Our Prime Find this week is a very distinguished middle-class gentleman’s car from the early 1960’s, the kind you seldom see these days at shows but from a manufacturer that despite having faded from view as long ago as 1970, still has a strong and loyal following, and a thriving owners’ club.
The Singer name is one of the oldest in motoring history, originating as a bicycle manufacturer founded by George Singer in 1874 in Coventry – a city that also included Triumph, Jaguar, Sunbeam, Hillman and Humber among its motor-car manufacturers – before starting to build cars from 1901 as the Singer Motor Company, initially as tri-cars before making their first four-wheel car in 1905, a variant of a Lea Francis design.
The first Singer-designed car was built in 1906, and the company continued making small or light cars until the outbreak of WW1, during which production was suspended. On resumption, Singer’s sales began to increase steadily, and they also got increasingly involved in motor-sport, with a Singer 10 setting the Brooklands lap record in 1921 at 74.42 mph (119.77 km/h), having already successfully contested hill-climbs for a number of years.
Over the next four decades Singer continued to do well, at one stage being the third-largest motor manufacturer in the UK. However, by the mid-1950’s Singer found itself in increasingly difficult financial circumstances, and in 1956 the company was acquired by Rootes Brothers; from then on Singer cars effectively became badge-engineered versions of various Rootes models, generally slotting into the range between Hillmans and Humbers, and less sporting than Sunbeams.
I don’t think it’s unfair to say that our Prime Find this week, a 1962 Singer Vogue Series 1, is as staid and conventional – respectable, even – a three-box saloon car as you could buy in the early 1960’s – certainly, if you contrast it with the Panhard CT24 we featured recently, it’s particularly unadventurous.
However, our mantra here at ViaRETRO is that “any classic is better than no classic”, and one of the joys of a relatively mundane car such as this Singer is that it can be bought and run without breaking the bank. Indeed, this one, coming up for auction with Anglia Car Auctions in a few weeks’ time on April 4th, carries an estimate range of just £5,750 to £6,750.
The Singer Vogue was introduced in 1961 as effectively an upmarket Hillman Super Minx, as both a saloon and an estate car, and as ever with badge-engineered models, it’s the details that give them their identity. In this case, modest tail-fins and quad headlights set in a stylish front end separate the Vogue from the Super Minx and indeed its sister model, the Singer Gazelle.
From the front, it also looks very similar to the Humber Sceptre, also based on the Super Minx – in fact, it’s quite difficult to tell them apart with just a glance, but the Sceptre has a lower roofline and different rear treatment, but the differences overall are subtle.
Humber Sceptre……Singer Vogue – spot the difference
“Our” car comes in a flattering maroon and grey paint finish and a pale grey leather interior, and I think it looks pretty smart. The fascia is finished in a typical for its time walnut veneer – which is also to be found on the door cappings – and contains an equally typical horizontal strip speedo; it’s a very civilised place to sit, without being overly luxurious.
The engine is a 1592cc four-cylinder that produced 66bhp back in the day, enough to push the car to a maximum speed just shy of 85mph. Later versions of the Vogue were upgraded with the Rootes’ 1725cc engine, shared with various models across the company’s range.
The car looks to be in good order and has barely been used for most of the last 18 years, having been a museum exhibit at the Pembrokeshire Motor Museum. It was recommissioned last year and is for sale only because the previous owner has passed away. Since 1962 it has had just four owners and the mileage of 77,700 is warranted, so there’s a lot of life in this old girl yet. It’s described as a great example that drives superbly, and while it’s not a car for me, it’s not hard to see its appeal, especially in this condition and with such a low mileage, but not so low as to discourage using it.
It would certainly make a fine entry-level classic and it’s not as if there are thousands still around – indeed, just 192 examples of the four series of Singer Vogues remain in the UK, and I would imagine that the Series 1 is the least common. Nevertheless, as previously stated, there is a strong owners’ club to support the car, and it’s sure to attract some admiring glances from those that know.
As is our usual practice, we have borrowed some photographs from the auctioneer’s website – it’s worth pointing out that at the time of writing the auction is still going ahead, and the ACA have made some additional provisions to work around the current virus crisis that is affecting everything we do, and as always, we highly recommend having the car inspected if you are interested in it.
With our Saturday instalment of Prime Find of the Week, we’re offering our services to the classic car community, by passing on our favourite classic car for sale from the week that passed. This top-tip might help a first-time-buyer to own his first classic, or it could even be the perfect motivation for a multiple-classic-car-owner to expand his garage with something different. We’ll let us inspire by anything from a cheap project to a stunning concours exotic, and hope that you will do the same.
Just remember – Any Classic is Better than No Classic! We obviously invite our readers to help prospective buyers with your views and maybe even experiences of any given model we feature. Further to that, if you stumble across a classic which you feel we ought to feature as Prime Find of the Week, then please send us a link to primefindoftheweek@viaretro.co.uk