Taking the DLS as its starting point, the DLS Turbo is far and away Singer Vehicle Design’s most outlandish restoration yet. With more than 700bhp from a twin-turbocharged version of the DLS’s bespoke four-valves-per-cylinder flat-six, it’s also Singer’s most powerful restoration to date.
Singer has drawn inspiration from the long history of the Porsche 911 before and so it is with the DLS Turbo, which pays tribute to the 934/5 racer from 1977.
That car with its impossibly wide rear arches, towering wing and turbocharged engine was built for the North American IMSA championship but not allowed to race. Instead it competed in the rival SCCA Trans Am Series, winning six of the eight races. In track configuration the DLS Turbo has similarly distended arches and an equally prominent rear wing, although in road specification the car features a more modest front splitter and a smaller ducktail rear spoiler.
However it’s specified, viewed from behind or above the sheer width of the DLS Turbo is something to behold. Is it pretty like other Singers? No, but you just know it’ll snap necks wherever it goes. Singer founder Rob Dickinson says he can still remember the shock of seeing a 934/5 on film for the first time, recalling its ‘impossibly boxed hips, gaping intakes, and giant double-planed rear wing’. He’s wanted to pay tribute to that car since Singer began.
Owners will be able to switch between track and road configurations by swapping the front fascia and rear decklid assembly. Peak power arrives at 9000rpm, meaning the DLS engine has lost none of its top end reach even as it replaces natural aspiration with forced induction. Power is sent to the rear wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox. Track-optimised suspension and Michelin Cup 2 R tyres are available for owners who plan to use their cars on circuit.
Singer is being very coy about the cost of a DLS Turbo and how many restorations will be commissioned, saying only that prices ‘are dependent on the requests by each car’s owner’ and that numbers will be ‘limited’. Nonetheless, buyers should expect to pay rather more than the $1.8m Singer charged for the original DLS. This new DLS Turbo will make its public debut at next month’s Goodwood Festival of Speed.
