The Singer Ten name was used for several

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...

s produced by

Singer Motors Singer Motors Limited was a British motor vehicle manufacturing business, originally a bicycle manufacturer founded as Singer & Co by George Singer, in 1874 in Coventry, England. Singer & Co's bicycle manufacture continued. From 1901 George S ...

between 1912 and 1949. The "Ten" in the name referred to the taxation horsepower rating in the United Kingdom.

Singer Ten (1912-1924)

The Ten launched in 1912 was a great success for Singer with possibly as many as 6000 being made.Nick Baldwin, A-Z of Cars 1920s, Bay View Books, 1994, page 167 The engine was a four-cylinder unit of 1096 cc initially with side valves but changing to overhead valves in 1923. The three speed transmission was initially located with the rear axle but moved to the centre of the car in 1922 and from 1923 was in-unit with the engine. The chassis had rigid axles front and rear with semi-elliptic

leaf spring A leaf spring is a simple form of spring commonly used for the suspension in wheeled vehicles. Originally called a ''laminated'' or ''carriage spring'', and sometimes referred to as a semi-elliptical spring, elliptical spring, or cart spring, it ...

s until 1922 when they changed to quarter elliptic. Braking was on the rear wheels only. On 11 July 1914,

Beatrice Blore Beatrice may refer to: * Beatrice (given name) Places In the United States * Beatrice, Alabama, a town * Beatrice, Humboldt County, California, a locality * Beatrice, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Beatrice, Indiana, an unincorporated ...

drove a Singer Ten car up the cable track of the

Great Orme The Great Orme ( cy, Y Gogarth) is a limestone headland on the north coast of Wales, north-west of the town of Llandudno. Referred to as ''Cyngreawdr Fynydd'' by the 12th-century poet Gwalchmai ap Meilyr, its English name derives from the Old N ...

, with a gradient of 1 in 3 in places, becoming the first woman to drive up the steep and challenging headland. She was six months pregnant at the time and the drive was a publicity stunt developed by her partner George Wilkin Browne to help sell the cars at his

Llandudno Llandudno (, ) is a seaside resort, town and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located on the Creuddyn peninsula, which protrudes into the Irish Sea. In the 2011 UK census, the community – which includes Gogarth, Penrhyn Bay, Craigsi ...

garage, North Wales Silver Motors. The cars were advertised for sale for £195. A basic version of the car was sold under the

Coventry Premier Coventry Premier Limited owned a British car and cyclecar manufacturing business based in Coventry from 1912 to 1923. It changed its name from Premier Cycles to Coventry Premier Ltd in November 1914. Early Company History The business can tr ...

brand in 1923.

Singer 10/26 (1925-1927)

The 10/26 was an updated version of the Ten. The engine was enlarged to 1308 cc and rated at 26 bhp. Four wheel brakes were added in 1926. The car could reach 50 mph (80 km/h). Around 15,500 were made.

Singer Ten (1931-1932)

The Ten name was revived in 1932 for a small car available as a saloon, 4 seat

coupé A coupe or coupé (, ) is a passenger car with a sloping or truncated rear roofline and two doors. The term ''coupé'' was first applied to horse-drawn carriages for two passengers without rear-facing seats. It comes from the French past parti ...

or 4 seat open tourer. The car was powered by a 1261 cc sidevalve engine with coil ignition. The suspension used semi-elliptic springs front and rear and the brakes were mechanically operated. The number made is uncertain.

Singer Ten and Super Ten (1938-1940)

A new Ten was shown at the 1937 London Motor Show with deliveries commencing in 1938. It had an 1185 cc

overhead camshaft An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion c ...

engine that was essentially an enlarged version of the one used in the

Singer Bantam The Singer Bantam is a car which was produced by Singer from 1936 to 1939. It was the first model from Singer to have an all-steel body, by Pressed Steel Company. It was offered as a new economy model at the 1935 Motor Show in London, replacing ...

and shared its 95mm stroke. It used a

Solex Solex may refer to: * Solex (musician), Dutch musician * Solex Carburetor, a French manufacturer of carburetors and the powered bicycle VéloSoleX * Solex College, a former private for-profit college in Chicago, Illinois * Solex Unit, a fictiona ...

carburettor. Two versions with saloon bodies were available, the basic "Popular" with a three speed gearbox and the Super with four speeds and a remote gearchange.Michael Sedgwick & Mark Gillies, A-Z of Cars 1930s, Haymarket Publishing Limited, Revised paperback edition published 1993, page 179 The Popular had leathercloth seat covers but the Super had real leather and also featured a

sunroof A sunroof is a movable panel that opens to uncover a window in an automobile roof, allowing light and fresh air to enter the passenger compartment. Sunroofs can be manually operated or motor driven, and are available in many shapes, sizes and styl ...

. Although a version with open coachwork was listed in 1939 it is not known if any were actually made. The Popular was not listed in 1939 and the Super gained a chromium-plated radiator grille. The Solex was replaced by a downdraught

SU Carburettor SU carburettors were a British manufacturer of constant-depression carburettors. Their designs were in mass production during most of the twentieth century. The S.U. Carburetter Company Limited also manufactured dual-choke updraught carburetto ...

. The chassis had

beam axle A beam axle, rigid axle or solid axle is a dependent suspension design in which a set of wheels is connected laterally by a single beam or shaft. Beam axles were once commonly used at the rear wheels of a vehicle, but historically they have als ...

s front and rear and suspension by half elliptic leaf springs and hydraulic dampers.Graham Robson, A-Z British Cars 1945-80, Herridge & Sons, 2006, page 388 The brakes used a Lockheed hydraulic system.

Super Ten (1946-1949)

After World War II the car was re-launched in January 1946 with a slightly larger 1194 cc engine developing 37 bhp and a revised gearbox. Only the Super Ten was listed. Exports restarted almost immediately with a shipment to Australia in March 1946. The Super Ten was produced from 1946 to 1949.Michael Sedgwick & Mark Gillies, A-Z of Cars 1945-1970, Haymarket Publishing Limited, Revised paperback edition published 1993, page 179 Post War it was only offered as a 4-door saloon, although in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

a locally-built

tourer Touring car and tourer are both terms for open cars (i.e. cars without a fixed roof). "Touring car" is a style of open car built in the United States which seats four or more people. The style was popular from the early 1900s to the 1930s. Th ...

was also available.Keith Windsor, Australian Used Car Market, Summer 1961 Edition, pages 95 & 96 A top speed of 62 mph (100 km/h) was possible. 10,497 were built. The car was replaced by the SM1500 model.

References

{{reflist Ten