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I love buttons! I bought these at a big Craft Exhibition. In theory, I bought them as embellishments to use in my cardmaking, but the real reason is just because I like them!
#110 Pastel Colours in 113 pictures in 2013
First "astro" outing with my X-T4 and XF 23/1.4 lens. I didn't quite get infinity focus here but there's very little evidence of coma. I like the overall result though. Northern hemisphere stars on display; a combination of town glows (Bermagui white (8km) and Narooma yellow (30km), partly reflected by low cloud moving in from the sea. The bright horizon light is Montague Island light house. I'm guessing that the line of evenly spaced lights very low in the sky on the left is a string of SpaceX satellites.
Bill Devin was an American businessperson, automotive entrepreneur and racing driver. He is primarily known as the founder of Devin Enterprises, a company that built fiberglass body-kit conversions and complete automobiles. He lived from 1915 to 2000.
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Devin bodies and kits
After gaining experience making complete fiberglass bodies with the Devin-Panhards, Devin Enterprises expanded into production of fiberglass bodies to be sold to builders of custom and one-off specialty cars. Production started in 1956.
Apart from the appealing shape and reasonable price, two things distinguished the Devin bodies from their competition. One was the wide range of sizes of bodies available. The Devin body mold was not a simple one-piece shape. Instead, an assortment of 50 differently-sized molds of individual sections of the body were used. These could be assembled in a variety of ways to create one of 27 possible sizes for a customer's fiberglass body. This allowed the company to produce a recognizable Devin body that would fit a wide variety of chassis, from the tiny Crosley, through the British MGs, Triumphs and Healys right up to some American car frames.
The other feature that made the Devin bodies popular was the high quality of the finish. Devin used fibreglass cloth for the outer layer of their bodywork rather than the coarser glass mat often used by other manufacturers. This produced a very smooth surface finish on the bodies. Devin bodies were always very smooth and the quality of finish on panel edges and large flat surfaces was often better than that of competitors' products.
Later, kits could be bought that included a Devin-designed ladder frame as an option along with the body.
Devin quickly became the world's largest and most successful producer of aftermarket fiberglass bodies. Between direct sales and dealers Devin bodies were delivered throughout the Americas as well as Europe, South Africa and Saudi Arabia.
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The Devin SS is created
Okay, fast forward to 1957 when Devin was contacted by two textile engineers from Belfast, Northern Ireland, Noel Hillis and Malcolm MacGregor. Both men were racing enthusiasts who decided to build their own car. Hillis provided the workshop space while MacGregor designed the chassis. They wrote to Devin to ask about arranging for a custom body for their car. Bill Devin was interested enough in the project that he flew to Ireland to look at the car. Instead of selling them a body, Devin negotiated a deal with the two Irish engineers for MacGregor's chassis to be used for a new Devin car.
Devin asked for some changes for the final car. For the main chassis members, 76 mm (3 in) round cross-section tubing replaced the 102 mm (4 in) diameter tubing in the prototype. The 2,337 mm (92 in) production wheelbase was a compromise between the 2,286 mm (90 in) of the prototype and the 2,388 mm (94 in) that Devin had originally asked for. The battery and generator were relocated to the rear of the car, with the generator being driven off a pulley at the differential.
Devin designed a new body specifically for the car. The front-mounted radiator was angled forward, and the car did not come with a radiator fan, which combined to permit an extremely low nose. While early bodies had a rounded rear, later versions had a raised and flattened rear with room for a license plate. Later cars also had enlarged headlamp buckets.
The prototype's Jaguar DOHC inline six-cylinder engine was replaced by a 4,638 cc (283 cu in) Chevrolet OHV small-block V8. In Devin tune this engine had a low-rise intake manifold made by Devin and a Spaulding "Flamethrower" ignition and developed 164 kW (220 bhp) of power, which went to the rear wheels through a BorgWarner T-10 4-speed manual transmission. This resulted in a 988 kg (2,179 lb) car with a 0–100 km/h time of 4.8 seconds and a top speed of 225 km/h (140 mph).
The new car was called the Devin Super Sport, or SS. The rolling chassis was built in Ireland and then shipped to El Monte where the body and power-train was fitted and the interior trimmed. Released in 1959, the SS was initially priced at $5,950.00 USD.
Here’s where facts become a bit “fuzzy”. One source ( Wikipedia I consulted indicates Evans Industries in Ireland (I guess??) became the sole distributor for the SS. However, due to a variety of issues with the Irish chassis Devin designed a replacement car that was made in California and was called the American chassis. The price for the cars made with the American chassis rose to $10,000.00 in the last year of production.
Evans Industries ended their distributor relationship with Devin in a press release dated March 9, 1960.
The “other” story
Whereas another source (MODERN CLASSICS by Rich Taylor, 1988 edition, published by Beekman House), indicates when Devin received an order (for a body) from a car builder in Ireland named Malcolm MacGregor, Devin negotiated with this Irishman to create a joint effort in the building of a whole new car. This source goes on to say Devonshire Engineering in Belfast was contracted to make a high-quality chassis that would incorporate a Corvette engine and the Devin SS body. The article goes on to say MacGregor’s chassis was a true object d’art and continues to elaborate on all the technical and mechanical aspects of the “MacGregor / Devin” car; a 283 cu. in. - 390 hp Corvette engine, a Borg-Warner 4-speed transmission and so on and so forth………. The price, ready to run, a mere $5,950. USD.
** Considering the conflicting information above, I can positively say I am totally unsure that the car which I had recorded at the 2018 British (yes, I did say, “British”) Car Fest could be but more likely than not, is or is not a genuine MacGregor built / Devin bodied Devin SS. Jeeez, I need a few shots of Jamison Whiskey after all this!
Oh there’s more…….much more! In late ’58 Devin released a Devin D, and then in 1959 he revised the Devon D and introduced a Devin C and then in 1963 began construction of a Devon GT which unfortunately ended up nowhere due to the fact he lost his financial backing. (Yes, I know “C” comes before “D” and D comes before “GT” in the alphabet but in Bill Devin’s world chronological order apparently does not coincide with the English alphabet………..)
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The depicted artwork
Just as Bill Devin’s enterprises were a wild assortment of ventures, so is this multi-image composite - having been created using several images.
Below is my original out of camera picture - well actually plural, “pictures” being that this was a 3-exposure bracketed HDR. So you might be asking yourself, what exactly is the subject of this scene. To alleviate any confusion, the red 1958 Devin SS is the subject.
Much like my artwork (or visa versa) Devin’s 1958 Devin SS car morphed from an evolution of experience, business enterprises, ideas, ventures or whatever it may be called. Believe me, Devin’s experiences in the world of automobile racing is much too convoluted for me to go into long detail here and now. In fact even as I write, I can see my thought processes drifting all over the place………. in other words, rambling.
The good thing about what is known as an, “artistic license” is that one can let one’s imagination go pretty much wild and create almost anything……… and claim one’s artwork represents just about anything one wants. So just for kicks and giggles, let’s say the depicted Devin is the real thing…….. Corvette engine and all.
btw - the small part of the aluminum bodied car next to the Devin is a 1959 Elva MK3
I sure hope someone enjoys this picture/artwork because I worked my butt off looking for acceptable pieces, parts and especially a background image. Not perfect but the best I could do…………..
We saw a number of turtles out enjoying the sunshine just as we were doing. These were rather ugly, and I think they might have been young snappers.
ⓒRebecca Bugge, All Rights Reserved
Do not use without permission.
In the tiny (really tiny) town museum of Thérouanne, which is mostly devoted to the remains of the perhaps most famous incident of the town: when king Charles V of the Holy Roman empire had the town razed to the ground (including its cathedral) in 1553. The town had been captured by the Henry VIII of England and emperor Maximilian I in 1513 after the battle of Guinegate (also known as the battle of the Spurs) where they had defeated the French. When the French won the siege of Metz in 1552 the emperor took his revenge on Thérouanne. Actually the only thing left was a settlement outside the city walls: Saint-Martin-Outre-Eaux. This place later, around 1800, took the old name of Thérouanne.
I was bored and wanted to put these guys together. The far right is from last June.
gave him a bow because Marines used to shoot flaming arrows off of PBRs into straw huts to set them on fire or something.
A nice assortment of tulip colors this morning on an otherwise freezing snow covered morning. Enjoy!
It was fun experimenting with a few ways of building shipping containers, as well as adding the words and designs. They aren't able to open though as that would mess with the looks of the sides.
On the bridge and below it where the footpath from Crimes Lane to Bates Mill passes under the Crewe to Chester Railway. On the track is Black Five 45212 which headed the severely delayed North Wales Coast Express for the leg between Crewe and Chester.