As well as a Model Y photo, John kindly sent in this old family shot of a Singer SM1500, taken circa 1957 on the front at Lytham St.Annes in Lancashire: "We really thought we had arrived when he bought this. It had a US-style bench seat at the front and column change with three gears. However, the performance and handling could best be described as 'sedate', though it had a comfortable ride for the period."
The SM1500 sold from 1948 through to 1954, taking over from the outgoing Super Ten, after which it was replaced with the updated Hunter version, a model that soldiered on for a couple more seasons. Neither the SM1500 nor the Hunter could be deemed to have been a success for the Singer firm. Less than 19,000 SM1500s were produced, with cars being made available to the UK market from 1949 onwards. Few survive today. The styling, whilst fairly up-to-date for the late 1940s, wasn't terribly revolutionary and beneath the skin lay a separate chassis, into which Singer's OHC engine of 1525cc (later 1497cc) was installed. Note the suicide-style rear door arrangement, a fairly unusual feature on a new car at this time, although something it shared with the contemporary Rover P4 series (1949-on). Perhaps the most exciting version of all was the Singer Hunter 75, which hid a twin overhead cam engine beneath it's bonnet, although only a tiny number were produced before Rootes took over the company and pulled the plug.
LLE 802 was a London-area number, a series first issued in July 1950. Some period artwork for the SM1500 can be seen on this page in the collectables section of the site, whereas anyone running one of these classics today may find the SM1500 page in the free ads section of some use. If anyone else out there has period photos of this classic post-war Singer, please please get in touch as it'd be great to feature other examples on this page. Thanks to John for scanning and sending this pic over.
A Singer SM1500 seen in London.
This - pretty poor - photograph shows a Singer SM1500, very similar to the car in John's photograph above, negotiating the road around the memorial to Queen Victoria opposite Buckingham Palace. As John's family car was originally registered in London, there's an outside chance that it could be the same car, although we'll never know. Also in shot, an upright Ford Prefect.
(Please click the thumbnail to view full-size image.)
Collection of Singer cars, inc SM1500s & Hunters.
The compilation below contains a huge collection of images featuring Singer cars, dating back to the 1920s and also including much later models - including the SM1500s and Hunters, shown both here and overseas.
