Lot details
Registration No: BBY 403
Chassis No: 5278
Mot Expiry: April 2011

The first Singer car made its appearance back in 1905, and a successful model of the late Edwardian period was the small 4-cylinder 10hp Singer. This light car sold well and also proved amenable to tuning, giving Lionel Martin encouragement to develop his ideas for a high performance small car that was to emerge after the Great War as the Aston-Martin. Then the introduction of the 848cc Singer Junior in 1926, a well-designed small car with an outstanding single overhead camshaft 4-cylinder engine, lifted Singer & Co Ltd to third place in the British market, not far behind the major players, Morris and Austin. 1932 saw a bore increase of 4mm for the engine of the Junior, to 60 x 86mm and 972cc, and the `Nine' was born. This was to prove the most successful of the many - in fact, too many - Singer models offered in the 1930s.

The driving force behind Singer from the 1920s was W E Bullock, a dynamic and forceful personality who did not overlook the growing popularity of the small sports MGs, also with ohc engines, from his rival Morris, and that sporting variants on the Austin 7 chassis were recording significant sales figures. He felt that Singer too must offer a small sports car, and so was born the Singer Nine Sports. This featured the improved 9hp engine introduced late in 1932 that was accompanied by a better clutch and a new 4-speed gearbox with synchromesh on the higher gears. The chassis was improved, and Singer's hydraulic brakes were already a byword. Examples of the new Nine Sports made an immediate impact in the busy and very prominent trials scene of the day, and the model made a rallying debut in the 1933 Monte Carlo Rally in the hands of the Barnes brothers. Stanley and Donald Barnes were Worcestershire garage owners, and very keen competition drivers. They collaborated fully with the Singer company, to the extent that the firm opened its own competition department at the factory in March of 1933 under Stanley Barnes's direction.

Stanley Barnes and Alf Langley drove a Nine Sports in the 1933 Le Mans 24-hour race, and averaged 49.4 mph to finish in 13th place overall, a result that endorsed the performance and reliability of the Singer and was to lead to the Le Mans name being adopted for an uprated 9hp sports model launched later that year. The new Le Mans featured a two-seater body that aped many of the iconic styling features of the MG - the slab tank, humped scuttle and other details, and a lower, double dropped frame gave a more sporty appearance. The engine had also received attention with a larger sump, counterbalanced crankshaft and high lift camshaft. A higher specification version, the Le Mans Special Speed, additionally featured twin SU carburettors, a raised compression ratio and larger valves.

1934 and 1935 witnessed many successes for Singer cars in motor sport events of all kinds. Trials were at a peak in their popularity, with factory prepared and entered teams, as well as many private entries of well developed cars with expert drivers, all enthusiastically taking part. The `Ruddy Team' Singers competed in these events for a number of years, and had new cars for each year. `BBY 403' is reportedly the last remaining car of the 1936 `Ruddy Team' Singers, the other two having had adjacent registrations `BBY 401' and `BBY 402'. `BBY 403' was bought by Robert Sandland, of Claverley in Shropshire. The car was first registered on December 17 1935, and it is a 1936 model, considered to be the most desirable of the various versions as an underslung chassis was now used. The `Ruddy Team' drivers were Sandland, H W Johnson and D E Harris, and `BBY 403' made its debut on the MCC London-Exeter Trial of December 27-8 1935 where Sandland drove his new car to a Silver Award. Other significant results for Sandland and `BBY 403' during 1936 were a First Class Award in the RAC Rally in March; a Silver Medal in the MCC Land's End trial in April, and a First Class Award in the MGCC `Abingdon-Abingdon' Trial in May. This was followed by a Silver Award in the MCC London-Edinburgh Trial at the end of May, then in June, Sandland took part in the RSAC Scottish Rally, finishing in a creditable sixth place in Class 1. With the car comes a list of other events entered by Sandland and `BBY 403' during that year: in the case of some of these, the outcome remains unknown. About a dozen major events are listed and it is likely that a number of lesser events also were included during the year. Still attached to the dashboard is the 1936 RAC Rally competitor's plaque, along with the competitors' plaque from the Scottish Rally.

`BBY 403' has been in the ownership of the vendor's family for 40 years. It was restored in the 1980s, this work finally being completed in the early 1990s when the correct type engine was sourced after much effort. During the refurbishment, we are informed that the central part of the body was completely renewed, but the bonnet and the wings are original. The chassis and other running gear are understood to be original. The paintwork colours were matched with traces of the original exposed during restoration, and the dashboard was remade using the same type wood as that which was originally used. The Singer has only covered 6,500 miles since restoration. It has attended a number of Singer Owners' Club events, winning its class in the concours competition some years ago. It has also ascended the Test Hill at Brooklands, on an occasion when a gathering of 1930s competition cars was organised. The vendor states that the car is in "good" condition with regard to its engine, gearbox, electrical equipment, interior trim, bodywork and paintwork. The Singer currently has a MOT Certificate due to expire in April 2011.

This handsome sports car with a remarkable period competition history has much to offer to the connoisseur of pre-war sports cars.