Listed here on eBay in Austin, Colorado, is this 1958 Devin kit car, sitting—rather unusually—on a 1951 Morris Minor chassis, with a Crosley engine. It apparently was raced in period, autocrosses in Castle Rock, Colorado, and photos and clippings that accompany the car are there for proof. The owner wants $3,000, which seems pretty reasonable. What we’re told: “In need of restoration, mechanicals unknown, does roll and steer, body seems fragile and needs reinforcement and repair. Some crude patches here.” The car looks reasonably complete, though there’s no interior to speak of, but they were rudimentary on these cars anyway.
The Devin has a clean title, but it looks like the previous owner never signed it. This could become an issue down the road.
The owner describes the Devin as a “Ford project car.” It looks like a Devin 295, built by Bill Devin of Devin Enterprises (launched in 1954) and inspired by the small-bore lightweights of the day created by Ferrari and Ermini. The fiberglass body was sold for $295 (hence the name) and could be installed on various chassis—MG, Jaguar and Triumph were popular, but Ford worked, too. Installing a sporty body like that on a Morris Minor chassis couldn’t have been a popular choice.
In 1959, Devin took a step forward with the Devin SS, no longer a kit car but powered by a company-installed small-block Chevy V-8. Disc brakes and independent suspension was part of the picture. The SS had some success on the track, but this does not appear to be a factory car. The SS was expensive, initially priced at $5,950. The price had risen to $10,000 by the time the plug was pulled (and an American chassis had replaced the original and unreliable Irish one). It was all over by 1960.
Fiberglass doesn’t rust, but it cracks and gets mangled in accidents. This one appears to have escaped that fate. The new owner might want to abandon that filthy and undoubtedly broken chassis that comes with the Devin body and put it on something more substantial.
The poor-man’s-Cobra Devin SS is quite sought-after today, and Classic.com puts the price at $163,600. But a Devin 295 body? Not sure, but it could be a lot of fun for $3,000.
Could be fun. With some history including pictures it might be worth putting the car back on the Vintage race circuit. Also, that Crosley engine modified for racing will get you a 10K rpm engine that will eat a lot of cars of that era as well as some of this one.
Maybe with a log book it might have a little value. Dad and I rebuilt a couple of Corvettes. And he had an Avanti on order that he never got. We had a Henry J chassis with a hopped up Olds V8 paired together for the longest time. (Don’t know what happened to it.) But going through Dad’s things after he passed. I found a brochure for one of these bodies with measurement and pricing notes written on it. Dad sure liked fiberglass cars!
That’s not a high hp intake and exhaust.. when I saw the rollbar with square corners I had to enlarge it to see if had the iron fitting corners like my Crosley came with.
That roll bar came up to my shoulder blades. Made a proper Chrome moly bar and then decided I’d never race it. I don’t look good sticking out of a race car.
The “$295” Devin body was pretty basic, as I recall, and was just raw fiberglass to be trimmed and painted on your own. It was available in a number of different lengths to fit various chassis, including Triumph, Austin-Healey and MG frames. I believe a Devin-built frame was available, as were a host of accessories (like windshields, wiring and gauges) to complete the car in your home workshop.
Devin also offered the “D” for VW running gear and the “C” for Corvair power. All these were well short of an “SS,” available in kit or completed form.
This one should be light enough that a hotted-up Crosley mill would make it scoot, but I’m dubious about the rusty, ratty Morris Minor bits….
This seems like a major bargain for a potentially viable vintage racer project, although if you throw away the Morris Minor chassis and running gear, what are you left with? $3000 worth of crispy fiberglass “yard art”!
PS: I love the welded-in jerry can gas tank-
Throw away the chassis and most of the history goes with it.
What an interesting header tank config, never seen anything quite like it. Space considerations I reckon…
I did two Arkley SS kit cars on Spridget tubs and they both were a blast to build and fun to drive and….. I got my money out of both of them when it was time to move on! This one looks like a fun project going ground up! The nice thing about a project like this is that you can do whatever you want and do it reasonably. Make your interior, put whatever drivetrain in that you like, keep the Morris chassis…many parts from the Spridgets can be used to upgrade. It will get much attention when completed! If it was in the northeast, I might go take a look!!
The Morris Chassis is not a bad idea as it’s easy to adapt to other power plants and transmissions. Looks like a lot of work, more for the younger man in the crowd, and those with more money than sense. Pretty cool though, I knew a fellow with a Devin Porsche for a time and it was a pretty cool car.
That’s not a high hp intake and exhaust.. when I saw the rollbar with square corners I had to enlarge it to see if had the iron fitting corners like my Crosley came with.
That roll bar came up to my shoulder blades. Made a Chrome moly bar and then decided I’d never race it. I don’t look good sticking out of a race car.
Worked on a Devin once but it was a complete ss so I dont know if this body would add enough stiffness to the Chassis. Stock Crosley doesn’t make much torque.
H Mod all the way! History is in the chassis so I’d be one to really try and save it. Hey Bob!…Look!!! another H Mod and its in your cack yard!!!
If you are talking to me I’m still working on this one I found in a Virginia back yard 12 years ago! A rolling shell with more Bondo on it I’ve ever seen on one car.
Ex-wife’s first car was a Bugeye. It was then passed down to the next oldest brother. It was a city car in Chicago with some rust in the rockers/foot box. He used it for his college driver in Wisconsin. (Not the best winter car by a large margin.) Parked it for his last 2 years and drove Volvo 142. Once done with college and all the families moved to Northern Nevada. He wanted to do a complete restoration. He found a shell out in the desert with no rust. And since the original car had low miles, the parts swapping began. He ended up rebuilding the original engine anyway. And performed a museum quality restoration including chrome wire wheels. It was gorgeous and he got compliments even from Ferrari owners at the Monterey Historics. And it still drove like a low mile Sprite. Slow but fun! Just the car for cruising the coast highway!.
I was thinking about this Devin body, my Crosley with the handmade body and the Jabro Chassis that has an MG 4 speed between the Crosley engine and torque tube.
Wondered about Devin body on the Jabro chassis?
What trans is in the Devin?
Looked at the ebay listing.
Listed as a 58 Ford?
Couldn’t id the trans.
I saw that instead of an
adapter plate the bell housing was spaced
From the engine with flat washers.