1935 Singer Nine TT Team Car
1 of 4 works team cars built for the 1935 Le Mans and Tourist Trophy

Registration No: AVC 482
Chassis No: 62797
MOT: Exempt

• One of four specially-constructed Singer Nine team cars built for the 1935 racing season
• First raced by Norman Black and Roddy Baker at the 1935 Le Mans, returning in private hands for 1937, '38 and '39
• Part of Singer's winning team in the 1935 British Empire Relay Race at Brooklands
• Participant in a momentous but ill-fated battle for the 1,100cc class in the Ards T.T.
• Offered from over 30 years of single-family ownership and believed to retain its original engine block and gearbox

In 1935, Singer decided to focus its racing efforts on creating a radical 9hp design with which to contest the Ards Tourist Trophy. The Irish event's ban on supercharged entries and intricate handicapping system made it particularly attractive to their Works Manager Stanley Barnes but he remained committed to the Le Mans 24-hours too. Road registered as 'AVC 481', 'AVC 482', 'AVC 483' and 'AVC 484', the new Singer Nine TT Team Cars utilised a bespoke chassis frame equipped with all-round semi-elliptic leaf-sprung suspension, heavy-duty Andre Hartford friction shock absorbers, four-wheel hydraulic drum brakes and an underslung semi-floating rear axle. Powered by the marque's jewel-like 972cc SOHC four-cylinder engine allied to four-speed close-ratio manual transmission, the quartet were reputedly capable of over 100mph.

Stanley Barnes took all four 'AVC' cars to France for the June 15th-16th 1935 Le Mans 24-hours (though, 'AVC 484' only went as a spare). Allocated ‘AVC 482’, Roddie H. Baker and Norman Black were running strongly in the sub 1.5-litre class until starter motor issues forced their retirement at 8am on Sunday 16th June. ‘AVC 481’ withdrew too leaving Stanley Barnes and Alf Langley to nurse an ailing 'AVC 483' to 16th place overall and 2nd-in-class behind the MG K3 of Philippe Maillard-Brune and Charles Druck. Just over a month later, three TT Team Cars entered the LCC Relay Race at Brooklands on July 20th 1935. By averaging 85.13mph over 90 laps, the Singers not only won the race outright but also lifted the MG Challenge Trophy and Wakefield Cup. Spirits were thus understandably high ahead of the September 7th 1935 Tourist Trophy race with Barnes opting to run all four TT Team Cars; the first and last time that the quartet would compete together. Failing scrutineering due to the use of a non-production steering gear layout, the Works machines were hurriedly modified by the marque’s Belfast agent and cleared to race.

Once the event got under way, S.C.H. ‘Sammy’ Davis led the Singer charge aboard ‘AVC 484’ managing to overtake F.H. Davis’s FIAT (the only class rival keeping pace) via a judicious over rev. However, defeat was snatched from the jaws of victory when steering gear failure afflicted three of the ‘AVC’ cars at the same corner, Bradshaw’s Brae. The fourth – ‘AVC 481’ - was judiciously withdrawn on safety grounds. Thankfully none of the drivers were injured and eager to minimise the ensuing negative publicity, Singer closed its Competition Department at the end of the season; a move which prompted Stanley Barnes to begin working for Autosports Ltd full-time. A joint venture between the Barnes brothers, the North Worcestershire-based Autosports outfit wasted little time in purchasing the four TT Team Cars together with their associated spares. Enjoying a degree of tacit Works support, the Barnes brothers continued to campaign the rejuvenated 'AVC' racers at a variety of high-profile meetings.

‘AVC 482’ returned to active competition before any of its siblings tackling the Shelsey Walsh hillclimb just weeks after the TT (albeit with a crude replacement body). Regaining its streamlined alligator tail for three further assaults on the Le Mans 24-hours, the diminutive sports racer was piloted by Freddie de Clifford / Roy Eccles (1937), John D. Barnes / Thomas H. Wisdom (1938) and Thomas Arhcie C. Scott / Thomas H. Wisdom (1939). Although, it never took the chequered flag at La Sarthe there are very few cars which can claim to have contested four Le Mans 24 hours! Dusted off after World War Two, the Singer became a privateer entrant at club level events. Lining up alongside Archie Scott Brown and his tuned MG TD for the second ever motor race at Snetterton on April 26^th 1952, ‘AVC 482’ was unable to prevent the future Lister Works driver from recording his maiden victory.

Extensively restored prior to entering the current family ownership some thirty years ago, the ex-Works Singer is believed to pleasingly retain its original engine block and gearbox. Campaigned sporadically at the likes of Oulton Park, ‘AVC 482’ has otherwise enjoyed a peaceful retirement. Potentially eligible for some of the world’s most prestigious historic race meetings, the Nine possesses a current V5C Registration Document and could thus be used on the road too. Offered for sale with a history file and large spares package, it is the first ‘AVC’ car to come to open market since we sold ‘AVC 484’ for £135,000 during 2010.

For more information, please contact:
Angus Fender
angus.fender@handh.co.uk
07943584762

Condition Report

ECMC Snetterton Circuit 1952