Daily Slideshow: The magic of a test mule vehicle is somehow built in the inherent nature of itself. Designed with only practicality in mind and fashioned together with the same veracity as a backyard mechanic making his creations come to life, the impiety of seeing one sometimes feels sacrilegious, if not just a little bit naughty. The Singer-Williams DLS test mule is an exact delineation of what it's like to get a peep backstage at a burlesque show.
Test Mules
Test mules are arguably the best application of vehicular design one can find. The Mad Max burlesque of the donor car with parts slapped on with zero care of appearance or practicality. The “just make it work” attitude is pragmatic and functional, rather than beautiful. There is something to be said about knowing a top-notch car is hiding under a harlequin sleeper car, because the less time setting the car up, the more time you can spend testing.
Photos courtesy of Jordan Butters
Hidden Gem
Last year, Luftgekühlt 5, an LA-based air-cooled Porsche show, had made its way over to the UK and some very special appearances were there. Despite the very British weather, there was a great show out. But the hidden gem was the Singer’s test mule for the Singer Vehicle Design DLS Goodwood. Under the mismatched fiberglass fender flares and holes drilled in the hood sits a 500 horsepower engine breathed on by Williams.
>>Join the conversation on the Singer DLS Test Mule right here in Rennlist.com.
The Ugly Duckling
This test mule brings all that technology into a hodgepodge platform designed for testing. The car is or course, subjectively ugly. But objectively, it is beautiful. Everything about the car makes me smile, and knowing that it wasn’t made that way to look cool, spark interest, or even make sense, makes it that much cooler.
>>Join the conversation on the Singer DLS Test Mule right here in Rennlist.com.
Holes in the Hood
There are holes covering the car everywhere from different testing equipment being mounted on the car at one point or another. There are mounting points from a light bar on the hood, and from Bosch ESP system when they were testing on a frozen lake in Sweden. Every drilled hole tells a story. It's funny, you never really know you’re in a memory until after the moment is gone.
>>Join the conversation on the Singer DLS Test Mule right here in Rennlist.com.
Sensors Everywhere
When you first look at the car, it looks like an unfinished project. “Why did someone bring a half-finished car to Luft GB?” But the more you look at the car, the more the parts start to show themselves. There are temperature sensors taped all over the car. Scars, where temperature sensor stickers were once placed on the exhaust, are evident, presumably, the stick on thermometers are meant to go that high in the temperature range.
>>Join the conversation on the Singer DLS Test Mule right here in Rennlist.com.
Fender Flares
The fiberglass fender flares are slapped on for legal reasons. The wheels have to be covered and cannot be sticking out from body panels, and with the bespoke Fuchs-style 18-inch forged magnesium BBS center-lock wheels. The fenders are absolutely destroyed with rock chips from the rigorous testing and also host a side intake with an oil cooler that didn't make it onto the production car.
>>Join the conversation on the Singer DLS Test Mule right here in Rennlist.com.
Odds and Ends
Other odds and ends can be seen outside as well. A massive rear duck spoiler, very similar to the one that made it onto the production car, is mounted on the rear deck lid. A curious medal panel covers the roof, possibly a quick fix for a sunroof, or for added weight distribution that would be seen on the production model. Who knows. Sensors are still seen taped down in parts of the car, producing digital readouts of what makes a Singer such a great car.
>>Join the conversation on the Singer DLS Test Mule right here in Rennlist.com.
Peeping Inside
Slide up to the windows and you can see electrons scattered everywhere. Mounted to whatever will hold them. Buttons and exposed wires tell the true story of what it’s like to drive a test mule such as this on a regular basis, and the ergonomics forged by the practicality of a test scenario are evident in the way the cabin is oriented. Quick access to the sensitive electronics that keep the modern cars, even those with the DNA of a Singer, are crucial when going through rigorous testing.
>>Join the conversation on the Singer DLS Test Mule right here in Rennlist.com.
Legend
The Singer-Williams DLS is a car that is unlike any other. The makings of a true legend with a hell of an engine. Seeing its test mule, with the inner workings scattered and haphazardly placed and road rashed fender flares show what testing is really about, driving the car. Singers are a true masterpiece of automotive engineering and seeing the place they were born from is almost sacrilegious, Maybe that's what makes test mules hold such great fortune to me.
>>Join the conversation on the Singer DLS Test Mule right here in Rennlist.com.
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