Eye-catching black and whites

17,958 · October 13, 2020

Car styling moved so fast in the 50's. The Hunter is about 1954. But the new Ford Anglia arrived four years later. Manufacturers needed deep pockets to keep modish - or as in the case of Singer go bust - the banks foreclosed and Rootes came calling. They kept the twin-cam engine in the Audax cars for a short time.

Shame - Singer made some ok sports cars which Rootes dropped.

24,490 · October 14, 2020

2,258 · October 17, 2020

On 10/13/2020 at 10:07 PM, lesapandre said:

Car styling moved so fast in the 50's. The Hunter is about 1954. But the new Ford Anglia arrived four years later. Manufacturers needed deep pockets to keep modish - or as in the case of Singer go bust - the banks foreclosed and Rootes came calling. They kept the twin-cam engine in the Audax cars for a short time.

Shame - Singer made some ok sports cars which Rootes dropped.

Makes you wonder why Rootes bought into Singer at all. They didn't appear to have much interest in utilising the OHC engine beyond a brief period and surely had enough brands already . The production facilities can't have been much of a draw.

2,258 · October 17, 2020

2,258 · October 17, 2020

2,258 · October 17, 2020

Strange lack of rear windows or at least that's how it appears.

8,906 · October 18, 2020

8 hours ago, Skut said:

Love the way all the cars have a tray under them to catch the oil leaks, although somebody should have pointed out that Sumbeam Stilleto is rear engined.

17,958 · October 18, 2020

11 hours ago, Skut said:

Makes you wonder why Rootes bought into Singer at all. They didn't appear to have much interest in utilising the OHC engine beyond a brief period and surely had enough brands already . The production facilities can't have been much of a draw.

Some of it was sentimental I think and some perhaps getting rid of the competition in these company take-overs in the 50's. Rootes had sold Singers through their dealer network (they came into car manufacture in a funny way as dealers first then taking on brands to sell) and Lord Rootes had also served his apprenticeship at Singer - perhaps it was another marketing opportunity they saw too? Or maybe they just wanted the factory premises and skilled workforce.

Customers were much more brand loyal than today - they would have inherited the Singer customer base (for what it was) and sentiment.

The Singer twin-cam engine was pretty good and the sports cars in some demand but were axed.

Of course all this fiddling about did them no good in the end. Singer cars in the 60's always seemed a bit sad in their modest aspirations - and the brand soon was gone for ever.

But in their heyday they were rather fab...

17,958 · October 18, 2020

10 hours ago, Skut said:

Peckham Park Road no less...just off the Old Kent Road...here is the nearest lamp post these days if you want to re-enact it in your Focus...(looks like one of those rare snow days in London).

The cabin of the Ford held up pretty well...but if you want to see why safety got more important in the 60's - see this:

2,830 · October 18, 2020

1 hour ago, lesapandre said:

Some of it was sentimental I think and some perhaps getting rid of the competition in these company take-overs in the 50's. Rootes had sold Singers through their dealer network (they came into car manufacture in a funny way as dealers first then taking on brands to sell) and Lord Rootes had also served his apprenticeship at Singer - perhaps it was another marketing opportunity they saw too? Or maybe they just wanted the factory premises and skilled workforce.

Customers were much more brand loyal than today - they would have inherited the Singer customer base (for what it was) and sentiment.

The Singer twin-cam engine was pretty good and the sports cars in some demand but were axed.

Of course all this fiddling about did them no good in the end. Singer cars in the 60's always seemed a bit sad in their modest aspirations - and the brand soon was gone for ever.

But in their heyday they were rather fab...

I guess Rootes also wanted a brand to bridge the gap between Hillman and Humber.

Chrysler dropped Singer in 1970 but the Vogues were briefly sold as Sunbeams.

24,490 · October 24, 2020

24,490 · October 24, 2020

2,258 · October 25, 2020

5 hours ago, Austat said:

That's brilliant! What is it?

17,958 · October 25, 2020

2,258 · October 26, 2020

2,258 · October 26, 2020

20,680 · October 26, 2020

16,303 · October 26, 2020

Christine, Dagenham style.

40,244 · October 28, 2020

On 10/25/2020 at 12:59 AM, Austat said:

On 10/25/2020 at 5:31 AM, Skut said:

That's brilliant! What is it?

It's a Sandal Auto 360 kei car from the mid to late 50's. Details are difficult to find, in fact there seems to be variations of the name - Japan Auto Sandal 360 seems to be it's 'Sunday' name.