The Singer Nine evolved out of the 1927 Singer Junior which was powered by an 848cc ohc, and became the 972cc Singer Nine in 1932. The Singer Nine Sports used a twin SU version of the 972cc engine and was available from 1932. A trophy in the 1933 Le Mans 24hour race and numerous other victories established the Singer Nine Sports. Eric Neale was working at Singer before he joined Austin and then Wolseley styled a Le Mans-like sports body. From 1935 the Singer Bantam took over from the Nine and was upgraded to a 1074cc engine in 1937. This larger-engined Bantam was the basis for the 1939 Singer Nine Roadster which continued development until 1952. The 1946 A-model of the Roadster was 6-inches longer to make it into a full 4-seater. In 1949 a 4-speed gearbox was given to the export Roadster 4A, whilst a new larger-engined model was prepared with a wider engine bay, revised wings and grille. This was sold as the Roadster 4AB with the old 1074cc 9hp engine, whilst a 1200cc version of the new 1500cc ohc engine went into the rare 4AC. The full-size 1500cc engine was shared with the SM1500 saloon and was given to the Roadster 4AD which could only be bought on export until 1953. A very few SMX roadsters were made with fibreglass body panels, but by this time Singer was falling headlong into the arms of the Rootes brothers.