The Singer Motor Company has roots going back all the way to 1874, where it began in the United Kingdom as Singer & Co manufacturing bicycles, but by the turn of the century, its focus became more centered on car production. In 1939, Singer introduced their Roadster, and it ended up having an impressive run that lasted all the way through 1955. The final version of their Roadster vehicle was known as the 4AD Series, which was produced from 1951-1955, and if you’ve been looking for one of these last generation cars to take on as a project this Singer Roadster Model 4AD would be well worth taking a look at. Located in Orlando, Florida, it can be found here on Craigslist with an asking price of $8,200. Barn finds would like to thank reader Matt R. for his great tip on this one.
While the Singer Roadster’s visual appeal seemed good enough to hold its own, it certainly didn’t hurt that the car was endorsed by Marilyn Monroe, as she was the spokesperson for this vehicle! The Singer being offered for sale here has had some restoration work already started, and overall the body appears to be mostly complete and in surprisingly decent condition. The chrome parts have been sprayed with chrome paint, so they will need to be re-chromed, and although the bows for the convertible top are there the actual fabric is missing. The seller mentions there is some wood rot between the body and frame at the rear, but that the rest of the wooden chassis parts appear to be fine.
Powering the Roadster is a 4 cylinder overhead cam engine which is said to run sweet and smooth. The seller says that the engine block once had a small, hairline crack, but that it has been professionally repaired and the motor has been flushed and filled with new oil and a new filter. The radiator has also been flushed and pressure tested. The transmission is a 4-Speed with the reverse, third, and fourth gears engaging, but the first and second gears are stuck. All of the original tools are said to be present except for the grease gun, and the car also has a new set of Coker tires. Mileage is claimed to be only 7.981.
Although there’s still some work left to be done on this restoration, it looks like a pretty solid project and one that you’d really stand out in with the top down once it’s completed. What are your thoughts on this Singer Roadster Model 4AD?
My thoughts are that a car of this type and age in this condition could be a lot of fun when the remaining restoration is completed.
If someone is looking for a nice restored example – there’s one for sale in a nice musuem in Ragley, CO…
I’ve seen the car – believe they wanted $10,000 for it – (Rangly CO. museum)..but it’s been several months since I was there..may be sold..
There’s a nice, restored example at a musuem in Rangley, CO…
Rattle can primer job what is it covering up and I don’t think I have ever heard of being able to professionally repair a crack in the block and it work still might be a fun project but your going to have to start over.
Have saved many cracked block engines over the years. Most cracks are caused by casting problems on the early cars most of us had, especially the post war European cars. Welded up many Porsche cases including a couple that sort of blew up and damaged the valve lifter area. I’ve got several aluminum and steel transmissions, cylinder heads and engines for our race cars that have repaired structural areas that were repaired years ago. When it’s rare or just hard to find you’ve got to fix it or forget it.
A friend of mine has one of these in Austria. He claims that Singer is the only car to ever win an Olympic gold medal. Apparently there was some sort of race rally attached to the 1936 Olympics that was won by someone driving a Singer much to the embarassment of the mighty German marques. Thats one of the reasons he bought it besides having the same Surname.
Too true Len. This via Google. ” Bought it in 1987 as a “box of bits” it is now fully restored, during the 2012 London Olympics it was on display at the Savoy Hotel which was reported in the Mail Online newspaper.
I seem to remember that these were also known as a Singer Nine, as for the cracked block, my father had a British 6 cylinder Ford Zephyr that managed to throw a conrod and put a hole in the side of the block. He drilled a series of holes in the block around the hole, threaded them and then bolted a patch over the hole. He sold the car about 4 years later, still with the patched block. Ken Tilly. UK
The Singer Nine preceded this model. This is an SM 1500. Cracked blocks can normally be stitched permanently and fairly invisibly. Marilyn was certainly not a spokesperson for the Singer. Frank Worth took a number of shots of her and various other A listers beside a new SM 1500 at the behest of Monroe Gretske, General Manager of Vaughan Singer Motors in Hollywood. Frank and Monroe were good friends.
“The Singer being offered for sale here has had some restoration work already started…” Translation: Someone bought every can of gray primer on the shelf at the Walmart that day! It is difficult for me to consider any work done as “restoration” when it looks like that gray primer covers almost everything except the gauges and taillamps! :(
They bought some black rattle can primer, too!
It’s amazing when you only look quickly, what an initial difference the cheap primer makes. Hides a lot of sins. Just sayin’