Devin D restoration project for sale - now on ebay

I have been writing about this Devin D restoration project before. It's a very rare find! It has been with the same owner since 1973 and comes with a clear title identifying the car as the number 20 of totally 49 Devin Ds every built. It will make a splendid vintage racer, but could also be finished as a street car. Of course, there's some work to do, but the components are available.
The odometer apparently reads only 1139 miles. The car had been raced in original red with black interior and also with Porsche silver with burgundy accents. The car had been prepared to re-paint when the current owner bought it. The instruments, wipers, windshield and other components where remove to sand and refinish. The car has remained in this condition to this day. There is an additional windshield glass from 1956 Porsche Speedster, full top, bows and side-curtains. There are other additional parts, such as exhaust and muffler and other sundry parts.
So, if you are in the market for a rare vintage racer (I know of only two D Devins in Europe) then here's an opportunity to acquire a fantastic platform to start with.
As said, it's on ebay now. Have a look.

Hillclimb Steckborn-Eichhölzli 2010 - driving the Devin-TR up the hill

The hillclimb Steckborn-Eichhölzli is organized only every third year, so this was the first event since 2007. While the first day was extremely wet and cold, the second day enjoyed drivers and spectators with sun and more acceptable temperatures. The "track" is 2900 m long and climbs 127m. Best times were below 1:10, which means an average speed of more than 160 km/h, but even 2:00 means more than 85 km/h average speed. Three more challenging curves and three chicanes limit higher speeds. How this feels, you can watch yourself in the video:

Oldtimer Sunday Morning in Zug - great variety and really rare cars

Finally I found the time again to visit the Oldtimer Sunday Morning Meeting in Zug. It usually takes place on the first Sunday during the summer months. Usually there's a special topic, today it was "Alfa-Romeo - cuore sportivo". And with probably 100+ Alfas there was a great selection ranging from Giulietta Spiders, to GTAs and other rare types. There was even an Alfasud, that many of you probably remember. I also found quite a selection of Lancias. What really makes this meeting special is that there's everything at one place. You can see Volkswagen Beetles side by side with a Ferrari 250 GT Lusso or an ASA race car. And you can find big American classic cars, Italian and English cars just sitting side by side. It's all about bringing your car and watching all the others. It's a lot of fun.

Devin-D project for sale in the US

Hi, I friend of mine just told me about this Devin D that is for sale as a project in the US. Devin Ds are pretty rare! This one comes with Porsche 1600 SC engine, tubular frame and is said to be mostly complete, so a good restoration basis. This nice car could become either a street or a race car. From a body perspective the car is similar to the Devin TR also highlighted in this blog, but it had its own chassis and of course the engine sits in the back of the car. To my knowledge there are two or three Devin Ds in Europe, one of them is a nicely restored car in Austria. The car here is not cheap but fairly priced. It has a competition history from the 60ies apparently and could become competitive again with its low weight and powerful engine. If anybody wants to know more then contact me through this blog or any other mean.

So many car brands have disappeared

We have been recently experiencing what is probably the end of Saab as a car manufacturer. Many have shared this destiny before. Actually there were hundreds of car manufacturers that have seized to exist. Remember Panhard? Many certainly do not. So, here's an ad from 1964 showcasing the then new Panhard Coupé Sport. Panhard even competed in motor sports. And they served the engine for some of the Devins (another brand that doesn't exist anymore). So enjoy the ad and smile ...

200 - exciting, impressive, and ....

Let's celebrate, this is the blog entry 200 in 2009 I am doing. But 200 was also an important number when I was young. Most cars at that time actually had a top speed lower than 200 km/h, so when a car was faster it was really fast. And almost every time it would help you win in "Super Trumps". Cars like a Triumph TR3 for example had 200 km/h marked as their top speed on the speedometer, but rarely were able to reach it. So, that's why 200 was such an important in the past and that's why it feels a bit special to post blog entry 200 for me.

Reasons to get rid of your current car and buy another one

There are (at least) two different kind of people, people who own very few cars during their live and only swap them if they really have to, and people who always find a reason to sell a car and buy another one. I am clearly fitting into the second group, having owned quite a number of cars during my life (yet). When I investigate the reasons why I decided to sell one car and go for a new one, then some returning patterns pop up:
1) Change of requirements - new requirements need to be fulfilled, i.e. the ability to pull a trailer or to fit three kids and friends including luggage into the car. Or the need to have an automatic transmission for other people to operate the car
2) Economical reasons - sell a car now, as the successor model is not yet announced to get a higher price. Sell a car now while it's still under warranty compared to selling it later. Get rid of a car before big repair jobs need to happen
3) Lack of space in the garage - to buy a new car, you need to have space first. When you have the space, it would be unwise to not use it and therefore buy a new car
4) Being bored, having seen it - some cars just can't keep up the excitement after months or years of ownership
5) Better technology available - the successor car is just too much better than what you have
6) Features you are eagerly missing - if you want a headup display you need to buy one of the few cars that have one
7) Collecting - there are many reasons to change the nature of your car collection
And of course there are many other reasons. Basically, there's always a good reason to sell a car and find a new one, as the buying process is just too much fun to stick with your existing car.

The Devin TR - a Fifties American special with British ingredients

Few people know what a Devin is, and maybe there's no such thing as a Devin anyway. But what is clear is that great cars have been built under this name and are still heavily enjoyed today.

The Man behind the cars
Bill Devin was born in Rocky, Oklahoma in 1915. Acording to Henry Manney he is "The Enzo Ferrari of Okie Flats." Bill’s father had a car repair garage and then a Chevrolet agency and the curious Bill was into cars long before his father put him to work.
Bill Devin began building cars early in his life, but he was also a passioned racing driver.

Building American cars as good as the Europeans
In 1954 Devin decided that he could build cars just as well as anybody else, especially the Europeans. He cleaned out a chicken house and got it ready to make what soon would be called Devin-Panhards. Fiberglass construction was just becoming known in the early Fifties, but Devin quickly learned about the new art by building fiberglass bodies for the Panhards. It was the first Devin fiberglass body.
Another milestone in Devin's career was the first use of a belt driven OHC engine. But, typical of Bill's disdain for paperwork and the bureaucracy, he never patented his idea which has since been used by every auto manufacturer.
The next chapter in Bill Devin's life is perhaps the one for which he is best known - the attractive, Ferrari Monza-like Devin bodies which were ultimately available in 27 variations to fit cars ranging from a tiny Crosley Hot Shot to a TR3 to a hefty Allard. Devin was easily the largest producer of fiberglass bodies in the late Fifties and early Sixties in a very competitive business. He had dealers in 50 states and shipped bodies to nearly all the countries of Europe, all through Central and South America and even South Africa.
Devin's competitors and contemporaries were companies such as Byers, Almquist, Alken, La Dawri, Microbond, Fiberfab, Atlas, Kellison, Allied, Conquest, Victress and Microplas and most have been forgotten in time, but the name Devin still features prominently as Devin held his own with the right mix of low cost and quality plus the amazing range of sizes. Devin bodies were always praised for being so smooth that they didn't even look like fiberglass and the finish work was almost always superior to his competitors.
Contrary to what many have said, Bill Devin did not set out to build a Corvette beater or for that matter a racer when he began to build the SS in 1957. The Devin SS became a famous car, but financially it wasn’t all that successful.
Many “American Specials” were built utilizing Devin bodies, the Ryan Devin Special for example or Ak Miller’s Devin Specials and the Pink Elephants. Pink Elephant IV was actually a Devin-Triumph.
Many of the Devin bodied cars were successful in American racing. Between 1956 and 1970 they were entered throughout the States and made quite an impression.
It is assumed that less then 100 cars have survived until today, approximately 5 or 6 Triumph based Devins are active in vintage racing today and always admired by the spectators.

The Devin-Triumph / Devin TR
The Devin TR on the picture was built using a Triumph TR 3 chassis and an “F” Devin body. It’s a true race car. The early history isn't fully known, but it's assumed that the car was raced from the beginning.
Race preparation includes a 2188 cc Triumph 4 cylinder motor with a flowed head and approximately 140 HP, 3.9:1 welded diff., 16 row oil cooler, Accusump pre-oiling system, on-board fire system, dual fuel pumps, fuel cell, roll bar, 15" Dunlop wire wheels, and modified TR suspension to fit the low slung body as well as disc brakes on the front and rear axle. The car is easy to drive and remarkably fast. The race history includes Sebring, Road of America, Ohio, Arosa, Gaisberg and other events.

GP Suisse in Berne 2009 - what an amazing rolling museum

Between 1934 and 1958 Berne in Switzerland had its own race track (mostly/partially leveraging public roads) and organized Formula 1 and 2 Grand Prix races. Some of the world greatest drivers (Ascari, Fangio, Stuck, etc.) drove in Bern and some of most adventureous machinery such as the Auto Union race cars or the Mercedes silver arrows were campaigned in Berne and won races. There's so much history and tradition that at team decided to organize a memorial in 2009: The GP Suisse 2009.
The weekend August 22-23 was selected and an amazing collection of cars gathered to drive on a 8 km long track through public roads to basically demonstrate a rolling museum.
There were motorcycles, cars and even airplanes.
The spectators had certainly something to enjoy on the road. The organization decided for a quite lengthy track and therefore limited the number of laps each car could go. This resulted in some unhappy drivers not being able to race/roll as much as they liked and probably some visitors missing one or the other car.
The cars had to drive behind pace cars that were partially much too slow, so some cars got hot, some others just couldn't show what they really can do.
With 400+ cars and motorcycles creative solutions had to be found for organizing the paddock. Most of the cars had to be put in the parking house and public access was limited for a number of reasons. Again, many visitors though didn't get the opportunity to have a closer look at especially the sportscars, while the formula cars were residing outside.
What is really phantastic about this events is how close you can get to the cars and that for example you can watch the mechanics starting these grand machines. Also it's possible to talk to everybody and to meet people you haven't seen for ages.
For the drivers it's of course quite a bit of organization to get the car to the place, have it inspected and aproved, to finally only do some 4 or 5 laps. But I think most enjoyed it anyway. I at least did and in general the event can be considered a success.
Certainly some of the shortcomings of the event can be corrected by the organizers for next time.
I wouldn't for example separate specials and so called originals. And I would have the owners select title and name of the car. Organizers can always decide to not accept a car. Also I would try to shorten the track or have larger fields distributed on the track to better entertain the crowd.
I would ask the pace cars to drive at least an average of 80 km/h. The paddocks should be organized outside for all the cars and maybe it would be better to limit the number of cars and to give them more time on the track.
But there are many things I would not change, for example the wonderful selection of cars and having the action so close to the spectators. If you want to get an impression, then have a "look" at the enclosed soundbite. You can hear an Alfetta warming up its engine and then the Auto Union C-Typ starting the engine and the Mercedes W154 firing up. What a noise!

Installation lap on public roads

One benefit of driving historic race cars is the fact, that many of them can actually be used on normal roads. My goal always has been to be able to road register my cars. Yesterday night I took out the Devin to make sure everything is fine for the coming Grand Prix Suisse in Berne. In a pure racing world you would call this an "installation lap". I checked oil and water, tyre pressure, warmed up the engine, drove 20 kms and filled up the tank. No major incidents, everything is fine. The car is ready for the outing of next weekend. Similar to the heros of the past I will drive the car to Berne on public roads, get it inspected by the scrutineers, and have it lined up for the demonstration runs on Sunday. I am really looking forward to this event. Stay tuned, I will come up with a "race report" here soon after the event.

Gaisberg 2008

The idea of bringing vintage race cars and sport cars together, having them climb a hill and pushing them around the Salzburgring is really excellent. It's so much fun and even the rain couldn't stop the happy faces of the drivers. A really impressive mixture of cars found its way to Salzburg, from Alfa P3 to Porsche 904 GTS, from Borgward to Aston Martin DB3S. The goal of the competition was regularity, but many of the drivers stepped on the throttle and achieved impressive lap times at the Salzburgring. My Devin TR 1957 behaved well and was impressively quick. It was so much more fun to drive than many of the modern cars I have been using lately.
Gaisberg, see you again, next year!