Devin Volkswagen Porsche 356 speedster, SCCA road race

If you're reading this ad then perhaps you are familiar with the cars of Bill Devin. the Enzo Ferrari of the Okie Flats.   He was a race car driver and builder here in the United States during the early period of post war road racing.   He produced one of the first fiberglass kit cars in the 1950s.   His ads proliferated the back of sports car and racing magazines-for only $295 you could buy one of his bodies that looked like a Ferrari.   Of course. building or adapting a chassis for that body was up to the builder. Many of his bodies ended up on various foreign car chassis-Panhard. Triumph. Austin Healey. and Volkswagen.   Others ended up on Corvette frames or cut down American sedan frames. His Devin SS predated the Carrol Shelby Cobra by many years and was quite an accomplishment for an underfunded race car builder.   Many of his Devin bodies was used on cars that were raced in SCCA events.   Others were made for cruising the boulevard on Saturday night.   Of course. in the late 1950s and early 1960s. most amateur race cars were also street cars.   Ice cream on Friday night and racing on Sunday!

I bought this particular car a while back and have done some work to it.   Just as a fyi. this is my fourth Devin Volkswagen and while I don't claim to be an expert. I am pretty familiar with these cars.   This particular example is VERY well built.   I don't know the full history of the car or whether it raced but it wouldn't surprise me if it did.   It was made in the late 50s/early 60s with a genuine Porsche 356 Speedster windshield and frame.   Let's look at this car closely from the ground up.

First of all. this Devin is built on a full length 1959 Volkswagen Type 1 chassis.   If you're familiar with early Volkswagens then please take a close look at the  undercarriage shots.   It is remarkable how rust free the original floor pans are (as is the rest of the undercarriage) Obviously this car has always been well taken care of and has been stored inside as opposed to languishing in some field like most old cars (and my previous Devins)   It still has its original split case transmission.   The motor is an early motor with an upgraded exhaust.   A combination of a tube frame and Volkswagen underbody supports the Devin body.   Look closely at the inner fenders and also how the body is attached.   It looks like a factory built car.  

The Devin body itself is in excellent condition (with a couple of exceptions)  Again. this body is smoooooth.   It doesn't have a multitude of cracks. splits. and chunks taken out like many old fiberglass cars.   A close observation of some of the paint flaking off on the underneath the rockers makes me think that this car was once white.   If any of you folks have some pictures of a white Devin/Volkswagen/Porsche racing in period then I would love to see them. The owner before me took out the original Porsche windshield and frame.   I had a large stash of early Porsche parts and replaced the frame with my own.   For all your early Porsche nuts. it appears that the windshield posts themselves are replicas as they are the obviously new shiny chrome.   The top windshield frame appears to be old and while I don't claim it to be an original Speedster piece. it looks like it to me and I'd like to be proven otherwise.   The current glass has a crack but I'm including a replacement glass windshield.   When the windshield posts were taken out. some fiberglass was removed and will require some repair.   This car came to me with the doors glassed over and the top part scalloped down so one could step over.   I cut  to where the original doors openings were and started to fabricate some doors.   I've only done a composite outer skin mounted with Austin Healey hinges.   The doors will require additional work to get them up to the standard of the rest of the car.   The rear decklid has a genuine Porsche 356 grill for cooling.   This dash has the factory 1959 Volkswagen gauges and steering wheel.   The seats are from an Austin Healey 100.  

This drivetrain on this car is almost all stock.   I did a good bit of work when I first got this car to get it to run and drive and stop.   It was running great but it's been in the back of my shop since last fall and I wouldn't consider this car quite road ready.   It might need the gas drained. new fuel filter. etc.   but an hour or two with a knowledgeable VW wrench will have this car ready it no time.   It is fine to drive onto a trailer for transport.  

This car is titled as a 1959 Roadster using the factory numbers that Volkswagen stamped into the chassis.   This would be a fantastic project to finish as a street legal race car.   Of course. many options are available for upgraded engines from Porsche 356. Okrasa. etc.   I  have more pictures of this car uploaded at a photo site.   Email me for the link to that site or for any questions that  you might have about this Devin.  

Also published at eBay.com

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