Tonight I caught an episode of entitled "Hunt for the Davis" ... and the featured car was something that I had never seen (nor heard of) before ... a 1948 Davis "Divan" coupe ... 1 of 13 made ... all aluminum body ... removable hardtop ... 3 wheeler ... most ran a Hercules or Continental inline-four powerplant ... but this one was powered by a V8-60 Flathead! Such an oddball ... but I'll have to admit that (except for the purple paint) I kinda like it There's a lot of cool history about the man behind the Divan (Gary Davis) and the Davis Motor Car Company of Van Nuys, California. You can read all about the car, the man, & his company at the website (click logo).
I read up on these recently. I got some info about them from the peterson automotive museum. Pretty intersting. That blue one is on display right now at the peterson.
Sorta neat looking. Reminds me of something I heard in London; "There's a reason there aren't English restaurants all over the world." There must be a reason the world is not full of 3-wheeled cars.
I saw that last night also.. Was going to do a post but you beat me to it.. That thing is so ugly it is cool!! I really like how the headlights work.. Did you notice that the orginal price was going to be $995...Thanks for the link for the info... -COS
Seems that I saw something on those once. Wasn't it supposed to be some sort of "safety car" as well?
Saw that episode as well. Before then, I hated ALL three wheelers... but this one is different. The long hood and short roofline are what did it for me.
Four men driving down street in Davis Motorcar three-wheeled car. Los Angeles, CA, US 1947 photograph by Allan Grant
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What a Distinction!!! The only Davis in all of New","metaData": {"visible": "false"} },"lw_1228701906_4": {"text": "New England","extended": 0,"startchar": 1062,"endchar": 1072,"start": 1062,"end": 1072,"extendedFrom": "","predictedCategory": "PLACE","predictionProbability": "0.286317","weight": 0.195245,"relScore": 0.820978,"type": ["shortcuts:/us/tag/other/wiki"],"category": ["WIKI"],"wikiId": "New_England","relatedWikiIds": ["Boston,_Massachusetts", "Indianapolis,_Indiana", "Jacksonville,_Florida", "Maine", "New_England_Patriots", "New_York", "New_York_Giants", "San_Diego,_California", "Super_Bowl", "Tom_Brady"],"relatedEntities": ["baltimore", "green bay", "indianapolis", "jacksonville", "new york", "new york giants", "pittsburgh", "san diego", "super bowl", "tom brady"],"showOnClick": [],"context": "Connecticut! What a Distinction!!! The only Davis in all of New England. I have E-mailed the owner, but no response. I have","metaData": {"visible": "false"} },"lw_1228701906_5": {"text": "http://www.suarezweb.com/davis/","extended": 0,"startchar": 1411,"endchar": 1441,"start": 1411,"end": 1441,"extendedFrom": "","predictedCategory": "","predictionProbability": "0","weight": 1,"relScore": 0,"type": ["shortcuts:/us/instance/identifier/hyperlink/http"],"category": ["IDENTIFIER"],"wikiId": "","relatedWikiIds": [],"relatedEntities": [],"showOnClick": [],"context": "","metaData": {"linkHref": "http://www.suarezweb.com/davis/","linkProtocol": "http","linkRel": "nofollow","linkTarget": "_blank","visible": "true"} },"lw_1228701906_6": {"text": "Tom Wilson","extended": 0,"startchar": 1810,"endchar": 1819,"start": 1810,"end": 1819,"extendedFrom": "","predictedCategory": "PERSON","predictionProbability": "0.923376","weight": 0.51218,"relScore": 1.86436,"type": ["shortcuts:/us/instance/person/actor", "shortcuts:/us/tag/other/wiki"],"category": ["PERSON", "WIKI"],"wikiId": "Tom_Wilson_%28producer%29","relatedWikiIds": [],"relatedEntities": ["greg kinnear", "john wood", "karl marx", "kurt eichenwald", "lincoln continental", "melanie lynskey", "republican state committee", "republican state committee chairman", "scott bakula", "steven soderbergh"],"showOnClick": [],"context": "am just beginning to get into my winter energy slump! Tom Wilson, Director, Sales Dept. the Davis Registry. At 11:17 PM 12/6/2008","metaData": [ { "visible": "true"}, { "visible": "true"}] },"lw_1228701906_7": {"text": "http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=308750","extended": 0,"startchar": 2148,"endchar": 2205,"start": 2148,"end": 2205,"extendedFrom": "","predictedCategory": "","predictionProbability": "0","weight": 1,"relScore": 0,"type": ["shortcuts:/us/instance/identifier/hyperlink/http"],"category": ["IDENTIFIER"],"wikiId": "","relatedWikiIds": [],"relatedEntities": [],"showOnClick": [],"context": "","metaData": {"linkHref": "http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=308750","linkProtocol": "http","linkRel": "nofollow","linkTarget": "_blank","visible": "true"} }};YAHOO.Shortcuts.headerID = "f5e4165449b1a1ecb91e9a56c1bec249";</SCRIPT>I sent this thread to a friend of mine, Tom Wilson, Director, Sales Dept. the Davis Registry. He asked me to post this for him while he figures out how to post on the HAMB. Mike: Thanks for passing that along!! I think I was away on a trip when that stuff was posted!! The yellow car, #6, or 482E69 was the one I salvaged and restored, owned for almost 40 years, and sold to the Lane MOtor Museum in Nashville. It was the one that got the "Davis preservation movement" started" The green one, #13, or 482EA139, I boought in Colorado in 1989, restored, still own, and is on loan to The National Auto & Truck Museum in Auburn. The Blue car is Davis Divan #4, or serial #482E49, now on display in the Petersen Musuam, in LA. I visited the car in 1986, in Colorado, and in 1998 photographed it extensively in the LA museum. I think they have done quite a few fixups on it since. The purple car, is Davis #9, serial #482E99, which I visited in Oregon in 1998, which has bounced around several owners and a couple of auctions, and was reputedly last known to be headed for Connecticut! What a Distinction!!! The only Davis in all of New England. I have E-mailed the owner, but no response. I have viewed that web page, but cannot post a comment, because apparently I need to have some sort of membership, which I cannot seem to figure out. Here is the URL for the main Davis Registry web page: http://www.suarezweb.com/davis/ I will try again to view the site and post the text of this message to you....but if I have no luck, would you please get back with on how I can post on that site. And/or you could post this note on it yourself, if you can. I hope all is going o.k. well with you! Personally, I am just beginning to get into my winter energy slump! Tom Wilson, Director, Sales Dept. the Davis Registry.
Here's a few pics from the Petersen Automotive Museum (January 2009): image by @hotrodladycrusr image by @hotrodladycrusr
There was a magazine article from way back on these....it sticks in my mind that these were able to do a 180 degree turn at about 70 mph with sliding, etc. Anyone remember that article? Seems that it was a "little book" article or a reprint, maybe Rod & Custom in the 60's or the little Poplular Mechanics.
I don't know if they were built in more than one location but when I went looking for shop locations to rent around 1980 one of the buildings I looked at was in Canoga Park, CA and the realtor showing the property said it had been the Davis car assembly plant. It wasn't big but it was too big for my partner and I so we passed.
Wayne (@StillOutThere) ... from everything that I've read, the Davis Motorcar plant was in a rural section of Van Nuys: ... perhaps the "Canoga Park building" you guys looked at was actually considered part of Van Nuys back in 1948 ... ???
i read about those in a book i got when i was a kid. my gramps gave it to me since i was really into cars. it's titled "cars that never were" has Tucker and some prototypes in it too. some cool stuff.
Page 141 of the January 1948 issue of Popular Science magazine: ... and some very cool Sales Literature:
Nice trike - I would love a Buckminster Fuller Dymaxion though. Flathead V8 powered so HAMB-friendly!! Here's a couple of my trikes - wheels are the other way round on the big one though (the way god intended them to be).
In the August 1948 issue of Mechanics Illustrated, Tom MacCahill road tested the Davis, same issue he also tested the Tucker.
What a blast, I had never seen one before, had heard about but not actually seen. Love all the info, thanx to everyone for the edu-ka-tion!! ~Sololobo~
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