NEC CLASSIC CAR SHOW
November 2009

SOC put on another excellent show at the traditional end of year event at the NEC. Six cars, one motorcycle, one bicycle and a Motor Wheel were on display and created considerable interest among the many thousands of visitors to this most popular of shows. Club members manning the stand were kept continually busy responding to visitor's questions.

Cars on display were John Blason's 1933 1½ Litre Four Seater Sports, Bob Francis' 1935 9 Le Mans, Jason Lane's 1934 Bantam, Peter Hart's 1963 Gazelle IIIC, Mick Huntley's 1964 Mk IV Vogue Estate and Simon Worland's 1966 Chamois Sport. The two wheelers were Ralph Kaby's 1903 Motor Wheel and Peter Hart's 3½ H.P. Motorcycle and 1920 Miniature bicycle. No other stand at the show had such a range of products and special mention must go to Ralph Kaby for the number of times he had to answer the question "How old?" with reference of course to his wonderful 1903 Motor Wheel!

Highlight of the event was the Saturday evening Classic & Sports Car NEC Motor Show awards ceremony where Gifford Wright was named as "Club Personality of the Year" for his 30 years as editor of the "Singer Owner".

SINGER NATIONAL WEEKEND
June 2009

2009 SNW was held in the Peak District and based at the Moorside Grange Hotel near Disley. For the first time in the history of Singer National Weekends the 2009 National Day had to be abandoned due to continual torrential rain, which was a great shame as over 80 vehicles were on display and owners had travelled considerable distances to be at Lyme Park. Despite the disappointment the weekend was a great success with challenging routes to the Treak Mine and Castleton on the Friday and the Churnet Valley Railway on the Saturday and over 80 members and guests enjoyed an excellent buffet on Friday evening and over 100 attended the Saturday dinner.

SINGER NATIONAL WEEKEND
June 2008

Three days of excellent weather made for great motoring around Buckinghamshire for all the Singer Owners who took part in the 40th National Weekend. 35 cars took part on Friday with a 50 mile route via the Ivanhoe Beacon to the Museum of Industry and Rural Life at Milton Keynes and the numbers increased to 45 on Saturday for another 40 miles with stops at the Brill Windmill, the Rootes Archive Centre at Westcott and the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre.

110 cars, 4 bicycles, 1 motorcycle and a tractor gathered at Waddesdon Manor for the 40th National Day, a superb display in a superb setting.

LE MANS CLASSIC 2008

30 cars including 24 Singer Le Mans (4 of whom had actually raced at Le Mans) gathered at Le Mans in July for the Le Mans Classic, 24 hours of racing for cars that either took part in the 24 hour races between 1923 and 1987 or cars that are identical to those that took part. The Singers were mainly from the UK but included a number from Holland and France. The Le Mans Classic is held every two years and has become a magnet for Le Mans enthusiasts, over 400 cars took part in the races with 1000 drivers and over 6000 cars on display in the club area. 57 Marques were represented in club displays on the Bugatti Circuit and the Singer Owners' Club received the award for the best display. The Jacque Savoye Singer which competed at Le Mans four times and won the 1 litre Class in 1938 was given a special award for being the most original race car on display and this from a specially selected 24 cars in the 'Heritage Club'.

The SOC event was sponsored by Heritage Insurance with whom the club has had a long association. Heritage Insurance policies can include: Agreed value on Singers, limited mileage discount, Singer Owners Club member discount and reduced rates for vehicle collections. Additionally, cover can also be made available for club track days and historic rallies. Click here to visit the Heritage website.

COMMODORE ON THE BROADS

At the 2007 Singer National Weekend, Sunday morning took everyone to the Waveney River Centre where over 70 cars and bicycles were displayed overlooking the small marina. The only Singer Commodore was launched and showed that even at 70 years of age this superb looking craft still has an excellent turn of speed even if it does have a tendency to leak!

A full report was in the 2007 July/August edition of the "Singer Owner"