Jalopnik
We learned on Friday that Dante Alighieri would prefer to drive a '58 Fiat 600 Multipla in Hell, and that's an important lesson. Another lesson that all those sentenced to eternity in Project Car Hell should learn is the joys associated with buying a Hell Project without a price. Yes, literally priceless cars await us today, and not just any priceless cars. Old race cars!
See, this way you can negotiate endlessly with some hardball seller, drag your newly-acquired dilapidated carcass diamond in the rough home, and dream of old-timey racing glory as you recreate hand-fabricated components for the next decade.
These days, you can take your 3rd-gen Camaro or Fox Mustang and build a credible 9-second drag car without too much trouble and only a few wheelbarrows full of Benjamins. Sure, you'll be quick, but there's bound to be some old guy at the track who remembers blasting down Lions Drag Strip in a barely controllable 392 Hemi-powered Anglia or Topolino with a cigar clenched in his teeth and a couple of empty Schlitz cans rolling around by the pedals. He'll look you in the eye as you climb out of your safe-n-sane beast and you'll know what he's thinking. And you'll feel shame. But it doesn't have to be that way! Just call up the seller of this Hemi-powered 1932 Austin Bantam, which the seller "was told" ran 9.20 at 160 MPH back in the hazily-specified day and start talking money. I say "seller" instead of "owner" in this case, because it appears that this guy has a line on the car and hopes to turn it around for a quick buck: "i plan on buying this car and selling it for a profit it's not cheap." So there you have it- no price, seller may not own the car- what could go wrong? We don't know when it was built or raced, but the wishful-thinking rollbar seems to indicate late 1950s through late 1960s. Hmmm... wonder how hard it would be to make this thing nominally street legal? Imagine using this Austin as a daily driver!
It's hard to argue with the sheer awesomosity of that Bantam, of course, but what if your preferred flavor of racing involves turns as well as Schlitz cans? In that case your particular level of Hell has a parking area reserved for low-production orphan road-race cars, such as, say, this 1957 Devin with aluminum Rover Buick V8. This appears to be a Devin SS, but we can't say for sure; the seller doesn't feel like tapping the keyboard any longer than absolutely necessary, so there's not much in the way of description here. In fact, all we get is "(LOOKS LIKE A FERRARI!) NOT CHEEP but is valuable!" But really, what else do you need? The "NOT CHEEP" part is especially informative, and it augurs one of those lengthy Middle East peace agreement-style bargaining sessions that starts out with a $1,500,000 asking price countered by a $500 counteroffer and goes downhill from there. But just picture yourself behind the wheel of this fine fiberglass machine in a money-is-no-object vintage race, leaving all the dime-a-dozen Ferraris and Jaguars behind like so many Nash Metropolitans!
Comments
The Austin is just too cool. I want that.
The great thing about the Devin is that you can put just
about anything in them. And when they're done, they are stupid fast, handle really well, eligible for just about any vintage grid, and fairly cheap.
"Looks Like a Ferrari!!!"
Well, good enough for me! Ill ride anything that looks like a Ferrari, and is as expensive to repair as a ferrari staright to Project Car Hell!
Near-as-damn-undriveable altereds for the win.
I need the Hemi's
and the name on the Bantam sure looks like truth in advertising.....
Pretty sure the Bantam once moved under its own power, probably pretty quickly too. It appears that someone gave up on the Deving 50 YEARS AGO! If it couldn't be made to run then, imagine the fun now. tough call, but I'm going with the Devin.
Yeah, it looks about as much like a Ferrari as the Fiero did. Maybe that's what it needs!
I'm going with the Bantam as the Devin body alone is worth some bucks and if you could get your hands on it cheep (pun intended) you turn it easily.
Unfortunately it appears that the Devin owner knows what he's got, and so it will likely eat your wallet whole. It also appears to be only about 4 miles from my office so I could probably squint and see it from here.
The Bantam looks more hellacious, and I don't think will be as valued when finished. Still would make a nice conversation piece in the living room.
The Devin, for the fact that the body looks like it was crudely splashed from an actual Devin.
Got to be the quarter miler. That's motoring at its finest.
The helluvitall is the Bantam. A car that may or may not be FUBARed into utter worthlessness, a seller trying to sell a car that is neither his nor entrusted to him to sell, and after all of that, no idea what it's going to set you back.
Give the bastard this: he's got Truck Nutz. He won't try to buy it from the current owner until his top bidder's check clears, and then he's gonna cry poor to the owner until he can carve off a zero or two.
I'm not saying the Bantam ain't Hellish - we know it is. But the seller is an absolute demon. Run. Run like the wind.
Gotta go Devin here. It probably wouldn't be much hassle to finish and get running, but that (all-aluminum) Buick V-8 was notorious for cooling issues related to its dry sleeve design (there's a reason they sold it to Rover for a song).
I gotta say Devin....just so I can call it the Devin Miles
Bantam selling dude is, at least, earnest about what he's aiming to achieve...
Personally, I'd take the hell, give it a proper bonnet to conceal the motor ('s? Dual 392 setup? Oooh, my trousers are twitching), stretch the chassis by 20" and make it into a dual-bench six seater.
A Bona Fide family dragster. I can drive, the rest of the family can flip pancakes.
Altered, no, funny, no, silly, no, stupid car FTW.
The Buick/Devin was the car of the young hero in the book "Drag Strip" that was read to us as one of our storytime books in 4th grade. As it happens, I went to a Catholic school.
I'm sure I don't need to tell you that being read a book called "Drag Strip" (featuring Buick/Devins, supercharged T-buckets and fuelie 'Vettes) read by an 80-year old nun named Sister Marguerite is an unbelievably awesome life experience.
So the Devin, for old times sake.
"Costly Toy" indeed.
The fee?
You soul!
Bantam.
@Mad_Science: ditto
You know, even though all my preferred forms of motor racing involve turns (preferably in both directions, thanks), I've got to give the nod to the Bantam.
@Mike the Dog: Same, although some California hot-rodders managed to build them pretty reliably. Dan Gurney drove a Buick-powered, Mickey Thompson-designed rear-engine car at the 1962 Indy 500 and thought the engine was actually pretty good.
The Devin is actually worth a try. The Bantam? Oh man, that poster's got big brass truck nutz. What does he plan to do, drug the owner, grab his hand and sign the sales slip for him? P-C-H.
"Looks like a Ferrari"
my ass
My grandfathers name was Devlin, so there is my vote!
Devil-Devin--by default. For all the reasons cited, anti-Bantam and anti-Bantam poster.
But dang, when I saw the picture of the Devin, I thought it was carved out of wood. Or maybe a genuine P.O.S. drying in the sun.
You're screwed either way. You buy the Austin, people are going to think it's a '32 Ford. You buy the Devin, people are going to think it's a '60s Ferrari.
Bantam FTW. I'm thinking as long as you've got the second engine on hand, stretch the frame two feet or so and make a twin-engined Banshee out of it.
I hate you Murilee. The project itself is supposed to be hell, not deciding which one.
I voted Devin, but getting that Bantam registered for street use would be a project so hellish Satan himself would run in fear... especially if you lived in California.
It's seem's there's a eppidemmik of shit's in peeple's spelling's and apostrohie's these's day's.
Anyhoo, Anglia. Just so you can say, "a guy told a guy who told me that it'll run a 9.60."
Definitely the Devin. With the Bantam, you've got an American engine, and with the massive popularity of all things Mopar, you could likely remove pretty much everything British about it. It's going to be just another old-school hot-rod in the end, and that's neither new nor interesting.
Also, drag racing is silly.
On the other hand, the Devin is a car that will go around corners and, because it looks like a vintage Ferrari, won't make you look like a redneck either. Of course, the car is British through and through, which means that you'll be ordering parts from Liverpool every ten minutes.
Early Hemi > anything else
Did anyone else notice the bizarre and scary-looking front suspension on the Bantam? I've seen single transverse leaf-spring suicide axles before (where the axle sits in front of the chassis frame), but never with a single centrally-located coil spring. That thing must roll side-to-side quite a bit when all the rotational inertia of the engine and drivetrain start a-twistin'. Hell indeed.
Basically, if you dont pick the Bantam, you are likely insane. Easiest choice ever.
Austin Bantam, 1300 pounds of pure adrenaline. Crank it up to eleven with that beast.
Harumph. Devin. My fellow Jalops have lost the plot on this one.
Hey, I once came close to pulling off the same kind of deal. A radio station near my home had a nice 30' Airstream outfitted as a remote broadcast station / diner. I was close to closing the deal with the station manager who was going to take whatever I offered him just to get it off their lot (like $1,000) and I already started posting on Airstream forums, but he ended up bartering it to the company that painted their tower. The thing was worth about $30K.
@IamZardoz: Call me crazy--oh, wait, you just did.
"What's that?"
"It's a Bantam."
"A Phantom?"
"No, a Bantam."
"You mean, like a miniature chicken?"
"Yes. No. Wait, come back--"
Which would I rather have? The Devin.
Which one is pure hell? The Bantam.
First, you would have to go through the hell that is the state and/or federal legal system as there are probably 2 or 3 legal actions waiting to happen as the "seller" tries to flip that car. Then, if your successful in suing the "seller" to get posession of the car (because you know he'll try to pull some funny business with you as well), then you're just beginning the hell of making that thing roadworthy.
Bantam. Mo useless, mo betta.
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