Singer Nine "Le Mans" Savoye Special(15209998695)

Singer Le Mans Savoye Special

• Reg Number: TSV 941
• Chassis Number: 5246
• Engine Number: 6016
• Cc: 972
• Body Colour: Blue
• Trim Colour: Blue / Black

Appreciating that some of their customers clamouring for the performance of the company's Le Mans model also required more than two seats, Singer introduced a limited run of four-seater examples during the 1935 model year. Effectively a hybrid of the Le Mans and the 9 Sports, they featured upswept cowl scuttles and a streamlined (`Long') tail. It was from the wreck of one of these that Frenchman Jacques Savoye built his renowned `Savoye Special', that is now offered for sale. Savoye started importing British cars to France in 1934 and was appointed agent for both the Morgan and Singer marques. Singer Le Mans Chassis 5246 was purchased by Savoye after being written off in an accident with a lorry. He straightened the chassis, salvaged all the usable parts and set about modifying the car for competition. In order to extract more power from the little 972cc OHC engine, he reworked the cylinder head, lightened the connecting rods and raised the compression ratio to in excess of 10:1. Thinking ahead, he acquired a range of rear axle ratios to suit different circuits. He also fashioned his own streamlined body in the fastback style of the day - it was constructed from aluminium over a lightweight wooden frame. By devoting all his spare time to the project, his `Savoye Special' was finally ready to race by the end of May 1937 and was duly entered for the Cote d'Ars event. Still in bare metal, it achieved the fastest time in the up to 2,000cc class.