The Singer car company grew, like so many, out of a cycle business in the Midlands. George Singer worked for the Coventry Machinists under James Starley, the father of the cycle industry, where he proved to be an innovative and quality engineer. He left to set up his own business in 1875.
Singer started life producing motorcycles and then evolved to cars in the early 1900s. By 1912 Singer was producing the popular Singer Ten (10hp) with rear axle mounted gearbox. The Ten was the worlds first light car. Prior to that, cars had either been heavy and over-engineered or lightweight flimsy cycle-cars. The Ten was light-weight for the time and well engineered.
Singer produced armaments during the First World War with financially beneficial results for the company. Throughout the 1920's Singer continued to expand although the highly successful Singer Ten gradually became outdated.

The Singer Junior appeared in 1926. This had a great engine, fitted with a single overhead camshaft - a first for British mass produced cars. The Junior was essentially a four seater tourer, although like the contemporary Austin Seven, many body style became available. By 1928 Singer was ranked third in UK car production behind Morris and Austin. The engine was enlarged from 8hp to 9hp to produce the even more successful Singer Nine. A six cylinder 1.5 lithe version known as the Singer Le Mans was developed. The Le Mans had many racing successes but disagreements with race judges at the Ards TT in 1935 forced changes to the steering with disastrous consequences. Three out of four cars crashed and this marked the down-turn for Singer. A few cars came and went during the Depression and the next success had to wait to the introduction of the Roadster in 1939 - not great timing given subsequent world events. Singer than moved into military production, with beneficial financial results.

The Roadster only went in to full production after the War. The SM1500 was the first post-war Singer design - an American styled saloon - and many advances in this car's design found their way into later versions of the roadster. These included independent front suspension.
By the end of 1955 Singer had run out of money and by the end of December Rooted had taken over. But now for the wonderful roadsters in more detail.

The Singer Nine Roadster was introduced in 1939 and became the basis of the post war models. The car was essentially a new concept in Singer, being a hybrid between a sports car and a sedate family saloon. It was an attractive four seater with plenty of power.The car borrowed bits from the Bantam parts bin and had a 1074cc engine, a 3 speed gearbox, and was capable of 65 mph. Production ceased during the war but the model was red-introduced in 1946.

The 4A Roadster appeared in 1950, so called because it had a 4 speed gearbox. Otherwise it was little changed from the Nine, save for some improvements in the driving position. The engine was unchanged although it now had a Solex carburetor.

The 4AB came next and is recognisable by stying changes to the radiator, which is shorter, and the wings which are more sweeping. The most significant engineering change was the addition of independent front suspension. Steering was improved and hydro-mechanical brakes appeared as an improvement over the all mechanical variety. The 4AC followed in prototype form only and differed by having a 1200cc engine.

The 4AD was virtually identical with the 4AB in appearance, except for some styling changes to the bumpers and new tail lights. The big change was in the engine - the 4AB boaster a 1497 cc engine which it shared with the SM 1500 Saloon. The SM 1500 (4 ADT) Roadster followed, differing mainly from its predecessor in having twin carburetors, hence the T.

The Roadster is a relatively rare car today, and judging by the production numbers can never have been a common site. Robin Throp, in an article in Singer Owner, September 1997 says 'of the 11,000 produced approx 2,000 could have survived world-wide, and say 10% are runnable, then 200 cars could be viable, or perhaps 100 at any one time. In 2002 the Singer Owners Club website published a very interesting survey, by production year, of Singer models currently known to exist around the world by country. They list 151 4AD Roadsters between 1950 and 1955.

The webmaster would particularly welcome pictures of each model.