Singer Nine

After the success of the earlier Singer Junior, Singer introduced the Singer Nine in 1932. Although it represented an evolution of the Junior, it was a distinctly different vehicle.....

The Nine was allegedly a four seater, a third or forth passenger could be carried ( short distances), sitting in a rather upright fashion in what was a fairly cramped rear seating compartment. Leg room in the rear was accommodated by two deep wells on either side of the prop shaft.

The Singer Nine was fitted with the 972 cc overhead cam engine but now had an increased bore of 60mm and was fed by twin downdraft S.U. carburetors. The gear box had very close ratios which made it especially suited to trials work where maximum speed was not as important as power and acceleration. Half elliptic springs were used all around and they were controlled by large adjustable André Hartford friction shock absorbers. The suspension was unusually good, providing suppleness with a complete absence of any sign of wheel shimmy, rolling or pitching. Lockheed 10" hydraulic brakes were standard on both front and rear and allowed for fairly powerful braking. The Nine developed approximately 31 b.h.p. at 4600 R.P.M and could reach a speed of over 66 mph with the windscreen lowered flat. With the windscreen raised, top speed was slightly lower at approximately 64 mph. An easy cruising speed of 50 mph could be maintained.

The Singer 9 marked the companiys first serious onslaught on the patronage of sports car enthusiasts. Immediately, it was hailed as "looking right" and within a very short time it had proven itself to be a winner on the score of performance. Early examples romped around the late autumn trials and a fleet of nine of them scored heavily, taking 8 premier awards in the London to Exeter run.

The Nine won high praise when an essentially stock model driven in the 1933 Le Mans by Barnes and Langley became the first unsupercharged British car under 1000cc to qualify for the Rudge-Whitworth Biennial Cup. Modifications to the car from stock included a mildly tuned, higher compression engine, altered gear ratios, larger headlights and a long range petrol tank which got rid of the rear seats completely.

Singer continued to prove the Nine?s abiltiy in long distance reliability competitions. Notably, a team of three Nine Sports production models were entered in the 6 Day Alpine Trial, held over some of the highest mountain passes in Europe. The entire Singer team finished intact to win a second place finish for cars under 1100cc.

Equipped with an impressive array of instruments, an Ashby Brooklands steering wheel, mahogany dashboard and trimmed in furniture hide upholstery, the Singer was a bargain at only £185.

From 1933 to 1937, the Singer 9 was steadily improved and updated. For 1934, one of the most obvious changes was the modification to the front wings. The original 1933 models had a very abbreviated wing which provided inadequate protection from gravel and dirt kicked up by the front tyres. To protect the paint on the side of the car, longer, more graceful front wings were introduced.

Substantial changes were also made to the 1935 model, which saw the addition of running boards, wider doors and a graceful sweeping tail in which the spare wheel was kept, concealed by a detachable cover. A light, removable luggage rack was also provided and fitted to the rear of the car.