Singer SM1500

Singer SM1500
SM1500 early model before headlamps were raised
Overview
Manufacturer	Singer Motors
Production	1948–1954 17,382 produced
Body and chassis
Class	Small family car (C)
Body style	4-door saloon 2-door coupé utility
Powertrain
Engine	1,506 and 1,497 cc overhead cam
Transmission	4-speed manual
Dimensions
Wheelbase	107 in (2,718 mm)
Length	176 in (4,470 mm)
Width	63 in (1,600 mm)
Height	64 in (1,626 mm)
Chronology
Predecessor	Singer Super Ten Singer Super Twelve
Successor	Singer Hunter (see below)

Singer Hunter
Singer Hunter
Overview
Manufacturer	Singer Motors Limited
Production	1954-1956 4,750 produced
Body and chassis
Class	Large family car (D)
Body style	4-door saloon
Powertrain
Engine	1,497 cc overhead cam
Chronology
Predecessor	Singer SM1500
Successor	Singer Gazelle

The Singer SM1500 is a small family car produced by Singer Motors from 1948 to 1956. The first new design produced by Singer after World War II it was planned to replace their Super Ten and Super Twelve.

Following a minor facelift in 1952 the SM1500 was given a traditional Singer radiator grille in 1954 and in that form known as a Singer Hunter it remained in production until shortly after the business was sold to Rootes Securities at the beginning of 1956. The sturdy Singer engine was briefly installed in a modified Hillman Minx named Singer Gazelle.

Both the completion of a first prototype and a general description of the new unnamed car were announced in November 1947 and an early production car was displayed at the Earls Court Motor Show in October 1948. Singer's first demonstrators were sent overseas at Christmas time 1948. Production finally commenced just before the end of July 1949 with export-only deliveries beginning after that.

The chairman explained to the shareholders' meeting in December 1950 that Singer made no motor vehicles from March 1940 until after the end of the war and for this reason the SM1500 employed and was built using out-dated pre-war technology.

Singer's SM1500 had a pressed-steel body mounted on a separate chassis with at the front a Packard designed coil springs independent suspension built under licence. The brakes were hydraulically operated using a Lockheed system with 9 in (229 mm) drums. The four-speed gearbox had a column change which made it difficult or impossible to select second and reverse. "Many an exasperated driver rammed his knuckles into the mock-wood-painted metal dashboard in the attempt".

The car was almost unique among British volume-produced saloons in featuring an overhead camshaft engine though both Wolseley's postwar cars and the Morris Six MS did also use Wolseley's normal single overhead camshafts. Singer's engine was based on the one used in the Super 12 but with larger bore and shorter stroke, giving a capacity of 1506 cc. From 1951 the stroke was further reduced to give a capacity of 1497 cc to bring it into the sub 1500 class. From 1952 a 58 bhp (43 kW) twin-carburettor version was available for an extra £28. It was reported that the engine block was so tough that the manufacturers were happy to quote 65,000 miles (105,000 kilometers) as a "normal" interval between rebores.