Singh was born the eldest of ten children to first-generation Kenyan Asian migrants from the Punjab region of India. He was educated at a boarding school in Nairobi and entered the workforce as a spanner boy in his father's garage, developing mechanical skills that would underpin his entire motorsport career. He later gained wider experience as a mechanic before becoming the Royal East African Automobile Association's first patrolman in 1958. He had no competitive motorsport experience until the age of 26.
Singh accumulated over sixty wins in the East African Rally Championships across Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. He was twice awarded Kenya's Motor Sportsman of the Year title, in 1970 and 1976.
His three Safari Rally victories stand as the defining achievements of his career. The first came in 1965, co-driven by his brother Jaswant in a Volvo PV544 previously used by Swedish factory driver Tom Trana and carrying 42,000 competitive miles on its odometer. The win was the 13th running of the Safari — considered an unlucky number at the time — and the car bore the number 1, also traditionally considered ill-omened in the event. Singh and Jaswant defied both superstitions to take the outright win. He won again in 1974 and 1976, both times driving a Mitsubishi Colt Lancer 1600 GSR, becoming the first driver in the Safari's history to claim three outright victories.
Beyond the Safari, Singh scored three top-five finishes in the Southern Cross Rally in Australia during the 1970s, demonstrating that his ability extended beyond the East African terrain he knew best.
Singh's record of 19 finishes from 22 Safari Rally starts is regarded as the most remarkable consistency figure in the event's history. The Safari is defined by extreme attrition — mechanical failure, flood crossings, deep mud, and vast distances routinely eliminate most of the field — and in the 1968 running, Singh was one of only seven crews, known as the "Unsinkable Seven," who managed to reach the finish in Nairobi after the rest of the 74-car field were stranded on the Mau Escarpment along the western rim of the Great Rift Valley.
Although his Ugandan rival Shekhar Mehta would eventually surpass Singh's total of outright wins, Singh's finishing record remained without precedent.
Singh spent many years as a resident of the United Kingdom from the 1980s and subsequently lived in Canada. He was present as a guest of honour at the 50th running of the Safari Rally in 2002 and was appointed patron of the Safari Classic event for 2007. His life and career were the subject of a 1975 book titled The Flying Sikh, written by Roger Barnard and Peter Moll and illustrated by Mohamed Amin, published by TransAfrica Publishers.
Joginder Singh died of heart failure in London on 24 October 2013 at the age of 81.
Singh's three Safari wins, his unprecedented finishing record, and his status as the first Sikh international rally winner made him an iconic figure in both East African motorsport and the wider Kenyan Asian community. The Safari Rally is considered one of the most demanding events in rally history, and Singh's ability to both win and finish it at a rate no competitor has matched places him among the sport's great endurance specialists.