The Motor YEAR BOOK, 1954     BRITISH CARS OF 1953     SINGER SMX ROADSTER

Singer Motors Ltd. made automobile history in 1953 by being the first British manufacturers to announce a production model with a body shell constructed entirely of plastic. Known as the Singer SMX Roadster, the new car is an additional model to the normal-bodied Roadster which will be continued in production without alteration.
The attractive new body, indistinguishable externally from a metal body, is constructed from glass fibre reinforced polyester resin and consists chiefly of two big mouldings. The front moulding extends from the radiator to the scuttle and includes the front wheel arches which are moulded separately and then bonded to the main moulding. This whole assembly is hinged on the front cross-member and tilts upwards and forwards to give full access to the engine. The rear moulding extends backwards from the trailing edges of the two doors and includes the back wings, the rear decking of the body, the luggage and spare wheel compartments and the boxes to receive the hood irons. Additional mouldings comprise the two big doors, the scuttle and the facia panel complete with glove boxes.
The body is strengthened by two hoops of drawn mild steel tubing, one beneath the scuttle and the other to the rear of the back seat, and by additional tubing incorporated in the rear moulding. These tubes are bonded to the body and the two hoops end in flitch plates which are then bolted to the chassis. The ribbed light-alloy floor is also bonded to the body shell.
Full four-seater accommodation is provided by the new body, which has twin bucket seats in front and the normal bench-type rear seat, whose squab is tilted forward to give access to the luggage compartment in the tail. The spare wheel is carried in the floor of the luggage compartment and roofed over by a plastic cover. Even the door giving access to the petrol filler cap is a small plastic moulding.
The only alterations to the chassis are the fitting of 5.50 x 15 tyres instead of the 5.00 x 16 employed on the standard Roadster model, and an increase in the capacity of the petrol tank from seven gallons to 10 gallons. The entire production of the SMX Roadster is to be exported. The new model is expected to weigh about 1-1¼ cwt. less than the standard Roadster.