"Home - bodied" Singer project

"Home - bodied" Singer project

This one arrived at the shop today. Thought I'd share some pics. The chassis is a Singer - a Nine I think. Chassis and suspension appear to be unmodified (friction dampers on the suspension!) The powertrain is Spitfire 1275.

It's been dubbed "the Springer"

I give the guy credit for the mechanical integration. At least on initial impression, the chassis and drivetrain seems to be well executed. I'm still a little queasy when I look at the body tub, though. All in all, I like the overall effort. Soem will disagree, but tinker projects like this reflect the purpose of our hobby - creativity and expression.

One of my customers just purchased this and shipped it here from England. Should be a fun car for the guy. It's here at the shop for roadworthiness inspection.

I know nothing about Singers. I'll be interested to read everyone's comments.

Re: "Home - bodied" Singer project

See, I love home-brew cars like that. Sorry, I know nothing about Singers, but I do find this car very appealing. These "specials" are some of the reason why I like this stuff. Some of the old Austin 7 "specials" really catch my eye.

If you look at ~This Page~ you'll see a lot of the old, home-brew cars (mostly racers) that influenced me.

I am actually building a project similar to the car in your picture. It is at the rolling chassis stage and has a 1275 Sprite engine and trans. I'm sure it will not be complete until I move into retirement....another few years away.
Right now, I'm too distracted by racing and airplanes.

Re: "Home - bodied" Singer project

That is nicely done! I'd change the turn signals to something smaller, and move the headlights up a bit, but otherwise would love to tool around in it just as it is.

Mickey

Re: "Home - bodied" Singer project

hehehehe....nice concept, nicely done...wish I could pound metal like that...are those VW turn signals, Mickey?

Re: "Home - bodied" Singer project

I like it! I'd also chance the turn signals as well as a few other items but overall I think it's nicely done.

Re: "Home - bodied" Singer project

D'ya think he put enough mirrors on it? I think I would prefer a pair of nice bucket seats rather the the bench in it! And those VW signal HAVE to go! A nice pair off a TD would look good! I didn't know Spits came with a 1275, are you sure you didn't mean Spridget?

It definitly has that "classic" British "special" look!! All in all, looks like a fun ride!!

Re: "Home - bodied" Singer project

aeronca65t said:

See, I love home-brew cars like that. Sorry, I know nothing about Singers, but I do find this car very appealing. These "specials" are some of the reason why I like this stuff. Some of the old Austin 7 "specials" really catch my eye.

If you look at ~This Page~ you'll see a lot of the old, home-brew cars (mostly racers) that influenced me.

I am actually building a project similar to the car in your picture. It is at the rolling chassis stage and has a 1275 Sprite engine and trans.

Click to expand...

What a great page!!! Undoubtedly the hobby we have enjoyed seems lost in the wake of air bags, emissions laws, and insurance rules. And we wonder why there are so few great American automobiles rolling off the lines.....

Thaks for sharing. Where are the pics of your Sprite project?

Re: "Home - bodied" Singer project

Yeah, both sets of side mirrors are brilliant (the fronts are motorcycle) but one or the other would suffice, eh? The rearview is mounted on a wood-carved plinth; an interesting effort, but probably and afterthought. Same for the brooklands screen (missing glass at the moment)

The bodywork isn't hammered at all!!!! It's all simple bends, nothing compound. I'll post some more pics. Every edge is a straight cut, no rolled edges. There is a liberal use of edge beading throughout the car. Barbaric really, but an inspiring example of how simple something like this can be with practically no application of special metalworking skills. While it's rudimentary, the fitment of the panels is remarkable. A lot of effort is reflected in the fit of the seams. ALL the panels are fastened with tiny phillips screws, carefully placed at even intervals.

Doing some research on Singers, a "Nine Lemans" Rear end would be uber sweet, but tricky to execute.

https://www.singercars.com/history/9rep.html

One of my first thoughts when I saw the car was that a MGT- series scuttle - with the twin "humps" would graft right into place. I wonder, are those available anywhere in aluminum?

The other immediate thought was some bullet wing lamps and some spitfire rear lamps would be more appropriate. On the other hand, there are a lot of tongue-in-cheek bits that reflect the builders sense of humor (as the new owner put it) Some bits are so mis-matched I have to beleive it was done that way on purpose for the sake of a giggle.


I have to remind myself that this isn't my car. Just walking past it inspires a flood of "what if's"

The bench seat reflects the interior design of the car. Not the builder's strong suit, but it is functional. I'll have to post some pics. My favorite is a big label that says "dip switch" right in the middle of the center console <grin>

Most of all I am humbled that, having a shop and being single, I'm not facilitating projects like this one with local teenage future hobbyists.

Who was it that faciliated the building of a bugeye by a group of young ladies? I loved that story, but lost the bookmark.....

Re: "Home - bodied" Singer project

bugimike said:

I didn't know Spits came with a 1275, are you sure you didn't mean Spridget?

Click to expand...

Ack! Methinks you're right. I'll have to find some block numbers and do some research to find out exactly what the motor and trans originally fit.

Re: "Home - bodied" Singer project

That's a Triumph engine for sure.
Either 1147, 1300 or 1500 most likely (Herald/Spitfire engines).
Could also be an older 948 Herald motor.

Re: "Home - bodied" Singer project

eschneider said:

......Thanks for sharing. Where are the pics of your Sprite project?

Click to expand...

These pictures are old (below) when I'd just got it rolling and before I got the 1275 mounted in it. The wheels are 4" X 15" with 135 wide tires (intended for old VWs). The overall intent is to make a quasi-replica of one of the old Austin 7 "specials" that were common in the 30's.
My Dad had seen various Austin-based "specials" like these at the Ards racetack (in Ireland) when he was a young man. He got me interested in this idea.







Here's an Austin 7 Brooklands "special". (with an actual Austin 7 powertrain)...I love these old crocks.

Re: "Home - bodied" Singer project

The old "specials" to me represent the grass roots of the British "Sports Car Industry"! That is where such greats as Colin Chapman grew out of!!! :thumbsup:

Re: "Home - bodied" Singer project

My initial thoughts were the same as Mickey's - different turn signals and raise the headlights. An after thought was front fenders that turn with the wheels.

All in all a neat car, I'd drive it!

Re: "Home - bodied" Singer project

aeronca65t said:

eschneider said:

Here's an Austin 7 Brooklands "special". (with an actual Austin 7 powertrain)...I love these old crocks.

Click to expand...

Nial - you are my hero! I would love love love to build/ drive something like that. I know a fellow who had the body of the Austin 7 that won either the 1935 or 36 Brooklands outright. He sold it a couple of years ago. Interestingly, the guy who bought it had been tracking this specific car down for about 3 years only to find it 1 1/2 km from his house in Ontario.

Click to expand...

Re: "Home - bodied" Singer project

JPSmit said:

aeronca65t said:

eschneider said:

Nial - you are my hero! I would love love love to build/ drive something like that. I know a fellow who had the body of the Austin 7 that won either the 1935 or 36 Brooklands outright. He sold it a couple of years ago. Interestingly, the guy who bought it had been tracking this specific car down for about 3 years only to find it 1 1/2 km from his house in Ontario.

Click to expand...

I'd be very interested to know what car that was, and what it won outright. By 1935 / 36 the Austin 7 racers were definitely under the MG cosh. There was no way their sidevalve (flathead) engines, no matter how highly supercharged, were competitive with the OHC Midgets. That's why they commissioned Murray Jamieson to build the famous Twin Cam 750s.

The Brooklands model A7 was originally produced by Gordon England - my father had one that I recall from when I was very young. I wish it hadn't been destroyed in a crash in Cornwall back in 1951 or thereabouts. One day I'll remember to scan and post a photograph of it. You can Google "Gordon England Brooklands" and see what they were like. Whoever labelled that recent special a "Brooklands" is certainly taking poetic liberties. I know it wasn't Nial, though.

If you look in HMN you'll see a similar special on sale right now. I'm retiring at the end of this month, and looking for an A7 again. My first car was an A7, and I have owned several, so it would be good to have one again. Besides, there's a kind of historic link to my present car - a Lotus Elise. Not this one, though!

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Re: "Home - bodied" Singer project

I'm forwarding comments from the owner. Definitely worth sharing. I am humbled by his clarity of purpose and reflections on "what it's all about".

======================================================

Eric,

A couple of thoughts on the britishcarforum thread you started to memorialize my newly acquired quasi-Singer.

I find the well-intentioned but insouciant comments about cosmetic changes (e.g., running lights, headlights, bucket seats, altered scuttle) to be harmless, but more or less inapt against the backdrop of the British Special experience.

Consider the fact that in the Kaiser War English lads left the farms knowing how to tend sheep and came back knowing how to use wrenches. Prior to the War to End All Wars the English motoring industry catered exclusively to the rich and upper-upper middle class, and it was they who used cars for sporting purposes. The lower echelon rode bicycles or motorcycles, went to work on foot or in an omnibus, and took their holidays in a charabanc or a rail coach. For those folks, actually riding in a motorcar was an unusual and memorable experience.

After that war the British vehicle industry exploded as many small manufacturers scrambled to provide cheap transportation to the increasingly affluent masses. In part, they were able to do so because the end of hostilities in 1918 brought a lot of war surplus equipment and machine tools to the market at very reasonable prices. Lightcars and cyclecars proliferated and, because they were cheaply made, their useful life was short, they were easily broken, and then delegated to the breakers’ yards thereby providing a feed stock for special builders.

The primordial need to speed was expressed early on as time trials and hillclimbs became available with little need to invest large sums to compete. Photos of early scratch events show a preponderance of ordinary saloons ready on the starting lines. That quickly developed into two general categories of competition.

Military surplus was the source for a large number of aircraft engines. Those huge, slow-revving units, when married to the lengthened chassis and running gear of a large Victorian touring car supplied the Brooklands specials of 20+ liters that lapped the outer circuit at over 140 mph. For example, Count Zborowski’s Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang (Yes, Virginia, there was a Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang–indeed, there were three), used a pre-war chassis and an 18-liter aircraft engine to set speed records in the early 1920s. They were the toys of the well-to-do.

The lads, not to be denied the exhilaration of speed on the cheap, used their new-found ability with hand tools to develop short-distance cars that typically started life as a cyclecar or a lightcar (the GN (H.R. Godfrey, Archie Frazer-Nash) was by far the most popular choice for bits). They were stripped of all unnecessary encumbrances, modified with whatever was available in the local breaker’s yard, and propelled at seemingly unattainable speeds by large motorcycle engines (e.g., JAP, Blackburne, Anzani, Matchless). At first, road racing was pretty much consigned either to blocked-off local roads or to Brooklands, but time trials and hillclimbs were readily available. In the early 1930s, with the opening of the Crystal Palace and Donington Park circuits, the array of motor sport activities expanded, giving rise to a wider variety of specials. John Bateman in his 1994 Vintage Specials book, explains:
“As the type of vehicle varied, so did the skill of the amateur engineers. Some attempts would be crudely executed and feature the most appalling welding, paintwork that looked as if it had been applied with a yard brush, and all held together with a variety of ill-fitting nuts and bolts. In other cases, the finished vehicle would be meticulous in its construction... The more accepted method [of design] involved the use of old envelopes and beer mats as sketch pads.... The special builder’s ideal [was to try to] incorporate parts from as many sources as possible into one vehicle.”

After the Hitler war, special building continued with the aim of the true vintage car enthusiast to be a person (again, to quote Bateman), “who do[es] not want to drive a machine that has been seen before. To them, the challenge is to re-create the vintage era by producing a special that could have been built in that era.”

As a general proposition, specials were always works in progress, and the opngoing changes and fettling were mainly aimed at greater performance and road handling. Few were altered simply to improve appearance.

Against that backdrop, different turn signals, move the headlights, rework the scuttle, add bucket seats, install a boat-tail rear panel? Never: no relationship to performance. So, the Singer’s builder had a fetish for mirrors (a total of five), so what? The central mirror sits on a wood plinth to raise it high enough to see over the bench seat. What could be more practical? If I race it, as I may if it appears to be sturdy enough , the more mirrors the better since on the track I am no stranger to the blue flag with a yellow stripe; indeed it is my best friend.

And those who are considering building a new vintage special: have at it, you’re in good company.

Re: "Home - bodied" Singer project

aeronca65t said:

That's a Triumph engine for sure.
Either 1147, 1300 or 1500 most likely (Herald/Spitfire engines).
Could also be an older 948 Herald motor.

Click to expand...

Probably a 1300 or maybe 1500. Can't be any smaller, since the 948 and 1147 engines had siamesed intake ports ("6 port head"). FM prefix (or possibly FP if from a Midget) would be the 1500. GE, GK (those are Herald); FD, FE, FH, FK or FL (those are spitfire); or the ultra-rare FF from Puerto-Rico-spec. Herald 13/60 all would be varieties of the 1300.

Re: "Home - bodied" Singer project

eschneider said:

I'm forwarding comments from the owner. Definitely worth sharing. I am humbled by his clarity of purpose and reflections on "what it's all about".

======================================================

The more accepted method [of design] involved the use of old envelopes and beer mats as sketch pads.... The special builder’s ideal [was to try to] incorporate parts from as many sources as possible into one vehicle.”

Click to expand...

So true!! Why even the original Mini was penned on a paper napkin over lunch!!!

Re: "Home - bodied" Singer project

eschneider said:

Doing some research on Singers, a "Nine Lemans" Rear end would be uber sweet, but tricky to execute.

https://www.singercars.com/history/9rep.html

Click to expand...

The Le Mans's are nice and great website (oh wait I am bragging Singercars.com is my site, glad you found it).

Anyway, if that motor is a 1275 or greater watch out the 9 rear axles were the weakest point of the car they will break first time you put the gas to it. Other than that, this looks pretty cool, not a fan of the rear but the rest of the body is very HRG like (some HRG's were Singer powered and were very nice).

I like it

Mike

Re: "Home - bodied" Singer project

JPSmit said:

aeronca65t said:

eschneider said:

Here's an Austin 7 Brooklands "special". (with an actual Austin 7 powertrain)...I love these old crocks.

Click to expand...

Nial - you are my hero! I would love love love to build/ drive something like that. I know a fellow who had the body of the Austin 7 that won either the 1935 or 36 Brooklands outright. He sold it a couple of years ago. Interestingly, the guy who bought it had been tracking this specific car down for about 3 years only to find it 1 1/2 km from his house in Ontario.

Click to expand...

And why why why do things get put in my way when I have neither the time nor the money nor the skill nor even the spousal approval to proceed.

https://toronto.en.craigslist.ca/oak/car/642627297.html

Click to expand...