Singer Ten History

Launched at the 1912 Olympia motor show, the Singer Ten was a compact four-cylinder light car whose name referred to its UK taxation horsepower rating. Its original 1,096 cc engine, built into the rear axle on early cars, made it small, affordable, and well-engineered for its day — possibly as many as 6,000 of the first version were built before 1924.

The Ten was an early commercial success and helped establish Singer as a serious volume manufacturer. The enlarged 10/26 of 1925–1927 used a 1,308 cc engine and sold around 15,500 examples, by which point Singer was among Britain's largest car makers.

The name was revived for overhead-camshaft cars in the late 1930s (the Ten and Super Ten) and again after the war: the 1,194 cc Super Ten of 1946–1949 produced 37 bhp and managed about 62 mph, selling 10,497 units before being replaced by Singer's new SM-series saloons.