No, this is not about Tom Jones or Frank Sinatra. Nor is it about the
sewing machines or motorbikes. Today, we are remembering one of the
greatest race cars in the 1930′s. Singer, built right here in Coventry.
Les Vingt-Quatres Heures du Mans, or more simply Le Mans, is the
hallmark of Road Racing. Its name has graced more than a few cars in
over 75 years of automotive history, not the least of which has been the
Singer from Coventry. But occasionally the mystique clouds the meaning
and the memory, leading us to take for granted the essence of the event
and its true relevance to the automobiles that participated. In this
case, I refer to the pre-war Singer Sports, Le Mans and Replicas which
ran with considerable success.
The Le Mans road race was conceived in 1923 by Charles Faroux, a
noted French motoring journalist of the period, who had long been
concerned with the inadequacies of automotive electrical equipment of
the day. Hence, he suggested to two colleagues, the idea of running a
night race in order to stimulate the perfection of these accessories.
The idea gained ready acceptance and support from Faroux’s two
colleagues, Georges Durand, Secretary General of l’automobile club de
l’ouest, and Emile Coquille, Managing Director of the French branch of
the Rudge-Whitworth Wheel Company. The first race took place in late May
1923.
The rules were generally straight forward and stressed the genuine
advancement of touring car development. Competing cars had to conform
strictly to catalogue specifications with fully equipped, four seater
coach work, except in the 1100c.c. class. Tops and side curtains were
mandatory, and after 1925, were to remain erected for twenty laps of the
race. A French observer was heard to remark that at 21 laps, the
majority of these would have collapsed of their own accord.
Le Mans actually consisted of two contests run simultaneously. The
Grand Prix d’endurance was a straight forward long distance affair,
which obviously favored the larger touring cars. Concurrent with this,
however, was the contest for the Rudge-Whitworth Triennial Cup, later to
be renamed the Biennial Cup, designed for the smaller cars which were
run on a handicapped basis.
The handicap system for the Rudge Cup established minimum qualifying
distances for each class to be covered within the 24 hour period of the
race. The qualifying mileage’s were originally rather forgiving, varying
from 503 miles (at an average speed of 21.9 m.p.h.) in the 1100 c.c.
class, to 968 miles (representing an average of 40 m.p.h.) for the
larger 4 Litre cars. These minimums were increased in 1924, so that even
the 1100 c.c. class had to maintain an average speed of 38 m.p.h. over
the 24 hours of the race.
Distance checks were performed every six hours in order to disqualify
automobiles that were not maintaining the prescribed pace early in the
game. Cars 20% below their established minimum distances at the six hour
mark were eliminated. Similarly cars running at 15% below minimum at
the 12 hour mark and 10% at the 18 hour mark were also disqualified. All
those meeting or exceeding their minimums and finishing the race, would
then qualify for the Rudge-Whitworth Biennial Cup. However, the actual
winner of the Cup would be the Marque showing the greatest proportionate
excess above its stipulated minimum over two successive years.
As conservative as the qualifying mileages seemed, there was good
reason for it. Le Mans was, and is, for that matter, a grueling
endurance test and any of a number of factors, such as electrical
failure, faded brakes, engine fatigue or just plain poor driving could
contribute to disqualification. Accordingly, the finishing rate for Le
Mans was not high. In 1929, only ten cars finished out of twenty-five
starters. 1930 saw only nine survivors, and in 1931, a meager six
contestants qualified out of twenty-six. These figures perhaps best set
the scene for Singer’s outstanding performance in June 1933 and their
continued success in the following years.
Those familiar with the pre-war Singer sports models will recall that
the Nine Sports first appeared in October 1932. It was a totally new
car in the Singer stable, unique in design, not having been directly
evolved from any previous production model. It was also built in a
different factory located at Coventry , rather than Birmingham, where
Singer continued to manufacture their other production models.
The Nine Sports was widely accepted by enthusiasts and the press
alike because of its smart appearance and sporting performance. Indeed,
it met with a high degree of success in virtually every motor sport
event in which it was entered. The ultimate test of a car’s mettle, and
its appeal at the retail distributorships, was Le Mans. Singer therefore
set out to establish the worth of their new sports model at the 1933
race.
The vehicle which was entered was virtually stock, with the exception
of a slightly modified gearbox, finer tuning and a larger gas tank
which occupied the car’s entire rear seating compartment. Driven by
F.S.Barnes and A.H.Langley, the Nine became the first unsupercharged
British car under 1000c.c.’s ever to qualify for the Rudge Cup, having
finished intact and maintaining an average speed of 49.4 m.p.h. Never
mind that it placed 13th and last in the race. This was no mean
achievement for a light, inexpensive sports car barely into its first
year of production.
The Singer management , obviously impressed with this achievement,
immediately introduced a Le Mans version of the Nine Sports to be
entered for the 1934 season. This was, in fact, a logical development of
the Sports Nine, but having a more compact two seater body, a greater
capacity slab-style fuel tank and twin spare wheels mounted at the rear.
In the engine compartment, the Le Mans had a supertuned, twin
carburated engine with a fully counterbalanced camshaft and machined
webs. Its high lift overhead camshaft had harmonic cams and the oil sump
was of extra large capacity and ribbed for more efficient cooling.
In addition to the new Nine Le Mans, Singer introduced a 1.5 litre
version with the same coachwork, featuring a large in-line 1493 c.c.,
six cylinder engine. With this impressive lineup, Singer was planning an
all out assault on Le Mans for the 1934 race.
Armed with these two new and competitive models, Singer made an
exemplary showing. The race saw the two 1.5 Litre Le Mans’ take 2nd and
3rd places in the Rudge Cup competition and 7th and 8th places overall.
Of the smaller Nines, Norman Black and J.R.H.Baker came in 15th overall
and placed 1st in the 1000 c.c. class. Wisdom and Barnes came in 18th
and the Gardner/Beloe car placed 23rd.
In the 1935 Le Mans, no fewer than eight 9’s were entered, including a
new Nine Replica, which had a supertuned engine and a more streamlined
racing body capable of over 90 m.p.h. The Singer team again captured a
2nd place in the RudgeCup competition at the hands of Barnes and
Langley, who headed a group of Nines in the 1000 c.c. class, where
Singer finished 1st, 3rd, 4th, 6th, and 7th.
Their mounting successes at Le Mans showed exactly what a worthy line
of vehicles that Singer had been able to produce in a very short period
of time. There was every indication that they could compete in world
class events with the best and win, which contributed to their
increasing popularity in the retail market vis a vis their closest
competitors, such as the MG’s and Rileys.
Singer owners club.
Motorsport is our Passion