Anyone know the back story of who David Deck of Mass is/was? Kind think it is cool this one uses a similar main tube design as the Ferarri chassis here http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=356809&highlight=devin+ss
The car on Barnfinds does not look like an SS chassis to me. There aren't many photos to work with but from what I can see the Barnfinds car has a single lower arm on the front suspension and some sort of radius rod. Devin SSs had upper and lower A-arms. The real thing to look for is that Devin SSs had a very nicely designed DeDion rear suspension with inboard disc brakes. There are no shots of the rear suspension on Barnfinds but I'd bet a dollar to donuts that is a good old American solid rear end. The large diameter parallel tube chassis design was widely used from the '30s thru the early '60s. That's sort of where the term "ladder frame" came from. The parallel tubes with cross members looked like ladders. Cheers, Kurt O.
There was a big chatter on Ferrari chat over this one It seems that it showed up on Ebay or some other site for sale and someone spotted the chassis and told a noted Ferrari collector. That chassis may not look like much to a lot of us but a check of serial numbers showed that it was from the Ferrari that had won several major races in the 50's before being wrecked and having it's body replaced by the Devin body and raced some more. I did check on the body I used to have and the gent I sold it to still has it and he and his son in law are getting a chassis put together for it. I wish that thing hadn't made me itch so much when I had it.
I thought I'd pass along some pictures of my little (OK, he's not so little, he's 52.) brother's restored Devin H/M historic racer. It's powered by a 750cc Renault Gordini 4-banger. I find it interesting that Devin was able to build such a wide variety of sizes of basically the same body and still keep the proportions so right. Just to show that insanity runs in our family, here are some past and present photos of the homebuilt H/M that my dad built back in the early 60's, also Renault powered. It was originally set up for a Mercury 6 cylinder, 2- stroke outboard motor, but when Dad came across a Judson-supercharged Gordini engine, he shifted gears. The car is currently in the hands of Henry Morrison in Albuquerque. My brother tells me that it may be for sale. If anyone is interested, I can provide contact info for Mr. Morrison. My Dad is behind the wheel in the black and white photo. That's his buddy Wayne Baker at the front of the car. Judging from the last photo, Henry's car might be a little tailhappy! Mike By the way, those are my brothers posing with Henry's car--Bob on the left and David on the right.
Good stuff guys. Don't really care if the car is a real SS and based on statements about the chassis being built by David Deck I think I'll consider it a Special for now. I just wish I could learn anything about who David Deck was, pics would be even cooler. Any thoughts on where to look?
(You can find anything on HAMB ) Our shop was contacted yesterday by someone who wants us to several alluminum bodied Devin SS using Maserati Biturbos for a donor drive-train. Untame
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