Singer 503a (1961)

Ahh the 503... pretty cool, the 500 has all the bells & whistles on it; the 503 has just the essentials. The attention to detail is amazing.

Built in the mid 60's it's been nicnamed the "Rocketeer." By the 60's Singer had finally left the old look behind and was trying some way-out stuff like this. As with the White 764 the 60's were a time for wild shapes combined with the old sewing machine design know-how.
From a technical standpoint I love the additional little "flicker" above the thread tension dial, I have not seen that feature on any other machine.