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The Devin SS

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Jive-Bomber, Jan 26, 2010.

  1. Jive-Bomber
    Joined: Aug 21, 2001
    Posts: 3,753

    Jive-Bomber
    MODERATOR

  2. robt500
    Joined: Nov 6, 2006
    Posts: 432

    robt500
    Member
    from Lex, KY

    The Devins are so cool. From www.race-cars.com: Originally street titled in Indiana in 1959. Restored by Jim McHenry with later work done by Lalinsky Engineering. 1940 Ford frame with 9" Ford rear axle and solid front axle from period; 4-bar suspension front and rear. Boxed and reinforced frame. Lalinsky built 297 cid Chevy with Hilborn injection - extremely reliable & powerful no-expense spared motor. Vertex magneto. Accusump. Close ratio ST10 transmission. Halon fire system. Engine has 8 events since being built - in excellent condition. Ford 11' x 3 1/2" drum brakes. Steel wheels.
     

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    Last edited: Jan 26, 2010
  3. MCINK
    Joined: May 26, 2007
    Posts: 885

    MCINK
    Member
    from EASTRIVER

  4. CrazyUncleJack
    Joined: Feb 11, 2009
    Posts: 140

    CrazyUncleJack
    Member
    from OK

    You just mailing this one in? What's with the vagueness of the article? Your dad had one? Give us some more tech details! Some examples of races and where they placed. Maybe some more history of the builder?

    Sheesh man! It's a sweet car, don't be such a tease!
     

  5. Jeff Norwell
    Joined: Aug 20, 2003
    Posts: 14,809

    Jeff Norwell
    MODERATOR
    Staff Member

    That's beautiful Jay.
     
  6. A freind of mine dad's just found a unmolested shell which he is making ready to race in SCCA. It will probably have a SB in it with a Jag rear. It is a very cool car, and definitely put together by a hot rodder, then and now.
     

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  7. JeffreyJames
    Joined: Jun 13, 2007
    Posts: 16,628

    JeffreyJames
    Member
    from SUGAR CITY

    Wow!!! What a find!!!

    Pretty cool car but it's got a Chevy Engine....yuk!!! Just kidding I love it! You may as well as those old pics to the Early Chevy V8 thread I started too!
     
  8. DrJ
    Joined: Mar 3, 2001
    Posts: 9,419

    DrJ
    Member

    I think the most significant thing he did was to drive overhead cams with timing belts instead of chains when "everyone else" said it wouldn't work.
    Now it's the industry standard!
     
  9. Mr48chev
    Joined: Dec 28, 2007
    Posts: 33,861

    Mr48chev
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    In the early 80's I had one of those bodies in the raw fiberglass I am in the process of trying to buy it back from the guy I sold it to as he hasn't done anything with it and I finally figured out how to work fiberglass while working on my boat.

    They sold for a pretty low price when they were new but they are the last word in bare bones body as the shell is all you get with no extras.
     
  10. 296ardun
    Joined: Feb 11, 2009
    Posts: 4,673

    296ardun
    Member

    The Devin I remember the best was a modified sports car run by Denny Weinberg...(at least I remember it as a Devin, around '59?). He ran a Potvin-blown Chrysler, which somehow fit in the engine room...ran really well at San Gabriel, etc...anyone else remember it?
     
  11. duste01
    Joined: Nov 5, 2006
    Posts: 1,213

    duste01
    Member

    MMMNNNNnnnnnn, tastey.
     
  12. Looks like anything bigger than a small block of some kind would cut into the footroom!
     
  13. -Brent-
    Joined: Nov 20, 2006
    Posts: 7,349

    -Brent-
    Member

    Yeah, Jive-Bomber, I'd love to read more.
     
  14. Jimbo17
    Joined: Aug 19, 2008
    Posts: 3,959

    Jimbo17
    Member

    Back around 1999 I was in a restoration shop in Oldmar, Florida and they were just taking the mold off of a body and when I looked close they told me it was a Devin.

    Not sure how they received the mold but it sure looked good.

    They told me that they number each one they make. I don't think they make very many of them.

    The name of the restoration shop was Special Cars Only and they are still in business turning out real high end work.

    The restoration work went from street rods to real vintage old cars.

    One day a very large transporter showed up with a vintage race car from France and I asked them if it was there for a restoration and they told me they had restored the car about 6 years ago and then it was shipped back to France for more years of vintage car races.

    The car was back for another restoration after 6 years of road racing.

    Jimbo

    Jimbo
     
  15. HELLBILLY
    Joined: Feb 9, 2003
    Posts: 682

    HELLBILLY
    Member

    I have always loved these cars!
    I think Devin borrowed Jim Orrs Scaglietti-bodied Ermini 1100 to pull a mold off of, basic body sold for about $295.00 in the 1950s.
    I think Jive Bomber will tell you that these bodies were very THICK and well made.
    You could get them in wheelbases from 78 to 106 and tread widths from 40 to 52 inches to accommodate about any engine or drivetrain you wanted.
    But the complete cars..... ohhhh now thats a different story!
    VERY RARE indeed to find one, (not many made, 15?) folks you are looking at something very special from the 1950s.
    I want one! HELL I WANT THAT ONE! :D
     
  16. with.disdain
    Joined: Apr 10, 2009
    Posts: 29

    with.disdain
    Member

    I once wrenched on a D-model Devin with Porsche/VW running gear. It was a beautiful machine. It's one of those classic cars that seems most at home on a track with numbers painted on the doors. It also looks likely to go airborne at anything over highway speed. That car burned a place for itself deep into my brain.

    Once I'm Leno-rich (kind of like Oprah-rich but with different priorities), it will be mine.

    For some reason the SS model escaped my attention. Thanks for the post!

    Brian.
     
  17. hotrodtom
    Joined: Apr 14, 2005
    Posts: 231

    hotrodtom
    Member

    [ D-model Devin with Porsche/VW running gear. -- Brian

    I know where there's a D-model sitting all grown up in weeds and vines, with a flat four of some sort. It's been sitting outside a long time in South Texas, and I'd be afraid the 'glass might be kind of brittle and flaky. It's in front of a garage, and I drove up to look at it, but nobody paid me any mind. It seems to have been forgotten. I'll check if you want.[​IMG]
    Fearless
     
    Last edited: Jan 26, 2010
  18. Dean Moon's Moonbeam Devin
     

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  19. redlinetoys
    Joined: May 18, 2004
    Posts: 4,302

    redlinetoys
    Member
    from Midwest

    Brilliant looking car and a brilliant performer too I am sure. Turned my crank and had to jump right on and say so!
     
  20. gnichols
    Joined: Mar 6, 2008
    Posts: 11,344

    gnichols
    Member
    from Tampa, FL

    Not to get all political or dramatic on ya, I love these kinds of cars and designers (and oval racers, too) because you can trace the evolution of hot rodding thru their higher-tech adventures and designs in them. These guys started out with the stuff they had at hand and made it go faster, get lower, get more streamlined, stop better, corner better, use better metals, etc., etc.. Their quest for speed, their craftsmanship, their eagerness to engage new ideas and technology is what led them eventually build such seemingly O/T - anti-HAMB vehicles. Good on all of them - guys like Shelby, Gurney, Kurtis, Miller, Hall, Watson, to name a few of the 100s of folks who did it their way. Gary
     
  21. And before Shelby, Gurney, Kurtis, Miller, Hall, Watson, Blachowsky, Cunningham, and countless others there was Harry Miller, the best of them all.

    http://www.milleroffy.com/

    [FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]"Harry Miller was, quite simply, the greatest creative figure in the history of the American racing car"[/SIZE][/FONT]
    [SIZE=-2]Griffith Borgeson[/SIZE]

    Dig it.

    trakrodstr
     
  22. with.disdain
    Joined: Apr 10, 2009
    Posts: 29

    with.disdain
    Member

    Thanks for the offer, but I haven't got the time or the space to store it until I do have the time. Too many projects as it is...

    Brian
     
  23. rupert pupkin
    Joined: Jan 25, 2010
    Posts: 2

    rupert pupkin
    Member
    from oregon

    all i have to say is beautiful
     
  24. DrJ
    Joined: Mar 3, 2001
    Posts: 9,419

    DrJ
    Member

  25. gearhead49
    Joined: Jan 30, 2010
    Posts: 16

    gearhead49
    Member

    I saw my first Devon at a local car show last fall and took the opportunity to look it over real good. The thing was built like a tank. I fell in love with it.
     
  26. Byron Crump
    Joined: Jun 13, 2001
    Posts: 1,851

    Byron Crump
    Member

    Ryan, does you dad still have it?

    BTW, did'nt you used to do some road racing?
     
  27. Don't forget Joe Lunati ' s "Troublemaker" out of Memphis....
     

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  28. jessem
    Joined: Nov 11, 2011
    Posts: 1

    jessem
    Member
    from USA

    Barn Finds just did a write up on a 1958 Devin SS that is for sale. Sounds like it could be a real one.
     
  29. No way. I looked at the pics on ebay, and NOTHING is finished or welded. It might be a Devin body, but that was NEVER a complete car...

    (Does look like a fun project though...)
     
  30. poprockcrusher
    Joined: May 17, 2009
    Posts: 123

    poprockcrusher
    Member

    not anymore
     

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