Singer & Williams Air-cooled 911 DLS
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 Published On Jan 25, 2020

Hey guys, today this video is a little bit off the wall and from a video I did at the last Geneva show. This is a car I have lusted after since I first first saw in the flesh at Goodwood Festival of speed in 2018. The car is the Singer DLS developed alongside Williams Racing.

Rob Dickinson, a former musician, is the brains behind Singer Vehicle Design. (A re-imagination of Air-cooled 911s of the past). The DLS is the result of a collaboration with Williams Advanced Engineering in order to produce the ultimate, no cost limited, air-cooled 911. DLS stands for Dynamics and Lightweighting Study. The car will be assembled at Williams in Oxfordshire with around 75 examples being produced.

Williams have started by redesigning the front and rear suspension. Williams have also performed a full aero study to optimise every square inch of the car’s surface and subjecting it to an intensive program to ensure every part is optimised from an aerodynamic perspective. The 1973 Carrera RSR, the wide body version of the ’73 RS, was the starting point so the iconic ducktail spoiler had to be a feature of the new car but Williams had to ensure the car produced real downforce combined with a fully functioning, and new, rear carbon diffuser. This combined with the front splitter, also in carbon, meant the car had almost the perfect balance between front and rear, this is real modern day aerodynamics at work. A fully functional flat floor has been introduced to improve downforce without increasing drag. Holy Grail stuff.

The brake system is based on Brembo's CCM-R discs and as found on the Chiron. Michelin agreed to make a unique Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyre, Momo were happy to provide the carbon-fibre steering wheel, the adjustable dampers were sourced from EXE-TC, Hewland worked on the six-speed manual gearbox, and Recaro designed the seats. However the most striking feature of all to my eyes are BBS crafted deep Fuchs-like centre-locking 18-inch magnesium wheels, quite wonderful!

The engine Singer have sourced is a 4.0 liter, air-cooled, naturally-aspirated flat six with four-valve heads revving to 9,000rpm and producing 493 bhp, coincidentally the same as the 2018 991/2 GT3. The engine is fed by two ram air intakes in the rear quarter windows. It’s also a piece of art in magnesium and carbon-fibre, where the pipes are clearly visible through the rear mesh.

Control of the weight ha been a major focus so the finished product weighs 990kg, in no small amount thanks to a body and chassis consisting of carbon-fibre, titanium, magnesium and aluminium. Lightweight mechanical components have also kept the weight low, including the use of magnesium and titanium for the camshafts and cylinder heads.

The interior is quite frankly unique and completely stunning. So for example the rear-facing ‘S’ logo on the rear strut brace, the gold central rev-counter trim and the wood used for the carbon-fibre gear lever, from the 917 racing car. The exposed gearbox is beauty personified, but works too by raising the gear lever closer to the wheel and emphasising the lightweight nature of the components used by showing off the linkage below.

Racing driver, Marino Franchitti, winner of the 12 Hours of Sebring along with Chris Harris from Top Gear have fine honed the development car from a driving perspective. Rob Dickinson adds, as if it were needed ‘what I’ve seen and experienced behind the wheel has made me very excited.’

Prices start at $1.8m and this may well be the DLS's achilles heel. However we wish Singer all the luck in the world at selling the 75 units because this fastidious attention to detail does not come around very often.

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