Out of Tune?

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In a society recovering from the losses of the Second World War, austerity was the unfortunate order of the day for demobbed Britain in the late 1940s and early ’50s. The war itself and later government measures had the British motor industry in a stranglehold, with the high-end names being hit the hardest.

Although best known today for the good-quality but unremarkable products produced under the aegis of Lord Rootes, the Singer brand in its years of independence bore considerable prestige. The SM1500 was indicative of this when it was first shown in 1948. One of the first cars to borrow from the full-width design of the 1946 Kaiser, the basic principles of the up-to-the-minute styling would soon be applied by manufacturers across the board, with the enveloping bodywork allowing for a car that was roomier than its narrower-bodied rivals but no heavier, in theory making it a more economical prospect.

Sadly, trouble with manufacturing and legislation forced the price of the SM1500 up when it was least congenial to the consumer. The 1500cc overhead-cam engine was sophisticated but in no other way did the car stand out against other middle-management saloons. The end was foreseeable for some time, and in 1956 the Rootes Group consumed the floundering Singer brand into its stable.

Though it may be remembered as a failure, we find praise for the Singer SM1500 in the May issue of The Automobile, on sale now.

Words/Photographs by Zack Stiling.

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