Devin sports car, 1953 MGTD chassis, V8

If you were a sports car enthusiast in the 1950s and you wanted a exotic sports car like a Ferrari or Maserati but your funds were limited, ou only had one option....you had to build a car yourself. There were a number of companies that made a fiberglass body that you could put on a chassis of your own but the most prolific of these was Devin Enterprises. Bill Devin, nown as the "Enzo Ferrari of the Okie Flats" was more than just a fiberglass body builder. He's credited as the first to use a rubber toothed belt to drive a dual overhead cam motor. He also built complete, eady to race and drive cars, ncluding the Devin SS, nd the rear engined C and D.
I was told that this car was build in 1958. This Devin was built on the chassis of a 1953 MGTD. The chassis of an MGTD is a sturdy and stiff frame with box section side rails and crossmembers. It has always been a popular choice for a V8 conversion and that is what the builders of this car decided to do. Chevrolet introduced its famed small block V8 in 1955 and it became the go to choice for hot rodders and sports car enthusiasts looking for a powerful yet fairly light engine. This car comes with a 283 Chevrolet V8 that is date coded 1958. It has the early Corvette valve covers. This car also comes with a 4 speed manual transmission. I would assume that both of these would need a rebuild.
The rear suspension is most impressive on this car. It has a narrowed 1956 dated 10 bolt rear that is held in place with a 4 bar suspension with Watts linkage. This would have been at the very cutting edge of technology for this time period and this type suspension would allow both superior traction on the drag strip and excellent handling on the road race track. The front suspension is the stock independent system with double wishbones and coil springs. This car is set up for the engine to be placed far behind the front suspension, ffectively making it a front "mid engine" car.
The dash of this car is chock full of original Stewart Warner gauges including a 160 mph speedometer and a 8k tach, Hildebrandt gauge panel, very period correct white rally steering wheel. Original bomber seats take care of seating.
The body of this Devin is still in good condition. All of these old fiberglass bodies always needs some work if you want to make them concourse but this is one of the nicer ones that I've seen with no major damage . It looks like the dark blue metallic paint is the original paint. This car has period correct slot wheels and early Micky Thompson "Indy Profile" tires. This car at one time sported side pipes as you can see the hangers still on the car.
This car is truly a time machine and hasn't been modified or hacked up like most of these early specials. It still looks like what it is...an early Devin special built by a very talented builder or shop with access to all the period accessories of the late 1950s. At close to 300 horsepower and less than 2000 pounds and with this sophisticated suspension, his car would have been a terror both on the track and street. This car is sold with a 1953 MGTD title.
If you're a fan of SCCA race cars, lfa Romeo, llard, ustin Healey, rosley, evin, iat, ord flathead, orgotten fiberglass, lasspar, emi, H-mod, aguar, ellison, arcos, aserati, orsche, CTA, riumph, VR, olkswagen, r just about any classic sports racing car, hen you might enjoy checking out my ad.