Hearing the name Porsche, of course what comes to the mind of men is a car with a ferocious engine performance, a cool body design and a fairly expensive price. But, have you ever heard the name Singer?
For some people, the name Singer must be rarely heard or even many people don’t know. In fact, the Singer itself is a tuner or home modification that has been recognized by Porsche. It’s like Mercedes-Benz has AMG, Brabus and Carlsson. Then BMW has the AC Snitzer and the Hamann. Well, Porsche itself has a tuner called Singer Vehicle Design or SVD for short. Singer himself currently serves more for Porsche modifications and restoration. Porsche owners are familiar with this name.
History of Singer Vehicle Design
For those who are really into automotive, the name Singer Vehicle Design is certainly no stranger. However, they don’t necessarily know about the history of this modified house for sure. Robert Dickinson was the first to have the idea to make modifications to his Porsche 911E.
In 2003, Rob’s nickname featured his Porsche under the name The Brown Bomber. Like having a windfall, this man who works as a vocalist has received a very good appreciation from people who see his work.
In 2009, finally Robert founded Singer Vehicle Design with the support of several investors. Rob’s workshop location is located in Los Angeles, California, United States. Even today the location is still there.
This company, which has the motto ‘Everything Is Important’, always tries to provide satisfaction to consumers. They serve requests to customize the interior, engine, body, rim to restomod.
Not Derived from Mechanics
As a musician, Dickinson knew very well that he was not very good at machines. “I’m not a mechanic, but I do have a design and art background,” he continued.
Therefore, he made a method of approaching each consumer by providing accuracy. Rob started thinking about collaborating with several aftermarket companies such as Ohlins and Cosworth.
With Ohlins he teamed up to build custom-valve dampers. Meanwhile, with Cosworth he worked together to build machines. One of the most well-known machines is the 3,800 cc engine that was concocted with Cosworth. For ordinary people, it is quite easy to recognize Singer’s work. Because the Singer has a characteristic body made of carbon fiber and an engine that was rebuilt with Cosworth. Who would have thought, this modification that was initially deliberately carried out by Rob actually gave birth to a new history. It is proven that every SVD work always has a very fantastic selling value. Even Porsche admits the results of the modification and crowns it as the official tuner.
Singer Name Usage
So, why did Rob Dickinson use the name Singer? Why not just use his own name for the whole world to know? Rob prefers the name Singer for one thing. He wanted to continue the baton of Norbert Singer’s hard work.
Norbert Singer himself is a person who has successfully made the name Porsche shine in racing. The project that gave him his name originated in 1979.
Norbert Singer was given the task of modifying the Porsche 935 for the 24 Hours of Le Mans race. The car he was working on was a car that was 15 years old. The result? The car is like a turtle that transforms into a rabbit capable of racing to fumigate his opponents at that time. From then on, Singer began working on projects for the Porsche 956 and 962 which appeared in Group C.
The result was no joke, Singer managed to land 7 titles in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. His work did not stop there. In the 1990s he returned to work on the Porsche WSC project and won victories in 1996 and 1997.
In 1998, Singer became chief mechanic of the Porsche 911 GT1-98. The title was brought back to Porsche headquarters and the title became the 16th trophy for Porsche at the 24 Hours of Le Mans race.
The last trophy was the last trophy for Porsche, because after that the German manufacturer decided to retire from the Le Mans racing event. They retire to focus more on giving birth to the Porsche Cayenne which is being prepared to be born into the World.