone-guard. The Singer Nine saloon was replaced by the shorter Bantam Singer Nine in 1936. The sports models were not replaced until 1939 by the Bantam-based tourer, Nine Roadster . Singer also manufactured six "Nine" 5cwt vans. Only one is known to survive, ironically the survivor had the hardest life overall. It was used by builders Harry Kilminster ltd of Swindon, and

7134-542: The drive was a publicity stunt developed by her partner George Wilkin Browne to help sell the cars at his Llandudno garage, North Wales Silver Motors. The cars were advertised for sale for £195. Production was suspended for the First World War , then resumed afterward. Except for detail changes, the engine remained the same until the Ten ended production in 1923; the chassis was redesigned in 1921. The two-seater

7257-503: The driver out and sliding down the road. He was very lucky to be narrowly avoided by his team-mate Gardner, and Hindmarsh as the Lagonda came up to lap the two Astons. Then Sammy Newsome dumped his Riley into the sandbank at Arnage. Unfortunately, over-enthusiastic spectators helping him out got the team subsequently disqualified. By the time the rain stopped around 10pm, the Duesenberg was out with ignition failure, after running in

7380-571: The end of that first hour they had all completed 9 laps. A lap behind in 7th was the Bugatti of Viscomte Merlin, then the Aston Martins of Penn-Hughes and Martin with Van der Becke's Riley in 10th. Sommer took the lead soon afterward and then a heavy squall swept the track. Both Louis-Dreyfus and Chinetti pitted for tyres. The latter then had to pit again straight away because oil was leaking onto his rear brakes, costing two laps. At 6.30pm,

7503-486: The engine tuning meant a top speed of over 98 mph (158 km/h). The 1,288 lb (584 kg) weight was 425 lb (193 kg) less than that of a regular Le Mans two-seater. The correct designation is Works Team Car and they were intended for the TT race. Three of the four cars made, ran in the 1935 Le Mans race. In order to be used in the TT race they had to be production models and were advertised as "replicas" of

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7626-513: The entire first year's supply. It became a best-seller. Ultimately, Singer's business was acquired by his Rootes Group in 1956, which continued the brand until 1970, a few years following Rootes' acquisition by the American Chrysler corporation. George Singer began his bicycle-making business in Coventry in 1874. At the time, he was foreman of the Coventry Sewing Machine Company , from which he resigned. He

7749-426: The field after early delays. The big Bugatti of Roger Labric was also consistently running among them in the top-three. Just after half-time, everything changed over the next hour, as successively Labric, Chinetti and then Howe all were forced out with engine or suspension issues. As a drizzly dawn broke, it was the Alfa of Pierre Louis-Dreyfus only a half-lap ahead of the Lagonda, and the lead continued to swap through

7872-502: The great Italian driver Felice Nazzaro ) as his co-driver. Another standard Balilla was entered by French Bugatti woman Anne-Cécile Rose-Itier . The end of the grid was filled by four Austins – the EK75 "Speedy" was the latest sports-version of the Austin 7 and three represented the works team for the first time, while an older EA Sports model was entered by John Carr. During practice,

7995-399: The highest number of finishers in the previous year's race, there were sixteen cars turning up to contest the Coupe Bienniale. These included four Aston Martins, three Singers and fully six Rileys. The Alfa Romeo 8C had been the premier car in the 1930s races. This year, four cars were entered by privateers, but the driver quality made them the cars to beat. Last year's winner Luigi Chinetti

8118-535: The last Singer rolled off the assembly line, almost 100 years after George Singer built the first cycle. The last car to carry the Singer name was an upmarket version of the rear engined Hillman Imp called the Chamois. With the take over of Rootes by Chrysler begun in 1964 and completed in 1967, many of the brands were set to vanish and use of the Singer name ended in 1970. The site of the Singer factory in Coventry

8241-414: The lead lap. By the time, that error was picked up there was only ten minutes to run and Fontés made it home to win by a half-lap. By dint of good reliability, the smaller British cars of Aston Martin and Riley had pushed into the top-five. The works Aston of Brackenbury/Martin took a fine third-place overall and won both the Index of Performance and Biennial Cup. British cars set new distance records in

8364-533: The leaders had done their mandatory 24 laps and started pitting. Sommer, facing a long drive, had a double-stint. However, at 7pm, he had put a lap on the field, having done 29 laps. Second was the Fontés Lagonda, with Labric and Stoffel not far behind. The other Lagonda was fifth (27 laps) with Prince Nicolas, and the Brackenbury Aston (leading the 1500cc class) on the same lap. Aston Martin

8487-400: The liquid had leaked out of the battery and the car would not restart. When those spectators then gave him a push-start, he was destined for disqualification. Soon after that accident, his teammate Freddie Dixon came into the pits with suspension problems. Suddenly the car burst into the flames. No-one was injured but they were out of the race. Soon after that, Stoffel pitted the Alfa to fix

8610-440: The model, the team covered the furthest distance yet for a BNC (by 10 laps) and just missed taking 4th in class by 5 kilometres. Of the 28 finishers, 22 were British cars, and they took the top ten places in the Index of Performance and the top five in the Biennial Cup. All three of George Eyston's all-female teams finished (in 24th, 25th and 26th with just a lap between them), having run to a set schedule. Their only issue had been

8733-463: The model, with Saloon models bearing single carburettors, however the experimental 1.5 Litre Crossflow engine was fitted with twin SU's. Only 72 of these cars were made, and the first 12 produced were fitted with the original 1.5 Litre non-crossflow engine. Leaving 60 to be found, of which 8 have been confirmed to exist. Some later Juniors ('30 & '31) were fitted with single SU carburettors as well, however

8856-414: The morning as the two cars pitted. When the Alfa lost two laps fixing a misfire late in the morning, it gave the British drivers a comfortable margin. However, with less than an hour to go, they were struck with their own engine problems. Forced to tour gently just to make the finish, Louis-Dreyfus passed them, which was mistakenly interpreted as going into the lead when, in fact, it had only got him back onto

8979-560: The new Sports Nine Sports , which made its debut at the London Motor Show that same year; it featured a two-bearing crankshaft engine of 972cc, which gave the car its name. Owing to manufacturing difficulties of the new bodywork, the "9" engine was fitted to a number of Junior chassis' as a stopgap until the production cars were ready, which gave rise to the incredibly rare "Junior-Nine". The production numbers are unknown, and only 8 are known to have survived. And in 1933, The Nine

9102-455: The new M45 Rapide. This version of the M45 tourer had a 4.5-litre Meadows straight-6 engine that put out 140 bhp. Two cars with a shorter wheelbase were entered, each fitted with a 120-litre fuel tank, improved brakes and suspension. Fox had one car for his team regular Squadron Leader Johnny Hindmarsh and new member Luis Fontés (English son of a wealthy Portuguese shipping executive), while

9225-433: The next four hours, Hindmarsh and Fontés drove hard until they were less than a minute behind again at 9am, and then took the lead around 10am. The weather had closed in again: just after 9 o'clock, Georges Delaroche spun his Riley at Arnage, while running sixth. It dug in, and rolled throwing the driver out. He then spent 45 minutes levering the car back onto it wheels, observed by spectators keeping their distance. However,

9348-538: The older Riley MPH , with its 1458cc straight-six engine. They were crewed by Riley regulars Dixon/Paul, Newsome/Maclure and Frenchmen Sébilleau/Delaroche. The sixth went to privateer Jean Trévoux for his Biennial Cup entry. The supercharged MG Magnette had continued its success in Britain. The boosted 1087cc engine could put out 115 bhp. The works team was not present but three international privateers were entered: John Ludovic Ford and Maurice Baumer returned for

9471-471: The only motorcycle engine of its era with reliable ignition. These were fitted to bicycles. The design was used by Singer & Co in the rear wheel and then the front wheel of a trike. In 1904, he developed a range of more conventional motorcycles which included 346 cc two strokes and, from 1911, side-valve models of 299 cc and 535 cc. In 1913 Singer & Co offered an open-frame ladies model. Singer & Co stopped building motorcycles at

9594-542: The other Lagonda of Benjafield/Gunter sixth (106). Martin/Brackenbury ran a strong 7th (105) narrowly leading the 1.5-litre class in their Aston Martin, ahead of the Sébilleau/Delaroche Riley, both comfortably out-running the MG of Maillard-Brune, leading the 2-litre class in 20th (97 laps). Then abruptly over the course of an hour, everything changed: Three laps later Veyron's Bugatti broke its rear axle, and

9717-405: The other had former "Bentley Boy" Dudley Benjafield alongside Sir Roland Gunter. Delahaye had competed in some of the earliest races at the turn of the century, but had gone back to making standard saloons. But a bold change into the high end sports car market after the recession. Encouraged by wealthy heiress Lucy O'Reilly Schell to develop a car for hill-climb racing, the company set up

9840-511: The other two cars. They were supported by three British and two French privateers running last year's Nine Le Mans model. This year, the MG company worked with well-known speed-record champion George Eyston to prepare three all-female crews to run the Midget PA in the 1-litre class. This was no publicity stunt, as the women were all high-profile drivers with strong racing history: Scottish Margaret Allan had won races at Brooklands driving

9963-476: The outbreak of the First World War . In 1909, Singer & Co built a series of racers and roadsters and entered several bikes in races, including the Isle of Man Senior TT in 1914. George E. Stanley broke the one-hour record at Brooklands race track on a Singer motorcycle in 1912, becoming the first ever rider of a 350 cc motorcycle to cover over 60 miles (97 km) in an hour. Singer's first tricar

10086-440: The outside fence ripping off the front axle, throwing the two onto the track. George Delaroche, in his Riley, had just been overtaken but managed to stop without hitting the unconscious mechanic. Taken to hospital, he was in a coma for 9 days before eventually recovering. The car was a write-off and would not take the start. The weather had been poor through the week. But this boded well for the heavier British cars, negating some of

10209-460: The paintwork on the sides of the car, as the earlier short units were found wanting. For 1935, as the sportier Le Mans gained a four-seater option, running boards appeared on the Nine Sports along with larger doors and a curvier rear end, now nicknamed as the "Long-tail Nine" In 1936, the shorter and simpler Nine-engined Bantam Nine appeared, with an improved three-bearing engine, and in 1937

10332-452: The pits, still with recurring engine issues. Now twenty laps behind, after driving solely for 9 hours he was exhausted. Encouraged on by the partisan crowd he went back out for two more laps, but facing a hopeless situation alone with a sick car, he pulled in again and retired. At the halfway point, in the drizzle, Howe was leading Veyron by two minutes (113 laps), a lap ahead of Louis-Dreyfus, Hindmarsh. Chinetti/Gastaud were fifth (108) and

10455-456: The power of the dominant Alfa Romeos. This year raceday started grey and drizzly, however as the cars formed up on the grid en echelon , the rain eased. The big news was that Raymond Sommer's co-driver had been taken very ill and would be unable to do much driving. Sommer had found Christian d'Auvergne among the spectators – veteran of four Le Mans in the 1920s. However, the ACO officials ruled it

10578-461: The race seven laps down. Hindmarsh then had to pit to fix his headlamps, smashed by errant stones, losing a lap. Lewis meanwhile, now back in Howe's Alfa, was driving very fast, making up his lost laps. Early into the new day, he was back into second and then into the lead not long after 1am. Likewise, Chinetti was improving quickly after his early dramas and was up to fifth. At 1.15am, Sommer came into

10701-525: The rear axle. The Ten was the company's first big seller. The same year, two years after George Singer's death, the "bicycle wheel" radiator emblem was deleted. That year's primary product was a 16/20, powered by a White & Poppe engine. The use of their own power plants spread through the range until by the outbreak of the First World War all models except the low-volume 3.3-litre 20 hp were so equipped. The Ten's performance attracted interest from former racing cyclist Lionel Martin , who bought

10824-567: The season, the Riley team arrived with confidence. Six new cars had been built modelled on the new Riley Sprite mechanical set-up, two of them fitted with its "12/4" 4-cylinder 1496cc engine tuned to put out 70 bhp. The lead car would be driven by Bill van der Becke with Colin Richardson. The second, entered under the name of Dorothy Champney (Victor Riley's wife), had the all-female pair of Kay Petre and Elsie Wisdom . The other four were

10947-479: The standard pit-windows, so with less than an hour to go, he gingerly left for another lap. He came back with the car running worse, but the pit-crew exhorted him to carry on, albeit cautiously. Louis-Dreyfus was driving hard, and with 20 minutes to go, the public-address loudspeaker reported he was closing in quickly on the Lagonda for the lead. The next lap he overtook Fontés and his pit-team signalled him to ease off, believing him to now be leading. However, at 3.55,

11070-426: The suspension on Chinetti's Alfa failed. Then at 5.30, Howe had to park his Alfa Romeo with his engine wrecked by a holed piston. In the smaller classes, the Aston Martins still held the edge over the pursuing Rileys. The Singer of Black/Baker was in a tight tussle with Maillard-Brune's other car, the supercharged MG in the 1-litre class. They had led through the latter half of the night but were stopped at 8am with

11193-495: The ternary fuel. A record 59 cars arrived for scrutineering at the start of the race-week – the highest for any pre-war Le Mans race. With the German Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union teams dominating Grand Prix racing, the former power-houses of Alfa Romeo and Bugatti turned to sports-car racing. Both marques were well-represented this year. Having matched Bentley the previous year with four wins apiece, Alfa Romeo

11316-522: The top of the price range was the £480 Charles Frederick ‘C F’ Beauvais-designed Kaye Don saloon, built on the Silent-Six platform. Hydraulic brakes were standard, except for the Kaye Don, which relied on servo-boosted Dewandre brakes. A sliding sunshine roof was also available. In 1932, Leo J. Shorter became chief engineer (by 1940, technical director ). He and two other designers created

11439-516: The top-10 through the night and into sixth by mid-morning, where they continued on to finish, winning the 3-litre class. After its major gearbox problems, the Benjafield/Gunter Lagonda limped home in 13th. After its major gearbox problems, the Benjafield/Gunter Lagonda limped home in 13th. From a bad run the previous year, Aston Martin were rewarded this year with six of their seven cars finishing. Philippe Maillard-Brune won

11562-412: The top-10. Then sensationally, with a comfortable lead, Sommer stopped at Mulsanne corner with fuel-flow problems. It took an hour for him to crawl his way back to the pits just on the electric starter motor. During the Alfa's ordeal, Hindmarsh was able to move the Lagonda to the front followed by Stoffel, Labric's Bugatti, Howe and Gastaud all on the same lap. After clearing the fuel-pipe, Sommer rejoined

11685-486: The top-priced saloon and a "waterfall" grille, which lent the car its common name. The range continued in a very complex manner using developments of the ohc Junior engine, with an 848 cc (51.7 cu in), the Ten, the sidevalve 1,476 cc (90.1 cu in) 12/6, the sidevalve 18/6 (now 2,041 cc (124.5 cu in)), and the OHV Silent-Six (now 2,180 cc (133 cu in)). At

11808-498: The track or facilities this year. As usual, the petrol supplier alternated and this year, Shell offered four fuel choices: its regular fuel, 100% benzole , a 70/30 blend of the two and a 70/15/15 blend of the regular with benzole and ethanol. As an incentive, the French Office National des Combustibiles Liquides offered a FF10,000 bonus prize to a team who won either the Index of Performance or Biennial Cup using

11931-506: The track was increased. One other model was a fabric-bodied convertible saloon , the Sun . The redesign left Singer with a few hundred older chassis, which the company bodied and sold as Deliverys , at £180. Toward the end of the year, a privateer ran a two-seat Junior up Porlock Hill one hundred times in fifteen hours, which moved Singer to rename that model the Porlock. In 1929,

12054-469: The two Lagondas it was a record number of British cars. By contrast, there were only single entries from the French manufacturers aside from Bugatti who had seven cars represented. There were a total of 26 works-supported entries this year. Also of note were the ten women entered, including three all-female pairings. This is still, to date, the highest number of women competing in one Le Mans. After one of

12177-551: The winners, and a further clear 7 laps ahead of their rivals, the Riley of Van der Becke/Richardson. After initially challenging the Astons, their Riley had been delayed during the night but gradually had come back into contention. The Delahaye finished a lap further back after a solid debut performance, and only got overhauled by the Riley in the last hours. Next was the Alfa Romeo 6C-1750 of Weisweiller/Desvignes. They had run in

12300-567: The works Astons were painted red this year, like the Lagondas. The works team was supported by four privateers. Maurice Falkner had acquired an ex-works Aston Martin and had won his class in the Mille Miglia this year with Tommy Clarke. The two paired up again for the French race. Frazer Nash had started in 1922 but collapsed at the end of the decade in the financial crash. It was then taken over as AFN Limited by Harold "Aldy" Aldington,

12423-428: Was Britain's third largest car maker after Austin and Morris . Singer, restricted by a built-in site, acquired other companies for factory space. In 1926, they made 9,000 cars. In 1929, with seven factories and 8,000 employees, they produced 28,000 cars, though having just 15% they trailed far behind Austin and Morris which shared 60% of the market. Hampered by their new acquisitions, the cost of new machinery and

12546-454: Was a Type 51A driven by champion boxer Louis Villeneuve. However, the 1.4 modifier put the supercharged 1.5-litre engine up against 3-litre cars. The Fox & Nicholl racing team had raced a Lagonda in the 1929 race, and then scored a successive trio of third places with a British Talbot with works backing. Arthur Fox had renewed the deal with Lagonda even though the company had been placed in liquidation. With works support, he arrived with

12669-543: Was also an Alfa Romeo 6C -1750 SS entered by Guy Weisweiller. Part of a rich Parisian banking family, he raced under the pseudonym "Guy Don". Driving a 1933, late-model, version of the classic 6C, it was now tuned to put out 85 bhp from the supercharged 1774cc engine. Bugatti's largest entry yet at Le Mans saw eight cars arrive. The two biggest were ex-works Type 50 Sports , with their mighty 5-litre supercharged engines. Racing journalist Roger Labric once again had works support, and their driver Pierre Veyron . The other

12792-511: Was also offered with "aerodynamic" Airstream coachwork ; the name was given independent of the Chrysler . Independent front suspension was added to the Nine in 1935, while the larger models got Fluidrive transmissions. The new two litre Sixteen debuted that year as well, also with IFS. The Nine became the Bantam in 1935, which also debuted at the London Motor Show; it was a close copy of

12915-426: Was based on engine size, although a variation on the basic equation was used for 2-seater cars under 1.5-litres. This mainly impacted on the smaller engine cars, adding around 8-12 laps to their targets. The class-divisions remained as per the previous year, except for the over 3-litre class. An additional bracket at 4-litres was included, so creating a new engine class. There were no significant updates or changes to

13038-556: Was being broken up and Venetian émigré Anthony Lago was targeting the Parisian concern. As director at Talbot he had commissioned a new model – the T120 Baby Sport. The 3-litre engine 90 bhp straight-six engine could get the 4-seat tourer up to 150 kp/h (95 mph). One was entered by its Parisian owner, and Le Mans regular, Auguste Bodoignet. After a fantastic race the year before, and strong results elsewhere in

13161-571: Was entered by Philippe Maillard-Brune's team. At the end of 1934, the SIMCA (Société Industrielle de Mécanique et de Carrosserie Automobile) company had been set up by Fiat S.p.A. to license-manufacturer their cars in France. The predominant model was the 508 "Balilla" (known as the Simca-Fiat 6CV). Italian émigré Amadeo Gordini was one of the service agents. Inspired by the racing success of

13284-471: Was introduced, the three speed gearbox only had synchro between 2nd and top. From 1938 to 1955, Singer Motors Ltd supplied new OHC engines (a few 9HP, a 10HP and numerous 12 HPs plus 4-speed gearboxes) for fitment to HRG Engineering Company 's sports cars at Tolworth, Surrey - these replaced the 1.5 litre Meadows engines fitted to earlier cars. After the Second World War , the new Roadster and

13407-452: Was involved in a fatal road-accident that killed a motorcyclist. Convicted of drink-driving, he was sentenced to three years' imprisonment and never raced again. After twelve years and eight entries, it was the final appearance of La Lorraine. An auspicious run had netted two outright victories in the 1920s. It was also the final Le Mans for BNC (7 years), and Duesenberg and Derby (albeit from a limited time). In contrast, Anthony Lago completed

13530-470: Was joined by a new 14 hp (10 kW) six-cylinder, a 1.5 Horsepower six-cylinder, and a 2-Liter six-cylinder, while the Junior was dropped and the new sidevalve-engined 12 displaced the Ten. The Sports Nine was "an immediate success" among trials racers, and Singer entered a specially-prepared version at Le Mans , which led to the Nine being commonly called the Le Mans. Singer earned an "excellent reputation" in racing before three works Nines appeared at

13653-504: Was joined in the business by J. E. Stringer, his brother-in-law. It appears Singer was inspired to produce a bicycle safer than the Ordinary ( penny-farthing ) type standard at the time, by cyclist George Dominy. Singer did not alter the large front and small rear wheel design of the Ordinary, but by raking the front forks (a first) did make it safer. He patented the design on 24 October 1878. He followed this with an 1879 model having

13776-650: Was keen to go one better and become the most successful make at Le Mans. As well as the venerable La Lorraine and outrageous Duesenberg, the large-engine classes saw the arrival of new teams to challenge for outright victory: the French Delahaye and Talbot, and British Lagonda. Building upon the growing perception that Le Mans was a “British race held in France”, British brands dominated the medium- and small-engine classes. They comprised 36 of those 44 entrants, including works entries from Austin, Riley and Singer. With

13899-502: Was owned and entered by Franco-Brazilian Pedro Bernardo de Souza Dantas. Three French Bugatti drivers, Max Fourny, Albert Blondeau and Bernard Chaudé had formed a new racing team. The Écurie Argo had two entries: a 2.3-litre Type 51 modified with aerodynamic bodywork over the rear suspension would be driven by Fourny and Chaudé. The other was a Type 35 chassis fitted with a supercharged 2-litre engine with similar bodywork applied. Blondeau had Paul Vallée as his co-driver. The final Bugatti

14022-485: Was owned by the wealthy French aristocrat Charles Richer-Delavau. French film director Georges d'Arnoux had raced earlier in the decade but his was his first Le Mans. He shared a 2.3-litre Type 55 with fellow-nobleman Pierre Merlin. There were two touring models – a Type 44 and an elegant new Type 57 . This had the supercharged straight-8 engine from the Type 59 Grand Prix car bored out to 3.3-litres giving 135 bhp. It

14145-569: Was paired with the Monégasque Jacques Gastaud. Raymond Sommer , another two-time winner, also had a gentleman-driver as his partner – Raymond d'Estrez Saugé. The British lord, Earl Howe (running with Brian Lewis, Baron Essendon ) brought his three-year old Alfa that he ran the year before. Wealthy Parisian banker Pierre Louis-Dreyfus enticed veteran Henri Stoffel as his co-driver. After four comfortable wins in succession, Alfa Romeo were confident for their fifth win. There

14268-468: Was priced at £395. In 1921, Singer purchased motorcycle and cyclecar maker Coventry Premier , selling a four-wheeler of their design, powered by a 1,005 cc (61.3 cu in) water-cooled V-twin , for £250, under that name until 1924. The engine was changed to a four-cylinder Singer in 1922, but the car ceased production in 1923. In 1922, Singer's first six-cylinder was a 1,999 cc (122.0 cu in) of 15 hp (11 kW), with

14391-417: Was replaced by another tricar, which had two front wheels and a driven rear, more horsepower, and a coachbuilt body, but with the passenger now in front of the driver. Muriel Hind drove a Singer Tricar in the 1906 Land's End to John O'Groats Trial, with aviation pioneer Hilda Hewlett as her passenger and mechanic. She also drove a tricar in the twenty four hour London to Edinburgh Trial, again with

14514-537: Was replaced in 1906 by White & Poppe engines in Singer's two light car models. These were a 7 hp (5.2 kW) twin and a 12/14 four-cylinder. These were joined by a White & Poppe-engined Doctor's Brougham and two Auster -powered tourers , a 12/14 and a 20/22. For 1907, the Lea-Francis design was dropped and a range of two-, three- and four-cylinder models was launched, using White and Poppe engines. The Aster engined models were dropped in 1909 and

14637-539: Was running 8-9-10 ahead of the Rileys. But in a sharp rainburst, Jim Elwes aquaplaned off at the sweeping first corner, sliding backwards in the roadside fence. When he got back to the pits, the crew just hacked off the wrecked rear-end bodywork and sent him back out again. As dusk fell, in the half-light soon after 9pm, Fothringham misjudged the White House corner. Slipping off the road, the Aston Martin rolled throwing

14760-787: Was the Tri- Voiturette . It was powered by a 2 + 1 ⁄ 2  hp (1.9 kW) engine, and offered in two models, the No. 1 (passenger facing backward) and Mo. 2 (passenger facing forward); both fitted the passenger seat well behind the rear axle. At the 1902 Cordingly Show, at the Islington Agricultural Hall, Singer showed two commercial variants of the Tri-Voiturette, the Motor Carrier, one for tradesmen, one for dairymen. The Tri-Voiturette

14883-518: Was the first motor manufacturer to make a small economy car that was a replica of a large car, showing a small car was a practical proposition. It was much more sturdily built than otherwise similar cyclecars . With its four-cylinder ten horsepower engine the Singer Ten was launched at the 1912 Cycle and Motor Cycle Show at Olympia . William Rootes , a Singer apprentice at the time of its development and consummate car-salesman, contracted to buy 50,

15006-455: Was too late for driver substitution, so once again, Sommer was facing a long race on his own. At flagfall, Brian Lewis was the first car to get away, although it was still the big Duesenberg under the Champion bridge first. By the end of the first lap, the Alfa Romeos had got to the front, with Lewis leading Sommer, Chinetti, the Duesenberg and Louis-Dreyfus. After a slow start, Veyron had got

15129-462: Was used on some jobs in London during World War 2. The Nine has a 972 cc (59.3 cu in) overhead cam engine, based on earlier design of the 848 cc (51.7 cu in) engine seen in the 8HP Junior. An early version, with notable differences appeared in the aforementioned "Junior Nine", the short-lived interim model shown at the 1931 Olympia Motor Show four months before

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