1967 Singer Gazelle Saloon

Offered as part of the Rootes Arrow range, which included the London-Sydney Marathon Hillman Hunter, the Gazelle sat between the otherwise quietly respectable Hillman and the sporty Sunbeams. A strong car then, with good backup and spares from the club and giving just that little bit more feel of luxury certainly within the cabin, where there was wooden dashboard and comfortable seating. Production ended for Singers in 1970 but the name lives on and will heard in competition circles to this day.

There were two engine options available for the Mk VII Gazelle, this one having the 1496cc unit and desirable manual gearbox, and obviously a great registration number too! The first recorded keeper of HOT 458E was a Mr Benjamin Foote of Swanage, who purchased the Singer in 1977. In 1991, the motor car became available through Cottees (Bullock and Lees) of Wareham and the late Cedric Sansom purchased it there for £165. From correspondence included in the file, we understand that during the mid-Nineties, the car was partially resprayed and fitted with a new exhaust system and clutch slave cylinder. At some point, a replacement Hillman Hunter Mk II type radiator grille may possibly have been fitted. Mechanically, the Gazelle was clearly maintained well by Mr Sansom; it was placed on SORN in 2013 and as there are no further documents for the car from that point, we presume that it has spent the last nine years in storage. It will therefore require recommissioning and a new battery before returning to the road. Cosmetically, the Singer is in good order, and it has a lovely, time-warp interior; it’s a rare car these days and certainly an example as original as this would be hard to find.

The history file includes the Cottees bill of sale from 1991, invoices from the Nineties and Noughties, DVLA and other (aforementioned) correspondence, a continuous set of MOT test certificates dating from 1990 until 2011, a large number of road tax discs ranging from 1991 to 2012, two V5 documents, the V5C registration certificate and its replacement.

Auction Date: 8 September 2022