MASCOT January - February 2001

ROADSTER NOTES Have I Got News for You?

Bill Haverly

This photo of a 1955 4AD stripped for restoration first appeared in an ASCO Magazine in the late 1980s. Commenting on the additional cross-member at the chassis front, the then Editor, with a memorable faux pas that will surely live to haunt him, remarked that "Singers never made them like this". But have I got news for you? - not only did Singers make them like this one, they produced over 500 more with the same modification! It all happened at the end of August 1953 when the W production season gave way to the new 'X' for 1954. It is significant that the first public showing of the revolutionary new glass-fibre SMX Roadster was at the Motor Show a month or so later. You could say, I suppose, that X marked the spot for Singer's decision to enter into plastic.

The SMX bodywork consisted of 3 separate glass-fibre mouldings plus doors, the heaviest of these being the large bonnet/front wing unit. This was designed to pivot forward and give access to the engine compartment and front suspension. The brunt of the load was taken on the two open-ended front chassis members, but these were not up to the job, so the 'U' section member was welded across the front to provide a sound mounting for the pivot. Only a small modification, but a significant one, which, once started, was to continue until the end of official manufacture two years later. I can find no reference to it in the 4AD Parts Book but it is mentioned in a list of Singer Service Schemes under CSK 268. No date, drawings or details, however.

For its application to the SMX, a 1 1/2" diameter x 50" long steel member, fibre bonded to the bonnet section, formed the basis of the pivotal movement. It was hinged at 4 points with welded corner brackets to secure it firmly at both ends of the cross-member using set bolts and captive nuts. Having all 4AD chassis pre-fitted with this extra cross-member meant that should the SMX have developed into proper production, any 4AD chassis could have been taken off the line and fitted with a glass-fibre body. Though important to Singer's plans for the SMX, it also had some value for the 4AD by giving additional protection at the front end. It now serves as a souvenir of the SMX and indicates a more serious intention to go beyond the prototype stage than previously thought.