Thursday 29th December 1955

Singer shareholders decided to accept an offer (£235,000) to become part of the Rootes Group, headed by the ex-Singer apprentice and dealer, Billy Rootes, with the assurance that the Singer name and reputation would be kept alive. At 9 a.m. the next day, Rootes and Singer executives went into conference and within 3 hours handed their designers a brief for a new model – an 80-mph car which was to set new standards of luxury and quality at its price. Just 9 months later the new model, the Singer Gazelle, was announced to the world and the plan had been fulfilled.