eBay Find: Quite Possibly The World’s Baddest Austin A40 Devon
by Andrew Wolf
Street Legal TV
We’re guessing that few car-folk know what an Austin A40 Devon is, or could identify one if it ran them over in a crosswalk, but for a brief history lesson, these vehicles were built and sold during the 1940’s and into the early 50’s by English manufacturer Austin Motor Company Limited as body-on-frame, two and four-door saloons (vehicles with a three-box passenger compartment configuration) and as panel vans, pickup trucks, and utility coupes. From the factory, they had 1.2L straight-four OHV engines that delivered a whopping 40 horsepower to the tire.
The Austin Devon you see here that’s being auctioned on eBay, however, does not have a straight-four in it, and we’d dare to step out on a limb and say it’s the baddest Austin A40 in the world. Because really, how much competition is there?
Powering this one-off Devon, built by RJ Fabrication in California, is a 383 cubic inch small block Chevrolet with Dart heads topped with a Weiand supercharger feeding a pair of Demon 750 cfm carburetors that undoubtedly multiplies the OEM horsepower rating tenfold, if not more. JE Pistons, a Crower crankshaft, custom headers with Flowmaster exhaust, MSD Ignition, and a COMP camshaft round the engine package out, with a B&M-shifted Powerglide transmission handling the duties of sending the power through the Dana 60 differential to the Summer Brothers axles, the Centerline wheels, and finally, the Hoosier 31×16.5×15 meats.
The four-door, ’48 model A40 has had it’s front end stretched six full inches, all resting on a tube chassis that proves this thing is more than just a car show cruiser with race car looks.
Billed as a streetable race car, this sweet little ride makes some hay on the street, and we wouldn’t doubt it does the same on the strip. You’ve just gotta’ love a classic World War II era chunk of iron given a few modern touches, a big blown engine combination with a certifiably cool blower “lump” at idle and the whistle under WOT.
Says the seller: “It’s not a mamby pamby wannabe car and is for the serious enthusiast that wants show and go! Every car show or drag strip I take it to it gets plenty of attention.”
Now, about that asking price? How about a cool sixty large.
Source: Street Legal TV
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