On my way home from Canadian Tire I can choose to travel through an older community with mature trees, which is always a wonderful sight in fall even if we do not quite get the same range of color as out east. There is also a chance to see something interesting automotive wise, as the residents often do not own a garage to hide away the often older vehicles they have. What I did not expect was this 1961 Singer Gazelle parked at that curb.
This unexpected fall find sports a rather attractive light blue paintwork with a darker blue accent. The impossible to find brightwork is all seemingly intact as well.
Singer Gazelles are certainly not a common find here but they were sold in Canada and the United States. The last one I managed to photograph was this convertible in a storage yard back in 2008.
The aftermarket wheels and window tint may not be to everyone’s taste but the car looked to be in stock condition otherwise.
It could be Eugene with the missing door card! It looks like this one is getting a little work done behind the dashboard. Perhaps some heater work in preparation for winter? The bench seat is in amazing shape for the year.
I would call this a local car as Calgary is the next city to the north. I have a strange love/hate relationship with dealership badges. The chrome ones can cause rusting and some sticker ones are plain tacky but they certainly add a bit of history and context to an older car. I love finding them on a classic car like this but will not tolerate a dealer attempting to add one on the rare occasion that we buy a newer vehicle. Sadly, there does not seem to be much of a digital footprint left from Kendall Motors.
The Singer Gazelle is a badge engineered sibling to the Hillman Minx and Sunbeam Rapier. Being a mid level variant it was more plush than the basic Minx but less sporty than the Rapier. If the middle section looks familiar and reminds you of the 1950s Studebaker there is a reason for that; the Raymond Loewy design organization assisted Rootes Group designers.
The mechanical specification is pretty standard for the era with independent coil springs at the front and a live axle with half elliptic leaf springs on the rear. The engine is a straight four cylinder displacing 1497cc paired to a four speed manual gearbox.
A few other Curbside Classic worthy cars were parked on the same street. Same owner? A beige Oldsmobile Cutlass and a Pontiac Grand Prix in a sharp blue color.
This Audax Singer was a most unexpected fall find and certainly brightened my day before winter sets in, which will cause most of the classic cars to disappear for a few months. While sold in North America when new there are likely few survivors as nice as this one.
Further reading:
Curbside Classic: 1964 Singer Gazelle – A Once Proud Brand Ends Up As A Tarted-Up Minx
The Loewy connection is interesting. Hadn’t heard that before.
Too bad the influence didn’t flow the other way. Several British cars of that era had vertical grilles on modern front ends, all fairly graceful. Jaguar, Wolseley, Singer. Ford should have followed those examples when it tried the idea in ’58.
Interesting discovery.
The front looks like a Morris, an English style of the time.
I don’t think I have ever seen one of those.
Nice Find! The Motorhome across the street, the Oldsmobile behind, and Pontiac in front of it the Singer would all be good CC’s as well. That neighborhood must be a treasure trove of CC’s
The Singer is certainly a find, but I was more intrigued by your opening sentence, David: “On my way home to Canadian Tire …”. Have you been spending so much time (money) there it feels like home? Or am I missing something?
Perhaps a Freudian slip? Certainly feels like I have spent a bit on parts lately with two of my sons having recently acquired vehicles; 1989 Toyota Tercel and 2002 Saturn SC1 coupe. I meant to say from instead of to. Fixed now.
😀
Great find!
This Gazelle shows the nicest version of the 4 door Minx family. Nicely sculpted front and rear ends, interesting side trim, “luxurious” wood interior. The proportions are very good and I like the little details: headlamp hoods, rear fins, wraparound rear window.
As you I am not a fan of the tinted windows and wheels but so good to see one actually on the road.
The Singer/Minx/Rapier sedans all seem to have an interesting quirk in the rear doors, and it’s not entirely for style. Because the doors are narrow, the back of the window frames have a rather awkward appearance where they’re wider at the top than the bottom.
It looks like the reason may be a trick to fit the window entirely into the narrow door. The window glass, itself, must be of a somewhat trapezoid configuration, as opposed to a simple rectangle, to be able to fit completely into the door when lowered.
In today’s world, a manufacturer would simply stop the glass at a certain point, leaving some of it exposed in the most down position. I think the stated theory is it’s ‘safer’ for children or pets in the back seat but, in reality, it’s just the result of the much more narrow rear doors of today’s vehicles.
The later Audax cars (1963-7) had wider doors and a new roofline and did incorporate a fixed section to accommodate the wheelarch.
https://auta5p.eu/lang/en/katalog/auto.php?idf=Hillman-Minx-V-1600-6376
That later car has something of a Trabant sedan vibe (if Trabant had made a 4-door).
These doors with the vertical shutline and the side window matching the incline of the wrap around rear window used to fascinate me as a child. They are as you said to enable the door window to be wound down.
Mum and Dad’s Audax was a 1957 Hillman Minx convertible, so it didn’t have rear side doors or the finlets or vertical grille. They bought it new when they lived in Germany and used to tow a caravan around Schleswig-Holstein and Denmark to make the most of their time there.
Unsurprisingly, Raymond Loewy was involved with the styling of the Audax sedans, which have an obvious rear door similarity with the 1953 Studebaker sedans. So much so it’s not hard to imagine the Audax being sold in the US as a subcompact Studebaker. Now that would have been an interesting development.
I can only guess that it was Loewy who came up with the side window solution that would work with the Audax’ shorter wheelbase and rear doors. The Studebaker sedans do have a similar kink at the back of the rear window frame but it’s not as dramatic because of the larger doors.
I think that rear side window design is a winner all round.
It eliminates the need for a fixed pane which always makes for a more cluttered look on a 4 door anyway as it always adds another vertical element, it matches the reverse slant pillar style they wanted, cheaper simpler production cost as well probably.
I have happy memories of a comfortably well off family friend who used to visit us when I was a kid, driving an Audax Hillman, she smoked Benson & Hedges cigarettes (British was always best according to our Auntie Elsie) and always took me to the toy store, where she was always surprised when I just chose a Matchbox car instead of something more expensive.
Owning this i guess you have to put up with the jokes of it having a sewing machine under the hood
There are definitely worst insults than that though.
Excellent! There were a fair number of Audax Rootes cars around in the early-mid ’60s, as they had sold quite well. Most were Hillman Minx, but there were a few Singers and the occasional Sunbeam. Light blue seems to have been the most common color for them, but I could be wrong.
That’s a fantastic find David. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Singer Gazelle.
Think how much Calgary has changed since that car was sold new. In 1961 the population was 280k, now it’s 1.7m
I grew up in Calgary and used to live there until seventeen years ago. We visit quite often but it is not the same place I used to live in. No longer home for sure. I cannot imagine the changes since 1961.
Great find! There’s no way I would have recognized what this car if I’d seen it.
I agree with you about having a love/hate relationship with dealership badges. I always remove them from my own cars, but I love finding them on old cars.
Regarding Kendall Motors, it looks like they operated from 1957 (when they took over an existing business called Rooney’s Garage) until 1967. They didn’t just sell Rootes products, and just a year before going out of business, Kendall picked up an American Motors franchise… I guess that didn’t work out too well.
The business was located at 1415 1st St. SW – long gone now, but after Kendall left, that building housed Halford & Valentine Volvo until the late 1990s.
Here’s a Kendall Motors ad featuring a Singer Gazelle:
Nice find to be able to dig up all the information on Kendall Motors. Your search skills must be better than mine.
Interesting that the AMC sales only lasted a year. Valentine was definitely a common name to see in the 90s. I believe they sold a few other higher end imports beyond Volvo various points. They are still around – https://www.valentinevolvo.com/about-us/
Here in Cornwall (England) these survived into the seventies and in a few cases the eighties. The Minx was also most common often grey as I recall. One that I remember was black, driven by a old couple. Husband in the front diving wearing a suit, tie and trilby hat, his wife in the back in the opposite corner wearing a coat with a fur collar and pillbox hat. They came into ‘town’ Lostwithiel (pop 1800ish in the late seventies,worth a google) for their weekly shop. At the time ther were Ford & Vauxhall dealerships, three butchers shops, a fishmonger, greengrocers, and general grocers together with other shops. Like the old couple and their Minx these are all pretty much gone . People go to superstores in other towns or take deliveries now. Good to see an Audax in the wild though.
Mr Saunders, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do a writeup on that 2002 Saturn coupe(is that the one with a suicide rear door on the pass side???
I love the first and 2nd gen Saturn “s cars” Grew up 10 miles north of the Saturn factory in Spring Hill TN. You wouldnt believe the amount of change and growth that factory had in our area. About every third car in the parking lot in my high school was a damn Saturn, circa 2002 or so. Plus I thought they were kinda quirky/cool looking cars, the 5 speed ones were a riot to drive on a twisty back road.
I think I can probably do it that.
It is the three door coupe. A pretty basic example, sadly automatic transmission and base SOHC engine.
I do not have a whole lot interesting to say about my particular example at this point. I bought it mostly as a car for my son to take his driver’s test in as my car is a stick shift. He can functionally drive a manual but taking the test in our with the hill parallel parking is probably a little tough. I realize people from other countries do.
They do look quite interesting and I could see how a 5spd one would be a lot of fun.
This has been up all day, yet our #1 Hillman fan hasn’t commented yet.
Bryce, you feeling okay mate….?
I owned this car in 1964 and I had alot of engine problems. i rebuilt the engine twice. Like most British cars, this engine had an oil problem and the crank shaft was the part that failed each time.
Quite a find I suspect for Canada, and would be here (England) too.
Rootes bought out Singer in 1956, mostly for the factory capacity and dealership network. The Audax Gazelle was the first Rootes Singer, and initial versions (1956-58) used the Singer OHC 4 cylinder 1497cc engine. Later, visually practically indisguisable, models used the OHV 1494cc and from 1961, 1592cc Rootes (so Hillman and Sunbeam) engine.
Estate cars were also offered; they had a very different squared off rear door window profile with a fixed quarter light. There was also a Mark V, with a taller squarer roof line, no fins, calmed down 2 tone inset, and, again, paired directly with a Hillman Minx.
Dad had a dark green Minx Series V, from 1964.
Looks nice, 1400CC should have propelled i okay if no ball of fire .
I greatly miss all those LBC’s in the 1960’s .
-Nate
I love a good Audax, and that comfy red leather adds to the allure this one has to me.
I fitted Gazelle seats to my 59 Minx much more comfy than the originals, none of the trim us the same as Minx, the trim is easy to get the clips to attach it, gold dust,
I grew up in Toronto and I don’t remember seeing many (if any) Singers. A neighbour had a Sunbeam Rapier convertible. Which was quite unusual. When my dad was at university in the 1930s one classmate drove a Singer. I have no idea what model it was, but it was a roadster.
Nice find one of the several Audax Rootes cars Ive owned was a 61 Gazelle in green same interior as the posted car but with floor shift no optional overdrive but did have the optional twin carbs, ball of fire no, but one of those engines modified in a 59 Minx took out the inaugural saloon car championship in NZ as it was faster around race circuit’s than among other things a factory prepped 3.8 Jaguar and some Zephyrs, that Humber 80 still exists here but that Jaguar was restored and is now back in the UK it is a special Jag and fast,
A NZ company used to manufacture speed equipment for these cars, its rare to see any of that stuff these days except when I open the bonnet of my wagon.
Not particularly rare in NZ yet, but curbside no most are tucked away out of the weather or sitting in wrecking yards or paddocks,
I had a one of these decades ago in green but mine was floor shift and though rust free was pretty beat up having been rolled twice, it drove just fine but draughty in winter so I sold it.
There used to be locally made speed equipment for Hillmans to wake them up, its difficult to find any these days I have some and had a choice of inlet manifolds for my current classic so its capable of speeding tickets now.