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.
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….