Pre-War Singer Races for Prada!

[Phillip]

Well, there are some weird movies out there in Youtubeland!

Here's one made for Prada, of all brands, written and directed by Wes Anderson @2013. Anderson is noted for his vivid use of colour and his quirky projects such as The Grand Budapest Hotel and the Fantastic Mr Fox.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b87B7zyucgI

This one is called PRADA presents "CASTELLO CAVALCANTI" a roughly 8 minute short about an unlucky American / Italian driver who crashes in a small Italian town during the "Molte Miglia".

Wes Anderson shows his particular good taste in cars in this film because it features a 1936 Nine Sports 4 seater!

Singer in Prada Short Film.jpg (136.11 KiB) Viewed 5086 times

The film is very much in the style of other 'soft promotional shorts' like the Gentleman's Wager" series by Johnny Walker ( love the one with the Delahaye 135 ) and "The Good Italian" shorts by Caruso. All worth looking up during our lock-down hiatus.

Come to think of it, the Singer looks like it could be NASOC's own David Kellogg in Charlotte! LOL!

[John Simister]

I am 99% sure I used to own that Singer. The owner-but-one after me was Italian and the Singer lived there, without ever losing its UK registration. It returned to the UK in 2013. I owned it from 1988 to 1995 and did various trips to France and Ireland. It became a good sound car during my ownership, if far from a concours one, and it went very well. As it seems to be doing in the film.

John

[John Simister]

And now I have bought it back! I collected it yesterday afternoon. Lots of work to do but it will all be highly enjoyable.

Here's a pic of it loaded on the trailer ready for the journey home. Wheels are now silver following a recent refurb.

[Phillip]

Fantastic news John!
And welcome back to Singerland!
I look forward to regular updates in Octane, one of my favourite monthly reads...

[mikeyr]

congratulations on getting the car back, lots of these wonderful cars going under the wrench and spray guns these days

[John Simister]

Thanks for the encouragement. First job is to get it running properly so I know what needs fixing and what doesn't, then the renovation and beautification begins. It doesn't need a restoration as such, just a lot of cleaning, detail refinishing and debugging. And reset the rear springs so the axle doesn't hit the chassis on rebound, and fix a crack in the block. That means dismantling the engine and possible laser welding.

[Phillip]

I'd be very interested to hear what the opinion on new tech solutions like laser welding is for use on Singer blocks. Traditionally cold metal stitching has been considered the only viable method.

Good luck in with the project John....it looks like a fun one!