It was 1970 and a boy named Rob Dickenson sees a Porsche 911 that forever leaves an impression within that would shape the future of Singer Vehicle Designs. It wasn’t until years later in 2002-2003 that Rob entered the Los Angeles scene and would begin his automotive journey.
The starting line began when he acquired a 1969 911E for $14,000 owned by Hans Lapine. After a bit of joy riding and enhancing the vehicle with his own hands, he surrenders the 911E to TRE Motorsports for an interior and exterior upgrade along with a 1978 3.0L 911SC engine installed by none other than Craig Durfey. The miraculous face lift earned the 911E a knick name to go down in Singer history as “The Brown Bomber.”
In 2006 at an R Gruppe meeting in Monterey, Rob was showing off the Brown Bomber and suddenly had an epiphany. He would combine the look of the brown bomber with the driving dynamics of the SHTang he had driven at the meet. His vision for the ultimate 911 was taking form. What name could possibly capture the awe inspiring dream that laid ahead? Rob decided to pay homage to Norbert Singer an instrumental German engineer that had won Porsche victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Singer would be that name of his ultimate 911 that would tantalize the tongue and be a feast for the eyes.
In 2007, Rob Dickenson secured funding to buy a 911. And in August 2008 the acquisition of a Diamond Blue 1988 Porsche Carrera Coupe, G Series would become the official Singer prototype. The first major component – Jim Patrick of Patrick Motorsports in Phoenix added a 3.8 liter engine. But that clearly wasn’t enough. The mantra, “To distill the elemental strands that made the car iconic, display a flagrant disregard for good enough and turn the dial on everything important up to eleven.” In keeping with this mantra clay sculpting and creative vision began to change the body lines of the developing G Series. By the time sculpting work was done in 2009, the prototype earned its own moniker – “The Orange Car.”
After months and hours of intensive labor, the Orange Car was almost ready for a showcase in Monterey. The finishing touches was a tune up to a 3.82 liter flat six racing Ninemeister engine, a buff and polish, and Singer was ready to make its debut.
In 2009, CFT Films was privileged and honored to join forces with Singer Vehicle Designs. In a never ending quest for perfection, Singer Vehicle Designs requisitioned CFT Films to install a Surface Protection Film that would maintain the clarity and beauty of Singer’s mirror finish paint job from road rash. What Singer found was a product that could not only do the job, but also self healed itself automatically removing scratches and swirl marks.
At Singer, “Everything is Important.” At that philosophy was reflected in their choice of each and every vendor. We are proud to work with Singer Vehicle Designs in bringing forth Rob Dickenson’s ultimate 911!
