Hi Gang…

Today’s article is from intrepid Singer Motor Car Historian, author, and writer Peter McKercher from Ontario, Canada.  Peter was kind enough to put together a history of Vern Gardner’s BMC Singer sports car and extend what we know about the car.

The photos are from the collection of Dan Nichols, friend of fiberglass and stalwart photographer who gave us permission to use these in our on-going documentation of fiberglass sports car history across America in the ‘50s.  Thanks to both of these gentlemen for making this story possible today.

And away we go:

Vern Gardner And His BMC Singer Race Car:

In its August 1952 issue, Auto Speed and Sport magazine reported “ As a prelude to the Golden Gate Park Road Races (Memorial Day, 1952), the always progressive British Motor Car Company of San Francisco presented their prototype sports car.  To be called the “BMC” it is basically a Singer 1500 with a special fiberglass body.” The car was to have gone into production in the very near future after its introduction.

However, it never did, and the reasons for this have been clearly documented by Geoff Hacker of Forgotten Fiberglass in a couple of previous articles. In short its creator, Kjell Qvale, gave two fundamental reasons for the very brief lifespan of the project. First, he recognized that the nature and scope of such a production was beyond the practical ability of his company to execute and second, he felt that he simply couldn’t compete at the price point MG had established for its very popular MG T series sports cars.

Accordingly, Qvale and his company shelved the project after having completed only one BMC roadster. The car was passed on to Pete Snell soon after its official unveiling on the eve of the Golden Gate Park Road Races. He raced it at least twice, first at the April 1953 Pebble Beach Sports Car Road Race and later, on August 16^th, 1953, at Moffett Air Field.

While Qvale and company only ever completed one BMC, they actually produced a second body, which ended up in the possession of prominent Triumph Motorcycle and Singer dealer, Vern Gardner, of Oakland California. As with many of the sports car dealers of the day, Vern was a keen competitor, seeing track time at a number of popular circuits including Reno, Golden Gate, Stockton and Moffett Field.

He typically drove either his Siata or his distinctively painted blue and white Singer SM 1500C.  With his interest in racing, a successful dealership and an interest in promoting the Singer marque, Gardner had the resources to build the BMC into a formidable speed machine. Where Qvale’s interest lay in the concept of providing interchangeable bodies for small, unmodified British sports cars, Gardner was out to squeeze as much power with the least possible baggage as he could.

This we can see from a series of photos taken by Dan Nichols, a young photographer from the Fifties with a keen interest in racing.  His photos track Gardner’s build of the 2^nd BMC, including a few shots taken at Moffett Field where Gardner gave the car its inaugural run on August 16^th, 1953. He placed 13^th in the 2 ½ hour Distance-Formula race, competing against the likes of Sterling Edwards (Ferrari 4.1), Phil Hill (Ferrari 2.9), Fred Coppel (Osca) and Jon Von Neumann (Porsche 1.5).

Clearly the car performed well against well-heeled and better sorted competition. The build shows us a spanking new Singer SM 1500C chassis, with an Amal quad carburetor setup, used on several occasions by Dick van Laanen and Lammy Lamoreaux. Presumably similar internal modifications, such as the Chet Herbert roller rockers, cam, and flow through head used by Lamoreaux at Bridgehampton 3 months earlier, supported the unusual carburetor setup.

Other visible modifications include the custom banana manifold, a dual exhaust system, an oversized radiator, gas shock absorbers, and a large rear mounted fuel pump.  Gardner chose a colour scheme reminiscent in tone and format of the one used on his Singer roadster. Both cars were run under  the number 116 at Nationally sanctioned races.

Let’s take a look at some of the photos that Dan Nichols sent in of Vern Gardner’s BMC Singer Race Car.  

As with all photos here at Forgotten Fiberglass, remember you can use your mouse to click on the image and make it appear larger on your screen.

Vern Gardner’s BMC Singer Racecar:  Dan Nichols Collection:

Summary:

Here are two photos from Dan Nichols of Vern Gardner’s business truck – a piece of art in and of itself.

We thought you might enjoy:

We’re hot on the trail of finding Vern’s car and we have found the “scent” of another too – which should be BMC’s prototype fiberglass-bodied Singer.  But then again, as we have with the story of John Bond and Strother MacMinn’s LeMans Coupe, there may have been more than just “two” BMC fiberglass sports car bodies built.

Anyone want to go on a fiberglass scavenger hunt in and around the Bay Area of California?

Thanks again to Peter McKercher and Dan Nichols for making this story possible, and sharing it with our Forgotten Fiberglass enthusiasts out there.

Hope you enjoyed the story, and until next time…

Glass on gang…

Geoff

——————————————————————-
Click on the Images Below to View Larger Pictures
——————————————————————-