Singer Roadster.
The Singer Nine Roadster made its debut in 1939 - see advertisement further down this page - and shared much of its running gear with the 1,074cc Bantam saloon. Able to accommodate four occupants, it was designed as a comfortable tourer rather than a car with real sporting pretensions. Production of the Nine lasted until 1940, and was halted for the remainder of the war before being re-introduced in 1946.
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The three photographs featured below show a classic Singer Roadster bearing the registration SC 1564. Despite the numberplate's appearance, I doubt this was a UK registration, and the scenery in the background confirms that this particular car had been exported at some point. The first photograph is a rear 3/4 shot, showing the Singer's swoopy lines to best effect. The whitewall tyres look quite tatty so evidently the car wasn't brand new at the time of these images.
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Details in these photographs confirm that the car was either a 1939-onwards Nine Roadster, or else the post-war 4A Roadster introduced in 1950. There are two main reasons for this - firstly, later 4AB introduced a shorter radiator shell to the car's design, and secondly it heralded a switch to plain (slotted) steel wheels. This car's radiator clearly extends below the line of the front bumper, as can be seen in the next photo, and has "easi-clean" type wheels, thus making it either a Nine or a 4A Roadster. The chief difference between these two variants is that the former has a three-speed gearbox, the latter a four-speed, otherwise they look virtually the same bar a slight difference to their bumper styles.
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The final shot in this set shows a couple of people sat in the Singer, roof down as before. A shiny metal piece of trim has been added to the top of the passenger and driver's side door. A tax disc, very similar in style to UK discs of the era, can be seen attached to the windscreen support.
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1939 advertisement for the new Singer 9 Roadster.
The following advertisement was published in March 1939, and announces the new Singer 9 Roadster - "a fine achievement in Motoring History". Price 169 GBP.
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Was the Roadster aimed specifically at the female slice of the market? Ladies alone help publicise Singer's new car in this advert, which was published in a trade journal of the day. Its "graceful lines that culminate effectively in the sweep of the tail", and the "unusually roomy" luggage locker, are also highlighted.
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Performance was nippy enough for the day, ie 0-30mph in just six seconds, although there's no mention of anything so vulgar as top speed. The "disappearing hood" and "spring steering wheel" do warrant a mention though.
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Return to Page 12 in the vintage & classic car motoring gallery.
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