Our first monthly meeting for the year was very well attended with several members arriving early and taking advantage of the longer daylight hours to create an impromptu display of classic and sporting vehicles on the driveway in front of the Clubhouse. Please note that this area is reserved for special vehicles, there is ample parking available in the general car parking area for Toyota Camrys and such like.
Our display vehicle this month was Graham Longmore?s recently registered and quite stunning Devaux coupe. This 1930?s Art Deco inspired coupe was designed in 1999 by Upper Beaconsfield industrial Designer, David Clash of Devaux Cars. He created the first prototype vehicle utilising a Riley chassis and Jaguar running gear. The second fibreglass shell was sold to Graham who set out on a 15-year build of what is fundamentally the second prototype, using similar basic components to David’s. Today?s production versions which are built to comply with our current ADRs are built on a spaceframe chassis and powered by modern Ford V8 or 6-cylinder engines.
Graham?s Devaux was built without reference to any workshop manual or build instructions, it thus created a real challenge to design, build and fit each component in a way that was not only compatible with every other element of the car, but ensuring serviceability and compliance with ADRs as well. Working closely with a VicRoads engineer, who inspected the car on several occasions during the build, ensured that it could be fully registered upon completion. Wherever you look on this vehicle you find amazing attention to detail and beautiful workmanship. The wind-up windows in the doors are an engineering masterpiece, whilst the integrated Barina air-conditioning looks as if it was factory fitted.
The semi-matt grey finish on the Devaux is a temporary protective coating that can be washed off with turpentine when the final colour scheme has been settled on. Graham and Marg have considered various colour options including two-tones, but the current grey finish does such a great job of showing off the car?s shape, a semi-matt vinyl wrap might be the way to go. Graham hasn?t driven the car very far yet, and is slowly building confidence in its reliability and integrity, so we thank him for making himself and the car available for a most interesting after-dinner presentation.
More photos, this lot from Geoff Irving
