Dutch bulb trader in a mystery car

This could be one of the last pre-WWI specification Singer 10-h.p. Light Car Phaeton’s made for private sale before all Singer factory output was requisitioned by the Ministry of Munitions, mid-1915. The company’s annual reports said the factory was not released from munitions work and perhaps government car orders too, until September 1919.

As well as munitions, they supplied a military version of the car, “the Army Officer’s Favourite”, which was widely used in Belgium and France. These were lower-geared (max. 40 M.P.H.) and khaki with black wings. Some new Singer Light Cars, presumably with updated specifications, were made available throughout the war years for private sale to key workers who held a permit from the government.

This probably 1914-15 model has the “3-1-1-1-3” pattern of paired rivets along the bonnet side seam, which were clearly depicted by artists in Singer’s advertising illustrations. For 1915, the radiator and bonnet were reshaped as per this one and the tail was later enlarged for the dickey seat. This one appears to have a 1914 short tail with a spring 1915 radiator/bonnet. Basic models were painted Elephant Grey or Stone Grey.

It was made before November 1919 when Singer were one of the first to fit Triplex Safety-glass to a new horizontally-split windshield that replaced the raked one-piece. Post-war Singers for unrestricted private sale were advertised “available to order” from January 1919 but possibly not deliverable until after August.

I thought it was a Swift?

The car bears some similarities with "Brennabor" cars from c.1910 which were made in Brandenburg (Germany). Distinctive features are the shape and the position of the handle in the middle of the engine hood as well as the very sober design of the front wing. Perhaps this car was equipped with a more modern body later.