What is this I found in the back corner of a shop?!

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jfg455

The Hot Rod Cop
Joined
Apr 8, 2010
Messages
3,828
Location
nh
Soo...I really should stay off the interwebs...Lol

While cruising the marketplace I found this and drove 4.5 hours to NY to buy it. As near as I can figure it's a Devin Special kit car from the Devin company. They were around from 57-64. The "Special" bodies were usually made for racing but a few made it to the streets and were rarely complete cars. The only weird thing is this has a flat rear panel much like a Cobra Daytona. It has a 4" tube frame, Corvair front suspension, 8" ford rear and an MGB windshield. Also set up for RHD. It originally had a 283 sbc and a BW T10 4 spd. Anybody know anything about it?

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Looks like a home built frame, front end looks scary. I don’t think that is a Ford rear, either, looks more like a 55 Chevy. I’d have to go with a MII or similar front end and move the steering back to the left where it belongs, lol. Should be about like a kit Cobra with a V8 in it......lots of power and low weight.
 
That rear flat panel may have been added later. Late 60s Corvette inspiration perhaps. Any kind of ID tag on the body JFG. [S
 
does look like a devin in a way and away not. bet there was a lot of changes over the years they were made. the doors do look like they are cut deeper down in the body and that may be a way to close in on the year. i do agree with bama on the rearend but i say olds or pontiac.
 
does look like a devin in a way and away not. bet there was a lot of changes over the years they were made. the doors do look like they are cut deeper down in the body and that may be a way to close in on the year. i do agree with bama on the rearend but i say olds or pontiac.

I think what is throwing people (and me) off is the rear section. But then the "Special" models could be ordered in any configuration you asked for. Very well could be a one off body for someone who asked for the flat rear. [P
 
Are you familiar with Geoff Hacker's "Forgotten Fiberglass"? He might solve your mystery!

https://www.undiscoveredclassics.com/forgotten-fiberglass/

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So I contacted a couple of these sites and low and behold we have a winner! Geoff Hacker identified it as a Byers CR-90 which came out just after the first Devin came out. Word has it that Jim Byers liked the look of the Devin and tweaked it a little bit. The nose is slightly shorter, it's deeper through the doors etc. But even after identifying it there seems to be a few more questions like there were only ever 12 CR-90 bodies made and to all the experts recollection and digging nobody can ever place one being built with the flat rear section. Also Byers was said to have used chopped fiberglass to make his bodies but this one is laid in mat. All the dimensions match a CR-90. The search for info continues...
 
I had what I thought was a Devin. Traded a glass Bantam roadster body for it. Never did anything with it and really never researched it to know if it was a real Devin.

The flat rear panel is not in keeping with the style of the rest of the body and could have been an owner modification. Are there any signs of that?
 
I had what I thought was a Devin. Traded a glass Bantam roadster body for it. Never did anything with it and really never researched it to know if it was a real Devin.

The flat rear panel is not in keeping with the style of the rest of the body and could have been an owner modification. Are there any signs of that?

As near as I can tell by sticking my head under it it looks like it was molded at the same time as the rest of the body. I'll be able to get a better look at it when I can get my lift cleared so I can put it up in the air
 
Interesting subject!

Curiosity forced me to do some reading... seems even the experts disagree and/or contradict themselves...

For instance, one of Hacker's articles said Byers hand laid his bodies, anything post Byers was chop gun constructed. [S

Another piece I read (somewhere), was a letter to somebody asking to identify his find (which turned out to be a CR-90). The guy argued, "It's a Devin. I should know. I'm president of the Devin registry" or fan club or something along those lines. Ha!

Just thinking out loud... you might have a "splash" copy on your hands. Nobody knows where the molds went or how many copies exist, genuine or not...

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Glad you have some more info on it. There were a ton of companies cranking out fiberglass bodies, so it is hard to know who did what. I like the style, and with a few mechanical/ structural changes, it could be a cool little roadster.

I like it, but that frame and suspension are scary.
 
I like it, but that frame and suspension are scary.

That's an understatement! lol

I'm considering doing a 60's era British Gasser style with it. I have a model A axle, 40 ford wishbone and spindles etc. Thought maybe a stack injected LS 4l60 combo and hide all the electrical bits.
 
I'm considering doing a 60's era British Gasser style with it. I have a model A axle, 40 ford wishbone and spindles etc. Thought maybe a stack injected LS 4l60 combo and hide all the electrical bits.

Me likey. [cl

Check my post in the gasser thread!

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