There are some cars that are so out of reach that I never really bother analyzing how it would be like to own and drive. Because, what’s the point? It’s like imagining how it would be like to own and fly a helicopter, it will never happen in this life time. The Singer was one of those cars. With a minimum of US$500,000 as the entry ticket fee (as at the time of our review), while not impossible to achieve, it is not something I would do as that would require me selling all my toys, and then adding some more, for one car.
Of course, I knew the Singer is a modernized and enhanced 964 – basically what a top-spec 964 would be like if it was made today. However, admittedly, I too used to be on the “for that money might as well just get a brand new GT3RS” bandwagon. And then the opportunity to review one came along, and obviously I was not going to decline.
The Singer we are reviewing today is known as “HK15”, meaning it is the 15th Singer for Hong Kong (which is crazy considering how small this city is). It started out life as a 1990 964 Targa Tiptronic (hard tops are more “common” but Singer do make Targa's – they do not make cabriolets though).
As with all Singers, all the body panels, aside from the doors, have been replaced by carbon fibre panels. The wheels are wide retro-Fuch wheels to go with the widened rear fenders. The brakes are original 993 Turbo brakes which is more than ample for the lightweight car (Singer says they saved 500 pounds from the original 964). For the engine, Singer retains the original 964 block but increased the capacity to 4.0 along with other internal enhancements. As a result, the car has about 390 horsepower now. Singer claims that all their cars would at most only have a 3 horsepower discrepancy as all Singer engines were tuned meticulously. Most Singers have an intake manifold taken from the 997 GT3 which, while it looks great, I always thought it did not look period correct. However, by the time this owner started picking options for his Singer, Singer released their “Velocity Stack Trumpet” intakes which look superb and are much more fitting optically.
There are enough Singer media coverage out there that I don’t need to delve into details about what they do. We all know they do great work and that their motto is “Everything is important”. I will say this though; everywhere you look in the car is a presentation. Everything, like the interior leather, the dials, the nickel-plated rearview mirrors etc. are all presented beautifully and would make a great photo regardless of what camera you use. This is particularly true with the engine bay – surrounded by marine-grade leather to withstand the engine heat. You can pull out the perfectly laid out engine bay and display it in the middle of a living room as an art piece and it won’t look out of place one bit. I don’t believe any of these details, even the miniscule ones, were presented in such a way coincidentally. Everything was intentional and thoroughly thought through – and this is why, I believe the company really lives by its motto that “Everything is important”.
Now on the driving. There is no eloquent way to put this: oh my God the car is AMAZING!!!! The first thing you notice, and the thing that will occupy your senses for the entire experience until well after you have completed your journey, is the sound it makes. Singer took the flat-six engine and just took it to a racing level. The engine sound really reminded me of the 964 Cup racers that raced through the Macau Grand Prix circuit on television back in the 90’s. The clutch and gear changes are easy and feels great and the pedals encourage heel and toe for every downshift. The handling also feels very firm and direct, unlike the stock 964 I tried many years ago which felt rather dull. The suspension is firm but not uncomfortable (which is not surprising as Singer spent a lot of time tuning those Ohlin suspensions). It’s a car that just makes you want to step on it again and again just to get that rush through all your senses, it is a remarkable experience.
And now I am a convert. I understand why people want to buy a Singer, and I certainly would if I had the extra money. The engine and chassis, while enhanced, are still from a classic car and therefore retain the rawness and direct feeling that you no longer get from modern cars. Modern cars are simply too high-tech that it will never be able to give you the same rush and feel.
You may know that I have always preferred Ferrari’s over Porsche’s. However, if there is one dream Porsche that I can have, it would be the Singer…
A special thanks to the owner for lending us his car for our review – I will forever remember such generosity. Also thanks as always to our crew for all their hard work:
Alex (http://www.taipanmedia.com)
Dave (Email: david@lemonadeandgiggles.com)
Alex C. (IG: @nofishshark)
Adhiraj Rathore (IG: @supercarsofhongkong)
IcyJ (IG: @IcyJ95)
See our video review here: