[D]

The Singer Company was formed in 1874 and built bicycles, tricycles and motorcycles.

George Singer's cycle business built their first cars at Canterbury Street, Coventry in 1905 and by 1927 they owned five factories scattered throughout Coventry. Previously they had made a three-cylinder car under licence from Lea-Francis.

Before the First World War there was a range of vehicles from an 1100 cc 10 to a four-litre 25 hp. The Light Cars were more popular and established Singer as a manufacturer. After the war production was concentrated on the pre-war 10 hp model and large cars were never tried again.

During the 1920's a large expansion programme began with the purchase of the Calcott premises in Coventry and the Sparkbrook Manufacturing Company in Birmingham. The Aster premises in Wembley were acquired for use as a London Service base.

The Managing Director William E Bullock bought a building in 1927 some 15 miles (24 km) outside the city at Small Heath. This six-storey building had been built by the Birmingham Small Arms Company for arms production and was not really suited for car production.

28,000 cars were produced in 1929, placing Singer third behind Morris and Austin. By 1935 Singer recorded a £200,000 loss and their market share had slumped in an expanding, but competitive, market. The Rootes Group and Ford were also squeezing Singer out.

The late summer of 1929 saw commercials being produced in addition to the cars. The Industrial Motors division produced a two-ton lorry and a 20-seat coach. The division was to last until 1932.

Herbert Stevens was Chief Engineer from 1928 (formally with Sunbeam) and in 1932 he returned to Sunbeam to be replaced at Singer by LJ Shorter. Shorter was promoted to Technical Director in 1947 in which position he directed corporate design until his retirement in 1958. He had started with Humber in 1907 and by 1914 was with Sunbeam's aero engine department. After the war he worked for Arrol-Johnston for a short while before returning to Humber as Chief Engineer. He had also spent time working with both Calcott and Villiers.

In the early 1920's the Junior and Senior models were produced. The Junior engine was used in models developed during the 1930's including the Singer Nine Saloon and the Le Mans sports cars. 1934 saw the 11 hp with an Airstream style body shell that was also used by Peugeot and Chrysler.

In 1936 Singer was reorganised and following the collapse of merger talks with Rover the company name became Singer Motors. William Bullock, who was made chairman in 1933, left and was replaced by Charles Latham, an accountant.

After the Second World War Singer experimented with steam propulsion, but only a single prototype was made. The 1939 range was marketed until 1948 when the first new model, the SM 1500, arrived and was available as both a Roadster and a Saloon.

Singer became part of the Rootes Group in December 1955 and the name Singer was used for variations on the Hillman Minx.

An experimental model designated the SMX was tried in 1953 but it never made production status.

The SM 1500 saloon had a radiator grill restyle in 1954 and was renamed the Hunter.

The name Singer eventually disappeared in 1970, although the Hunter name continued as the Hillman Hunter.

E-Mail: history@britishmm.co.uk