MY FEEDLY

“The Next Great American Supercar” Is For Sale On eBay – The Devon GTX

When it was first shown to the public in 2009 the Devon GTX was billed as “The Next Great American Supercar.” The company did have some solid reasoning behind the claim – the car was capable of over 200 mph and it set an unofficial lap record at California’s Willow Springs Raceway.

Unfortunately the timing of the GTX’s release, right into the midst of the Great Recession, left it unlikely to succeed given the proposed $500,000 – $525,000 USD MSRP, and the company was closed shortly thereafter.

Fast Facts – The Devon GTX

The Devon GTX was developed by Scott Devon and his team in 2008, with a release in 2009.
The car uses many elements from the Dodge Viper, including the 8.4 liter V10 engine and basic inner frame structure.
The GTX was designed by Daniel Paulin, it uses a one-piece carbon fiber superstructure, carbon fiber body panels, and cast aluminum unequal-length wishbones front and rear with coil-over shock absorbers.
The top speed was claimed to be over 200 mph, thanks in no small part to the tuned Viper V10 producing 650 bhp.

Building America’s Next Great Supercar

Small-volume automakers, like TVR, Noble, Factory 5, Ultima, and Ariel often produce cars with designs that set them apart, and would likely never make it into production with a large-scale manufacturer.

The superstructure and body make extensive use of carbon fiber, to keep weight as low as possible while ensuring it remained strong and stiff.

Devon was an American automaker that certainly fits into that mould, no one who has ever seen a GTX has forgotten it, and it would be impossible to mistake the car for a vehicle by any other manufacturer.

Using the basic frame and engine from the Dodge Viper, the Devon GTX had just about every other part custom built specifically for it.

A new body was designed by Art Center in Pasedena graduate and former Ford of Europe stylist Daniel Paulin, with some minor modifications made after wind tunnel tests conducted by Dr Joseph Katz – San Diego State University’s chairman of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics.

Devon GTX – Specifications

The body and much of the superstructure is made from carbon fiber to keep weight as low as possible while not compromising on strength. The 8.4 liter V10 was tuned to produce 650 bhp ay 6,100 rpm, up from the original output of ~600 bhp.

Under the long sloping hood you’ll find a modified Dodge Viper V10 with a displacement of 8.4 liters and 650 bhp at 6,100 rpm

Power is sent to the rear wheels via a Tremec 6-speed manual transmission into a limited slip differential, and from there out to the rear wheels. Braking is taken care of with discs front and back, including 15 inch rotors up front with 6-piston calipers from StopTech.

The GTX rides on forged center-lock alloy wheels, with 18 inch wheels up front and 19 inch wheels in the rear. The cars were planned to have active damping and ride height adjustment however these developments never saw the light of day.

The interior was well appointed for the time, with touch-sensitive switchgear, LCD instrumentation. McIntosh audio system with AM/FM/CD, power-steering, air-conditioning, and ample use of carbon fiber.

No official top speed was ever recorded for the GTX, however the company claimed it was capable of over 200 mph – the spec sheet shows nothing that would dispute this.

End Of The Road

When Dodge announced that 2010 would be the end of the road for the fourth generation Viper, Devon Motorworks had tried to buy the Viper platform. It was put up for open bidding, though Devon was the only bidder the amount was under the $10 million reserve and thus was not accepted by Chrysler.

The interior of the car is very well appointed considering it’s a prototype. It has a high-end stereo, climate control, power steering, and a digital dashboard.

This combination of the Great Recession and the end of the line for the platform that the Devon GTX was based on was the death knell for the car, and the company ceased operations soon after with just two cars completed.

The Devon GTX Shown Here

The car you see here is one of the two that were built, both essentially pre-production prototypes.

Remarkably this one just popped up for sale on eBay a few days ago with an asking price of $250,000 USD, while that’s not cheap it’s considerably less than the $500,000 – $525,000 USD they were originally going to sell for.

This car sold at auction with Barrett-Jackson for $220,000 USD in 2012, and this appears to be the first time it has been sold since.

The seller explains that the car is listed as a 1980 model due to the unique VIN used on the car, it has the mileage listed at 10,000 and he mentions it’s been used on several road/tour rallies and has won a number of best in show awards.

The car is for sale out of Dunedin, Florida. If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing.

The post “The Next Great American Supercar” Is For Sale On eBay – The Devon GTX appeared first on Silodrome.

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For Sale: A Porsche 356 Speedster Engine

This is a fully-rebuilt Porsche 356 Pre-A Speedster engine from the first year of the model’s production run – 1954.

When new from the factory this air-cooled flat-four was producing 55 bhp (DIN) at 4,400 rpm. It has a displacement of 1,488cc and a compression ratio of 6.8:1. With this engine the car had a claimed top speed of 155 km/h and excellent handling, thanks in part to the kerb weight of approximately 1,675 lbs (~760 kgs).

Among the many owners of the Speedster was James Dean, it would spark a love for small lightweight Porsches that would result in him buying a Porsche 550 Spyder – the car in which the was tragically killed in in 1955 when a young driver pulled out in front of him in a Ford Tudor.

There can be little doubt that the 356 Speedster is one of the most important models in the history of the German automaker. It was conceived by legendary New York auto importer Max Hoffman as a competitor for the small, lightweight, and low-cost roadsters pouring out of Britain into the United States.

A photograph of James Dean in his Porsche 356 Speedster in 1955. Image courtesy of Porsche.

Hoffman had stipulated that the 356 Speedster should cost under $3,000 USD to be competitive, that it should be stripped of any superfluous luxury items and sold as an affordable, minimalist sports car capable of being driven to the race track, winning in its class, and then being driven home again.

No one could have known at the time that the Speedster would become one of Porsche’s most desirable models in the decades to follow. They regularly change hands now for many hundreds of thousands of dollars, a far cry from the affordable bare bones racers they started out as.

The engine you see here was rebuilt by S.A. The New Feller Service of Amblainville, France, in November 2021 at a cost of €15,276 ($17,260 USD). It’s now due to roll across the auicvtion block with RM Sotheby’s on the 2nd of February with a price guide of $34,000 – $70,000 USD.

It’s difficult to predict where this engine might end up, it could be bought by a Speedster owner who wants a spare engine of course, though it may end up on display with a Porsche collector, or maybe even in the back of an Outlaw build.

If you’d like to read more about this engine or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing.

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Mille Miglia Eligible Racer: A 1956 Jaguar XK140 MC Roadster

This is a rare Jaguar XK 140 MC Roadster, it was the highest performance version of the XK140 offered to the public at the time of its release. The “MC” in the model name means the car was built to MC-specification, also known as Special Equipment or SE-specification in Europe.

The XK140 was already one of the fastest production cars in the world when it was introduced in 1954 to succeed the outgoing XK120 model. The MC version of the XK140 was fitted with race-derived cylinder heads, larger SU carburetors, heavy duty torsion bars, and a dual exhaust system for significantly improved performance.

Fast Facts – The Jaguar XK 140 MC Roadster

The Jaguar XK120 had been a revolutionary sports car when it was released in 1949, it was the fastest production car of the time, and Clark Gable famously bought the first one built.
When it came time to update the XK120, Jaguar engineers were careful not to change too much, they incorporated a slew of careful upgrades like rack and pinion steering, more legroom, a more powerful engine, uprated suspension, and better brakes.
Power for the XK140 was provided by the Le Mans-winning 3.4 liter Jaguar XK DOHC straight-six, with 190 hp in standard trim and 210 hp in MC/SE trim.
The Jaguar XK140 would remain in production from 1954 until 1957 at which point it was replaced by the XK150.

XK120 – The Origin Of Species

Collectors today view the XK140 as an almost perfect middle ground between the speed of the XK120 and the comfort of the later XK150. A slew of improvements were rolled into the XK140 to give it more power, better handling, better steering, better braking, and more interior space for passenger comfort than its predecessor.

This XK140 is finished in the unusual color combination of Arbour Green over a Biscuit interior. It has twin Brooklands screens in place of a windshield, and it rides on Borrani wire wheels.

When the Jaguar XK120 concept car was first shown to the world in 1948, just three years after the end of WWII, the car caused such a global sensation that it was approved for a full production run.

The original plan had been to just use the XK120 as a way to show off the brand new Jaguar XK engine designed by Jaguar Chief Engineer William Heynes and his team. Though they didn’t know it at the time, this engine would power them to multiple wins in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and it would stay in production for decades – until 1992 in fact.

Developing The Jaguar XK140

The XK120 had been such a runaway success for Jaguar that there must have been some trepidation about replacing it with a new model. As a result, it was decided to carefully upgrade the car and improve it rather than start anew.

This is the MC or SE specification Jaguar XK140 straight-six, producing 210 bhp at 5,750 rpm, and sending power to the rear wheels via a four-speed transmission with overdrive.

Beginning in the engine bay, an uprated version of the 3.4 liter XK engine was fitted, with power increased by 10 bhp to 190 bhp at 5,500 rpm.

An SE or “Special Equipment” version was also offered, known as the “MC” in the United States. This car used the high-performance cylinder heads from the Jaguar C-Type Le Mans race car, along with largely SU carburetors, and dual exhaust pipes offering a power boost to 210 bhp at 5,750 rpm.

All versions of the XK140 were fitted with tubular shock absorbers in place of the older-style lever arm shocks used on the XK120. Rack and pinion steering was also fitted, as well as additional cabin space, more effective bumpers, flashing indicator lights, improved brakes, more suspension travel, and from 1956 onwards the car could be ordered with an automatic transmission.

As with the earlier XK120, the performance of the XK140 was brisk. The car had a tested top speed of over 125 mph (200+ km/h), it could do the 0-60 mph dash in 8.4 seconds, and it was good for a quarter mile time of 16.6 seconds at 84 mph.

The XK series of Jaguars is regularly named among the most beautiful cars ever made, this profile image certainly makes it easy to see why.

Over the course of the 1954 to 1957 production run Jaguar would sell 8,937 examples of the XK140, they’re now highly prized by enthusiasts – particularly the SE/MC versions.

The Jaguar XK140 MC Roadster Shown Here

The car you see here is a Jaguar XK140 MC Roadster that was ordered new with the same colors it’s wearing now – an appealing combination of Arbour Green paint over a Biscuit interior.

This car left the factory as an MC car, with the added performance benefits that go along with it. It was recently restored by Doc’s Jags in Arizona, reportedly with the intention of running the modern Mille Miglia for which it’s eligible.

It’s due to cross the auction block on the 27th of January with a price guide of $130,000 – $160,000 USD. If you’d like to read more about the car or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing.

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Paris-Dakar Rally Specification: Mercedes-Benz 450 SLC 5.0

The Mercedes-Benz 450 SLC 5.0 may not seem like the first vehicle you would choose for endurance racing, but back in the late 1970s and early 1980s the car became an unlikely hero – winning many of the world’s toughest endurance rallies, often with a 1-2 finish.

Mercedes had developed the 450 SLC 5.0 specifically to homologate the model for the 1978 World Rally Championship, with a new engine and a number of modifications to make the car lighter and better suited to racing.

Fast Facts – The Mercedes-Benz 450 SLC 5.0

The Mercedes-Benz 450 SLC 5.0 became one of the most successful endurance rally racing cars of its time, with a 1-2 finish in the 1978 Vuelta a la América del Sur, a 1-2-3-4 finish in the 1979 Bandama Rally in Côte d’Ivoire, a 2nd in the 1979 Safari Rally, a 1-2 in the 1980 Rallye Côte d’Ivoire after which the factory team was disbanded.
After the factory team had been dissolved Albert Pfuhl bought all the cars and equipment, consisting of six 500 SLCs, spare parts, and 600 tires.
Pfuhl and his team would build a series of cars to compete in the 1984 Paris–Dakar Rally with a distinctive blue and white “BOSS” livery. Though the drivers put in their best efforts the cars finished well down the order, marking the end of the competition life for the model.
Today the 450 SLC 5.0 and its close sibling the 500 SLC remain lesser known race winning homologation specials, often a little more affordable than their period competitors.

The “Panzer Wagon” R107 + C107

Not long after the Mercedes-Benz 350 SL and SLC models were introduced in 1971 the model family was nicknamed the “Panzer Wagon,” after the relatively heavy kerb weight of 3,500 lbs (1,590 kgs).

The Panzer, or Panzerkampfwagen, was of course a hefty German battle tank used during the Second World War.

The Mercedes 500SLC in the Paris-Dakar Rally. Note the oversized tires that had been paired with lifted suspension and under-body armor plating. Image courtesy of Mercedes-Benz.

The internal model names for the SL and the SLC of this generation were R107 and C107 respectively, the letter stands for either “roadster” or “coupe,” and 107 was the chassis designation. It would be the second longest running model series for Mercedes, running from 1971 to 1989, beaten only by the G Wagon.

The reason the R107/C107 is a little on the heavy side is because it was designed more as a GT car than a sports car, in an era when Mercedes were building cars to last indefinitely, rust permitting.

The structure of the model series used steel unibody construction with independent front and rear suspension, disc brakes front and rear, and a front engined, rear wheel drive layout. The model was initially offered with the 3.5 liter Mercedes V8 and either manual or automatic transmissions, later a variety of V8s and inline-sixes were also offered.

In total, Mercedes built over 300,000 examples of the R107/C107. They’ve largely stood the test of time thanks to their sturdy construction and reliable drivetrains. The biggest problem for them tends to be the same problem faced by all steel-bodied vintage cars – corrosion.

The Mercedes-Benz 450 SLC 5.0 on its way to victory in the 11th Rally Bandama along the Ivory Coast in 1979. Image courtesy of Mercedes-Benz.

Thanks in part to the fact that so many were made the Panzer Wagon remains quite affordable in most world markets, depending on the specific model of course.

Most were built with automatic transmissions so manual cars tend to fetch a premium, but companies like the SL Shop sell bolt on kits to convert autos to manuals over the course of a weekend.

The Dakar Mercedes-Benz 450 SLC 5.0 Shown Here

The Mercedes-Benz 450 SLC 5.0 you see here was given a comprehensive rebuild to historic Paris-Dakar Rally specification by specialists SLC Racing in Slovakia four years ago. The total cost of the build was over €150,000 ($170,000 USD).

The 450 SLC 5.0 was a special homologation version of the 450 SLC fitted with the new all-aluminum version of the Mercedes-Benz M117 V8 engine with a displacement of 4990cc, 240 bhp, and 88 lbs less weight than the comparable 450 SLC V8 with its iron block.

Further weight reduction was undertaken in the construction of the body, with the hood, trunk lid, and wheels now being made of aluminum-alloy. The total weight reduction was said to be over 100 kilograms or 220 lbs.

This car was carefully built to Paris-Dakar specification by SLC Racing in Slovakia, the total cost for the build was over €150,000 ($170,000 USD). It would would likely make an excellent entry into the new Dakar Classic class if the new owner so wishes.

Just 2,769 examples of the 450 SLC 5.0 were built for homologation purposes between 1977 and 1981, they’re now among the most collectible of all the C107 SLCs.

Though not originally designed with endurance rally racing in mind, this is just what Mercedes did with the model starting in 1978 with a 1-2 finish in the Vuelta a la América del Sur, a grueling 7,000 kilometer race leaving from Buenos Aires and returning in a loop via Rio, Manaus, Caracas, Bogota, Lima, La Paz, Santiago, and Ushuaia.

In 1979 legendary rally driver Hannu Mikkola won the 1979 Bandama Rally in Côte d’Ivoire, with other 450 SLC 5.0s finishing 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. Victory in the 1979 Safari Rally was lost due to suspension damage but the car still managed a strong 2nd place, followed by a a 1-2 in the 1980 Rallye Côte d’Ivoire.

The last major rally outing for the model, now known as the 500 SLC, would be the 1984 Paris-Dakar Rally wearing a distinctive blue/white Hugo Boss livery, front bull bar, lifted suspension, and larger tires for handling desert sand.

The 500 SLCs would finish way down the order, classified 44th and 62nd, spelling the end of the model’s competition career.

The Dakar replica you see here is due to roll across the auction block with Bonhams on the 3rd of February with a price guide of $170,000 – $230,000 USD, you can click here if you’d like to read more about it or register to bid.

Images courtesy of Bonhams and Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz 450 SLC 5.0 Paris Dakar Rally

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A Rare American Giant Killer From 1959: The Corvair-Powered Devin C

This is an original factory-built Devin C built by Bill Devin and his team in 1959. The cars developed by Devin deserve to be more famous than they are, in period they won 32 SCCA races, the 1956 SCCA H Modified National Championship, and they were six-time Pikes Peak Unlimited Class winners.

There were a slew of other wins and podiums for Devin cars in the 1950s and 1960s, in fact the cars are still racing successfully today against some of the fastest Ferraris, Maseratis, Jaguars, and Aston Martins of the era.

Fast Facts – Bill Devin And The Devin C

Bill Devin was an accomplished racing driver who began designing and building his own cars in the early 1950s. He made use of a then-new material called fiberglass that allowed him to build lightweight car bodies quickly and easily.
The first cars built by Devin used a custom fiberglass body on a chassis he developed himself, fitted with engines and suspension components from a Deutsch-Bonnet Le Mans.
Interestingly, it was Bill Devin who invented the use of a toothed timing belt in an engine, he developed a version of the Deutsch-Bonnet engine with cylinders and heads from a Norton Manx and used timing belts to drive the overhead cams.
The Devin C you see here was built in-house by Bill Devin, it’s fitted with a high-performance Corvair engine, it established sports-car records at California drag strips in 1961, and it raced at the 1961 Los Angeles Times-Mirror Grand Prix at Riverside against legendary drivers.

Bill Devin – “The Enzo Ferrari of the Okie Flats”

Though he’s best-known today for the Devin series of sports cars he developed, Bill Devin was also an accomplished, race-winning driver in his own right, and he was a talented amateur engineer who pioneered the use of toothed timing belts for engines.

The lightweight fiberglass body was a trademark of all Devin’s sports cars, this one is fitted with a racing specification 180 bhp Corvair engine.

Working with Norton motorcycle racer Don Evans, Devin took the cylinders and heads from two Norton Manx motorcycles and adapted the two-cylinder boxer Panhard crankcase to work with them. He then drove twin belts to operate the overhead cams in the Norton heads.

Sadly he never patented his invention, if he had he would likely have become an exceedingly wealthy man due to the rapid rise popularity of belt driven overhead cams in cars and motorcycles in the decades since.

After buying a small Crosley Hotshot and modifying it to race in 1949, Devin enjoyed immediate success on track as a driver – winning the novice race on his first outing as a racing driver at Buchannan Field.

By 1953 Devin had ordered a Ferrari 250MM with the aim of racing it at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, when he arrived in Italy it wasn’t yet ready so he bought a Ferrari 166MM Touring Barchetta and a Ferrari 340 America.

He would debut the 240MM stateside in the Sports Car Club of America Madera race – he finished third in the novice event before turning the car over to Phil Hill, who won the main event.

It would be the sale of the 250MM that would change the course of Devin’s life, he took a small front-wheel drive Deutsch-Bonnet in part trade for the Ferrari and though he didn’t know it at the time, the Deutsch-Bonnet would start him off as an automaker in his own right.

This car is set up for both road and race track use, it can carry a passenger however they need to work their way into the car around the roll bar strut that is braced in their foot well.

He created his first fiberglass mould using the Deutsch-Bonnet body, modifying it and then fitting it to a chassis he designed powered by his unique Panhard-Norton engine with those belt driven overhead cams.

Thanks to his successes with his first Devin-badged car, Bill would develop a slew of cars in the years that followed including the Devin SS, Devin D, and Devin C. Many of these cars were sold as kits or bodies only for people to build themselves, a few were built by Bill Devin and his team – these are the cars that tend to be built to a very high level.

The Corvair-Powered Devin C Shown Here

The Devin C you see here was built by Devin in 1959, it’s one of the first of 21 examples built, and shortly after it left the factory it was used by the Granatelli brothers for supercharger testing at the Bonneville Salt Flats.

After this the Granatellis also ran the supercharged car at various Californian drag strips, setting a new sports car record 12.44 second quarter-mile run at 109.75 mph in the process.

Once the supercharger had been removed this car was entered by its first owner into the LA Times-Mirror Grand Prix at Riverside in October 1961 driven by Pete Woods.

This is a flat-six Chevrolet Corvair engine that has been built for performance, it now turns out 180 bhp, enough to make the lightweight Devin C a rocketship in the right hands.

In the 10 lap introductory qualifying race Woods would race shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Stirling Moss, Jim Hall, Dan Gurney, Roger Penske, Jack Brabham, Bruce McLaren, Ken Miles, Walt Hansgen, George Follmer, and Augie Pabst.

Sadly the engine seized before the main event, bringing Woods’ afternoon to an abrupt halt.

In the years after this, this car passed through a number of hands until it ended up with Phoenix-based Corvair specialist Tom Schrum in 1993. Schrum undertook a full restoration on the car, with the bodywork being taken care of by specialist John Lee.

Schrum became ill in 2012 and the car needed to be sold on to have the restoration completed, Bud Bourassa took on the car and completed the restoration incorporating a few minor changes which included a conversion to disc brakes, installation of a wraparound windscreen, covered headlamps, different taillights and gearshift, and a MOPAR gas cap.

The car is now fitted with a racing specification Corvair engine with forged pistons and Weber 40 IDA carburetors, capable of 180 bhp.

The car is now being offered for sale by RM Sotheby’s on the 27th of January with a price guide of $70,000 – $90,000 USD. If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing.