A four-seat tourer model with abbreviated front wings and no running boards called the "Nine Sports" was also made from October 1933, and one of these managed to finish thirteenth at the
1933 24 Hours of Le Mans race. In 1933, celebrating this moderate success, a new underslung racy two-seat model called the Singer Le Mans appeared. It is also worth noting that while the engine was listed as 34 bhp at 4600rpm, this is only theoretical, as the two-bearing crankshaft was not capable of reaching this speed. It was inadvisable to approach 3600 rpm, and not to maintain it under any circumstances. The maximum useable and reliably sustainable output from a two-bearing Nine engine is 28 bhp. For 1934 the front wings were elongated to protect the paintwork on the sides of the car, as the earlier short units were found wanting. For 1935, as the sportier Le Mans gained a four-seater option, running boards appeared on the Nine Sports along with larger doors and a curvier rear end, now nicknamed as the "Long-tail Nine" the Nine Le Mans had a higher tuned version of the 972 cc inline-four, with stronger valve tappets, a thicker, sharply angled camshaft paired with flat-back rocker arms, and a bigger and better cooled cast aluminium oil sump of roughly 2 Gallons in capacity. Power climbed to a sustainable and a close-ratio gearbox was fitted. The Nine Le Mans, while not particularly successful at the track which gave it its name, clocked up an impressive number of wins at hillclimbs, trials, and various endurance races such as the
Liège-Rome-Liège and the
Alpine Cup Rally. The Special Speed also received a tuned engine with twin vertical Solex (30 IF) carburettors, a speed
cylinder head with angled spark plugs, a heavier cast iron flywheel and a counterbalanced web crankshaft. For 1936 and 1937, the Special Speed replaced the Le Mans model. The Replica also saw action at
Brooklands and at the
Donington and
Ulster Tourist Trophies. The replica has a 10:1 compression ratio and various other engine modifications. A steel channel-section streamlined body replaced the ash construction, and Electrum was used instead of cast Aluminium, which, when coupled with the
engine tuning meant a top speed of over . The weight was less than that of a regular Le Mans two-seater. with a lightly tuned version of the larger 1074 cc overhead camshaft engine already seen in the
Bantam Nine, as well as that car's three-speed gearbox.
Singer Commercials singer made a range of commercial vehicles of which only a few examples remain today.
Singer Nine van The singer nine van range was not very popular with only six of them ever produced, only one a 1934 model is known to survive to this day and is still used as a work vehicle for a small company in woodhall spa, Lincolnshire. Recently the details of another singer nine van have been found, this van was scrapped in 1953 after suffering a damaged engine. The whereabouts of other four vans that were produced have never been found and are presumed scrapped at the end of their working lives.
Singer Ten Van The singer ten van was a reasonably well produced model of which only one survives in the Coventry Industrial Museum. Its size meant that the model was useful for many of the team events with the singer racing team. Considering it was a more successful model than the nine van it is intriguing how only one of these models still survives. == References ==