A 1948 Devin Crosley Roadster, restored after 60 years in storage, highlights Bill Devin’s impact on American sports car history.
A highly unusual American sports car has reemerged after more than 60 years in storage. The 1948 Devin Crosley Roadster, a one-off creation blending a Crosley chassis with a fiberglass Devin body, was restored in 2022 and is now running with a rebuilt MG A-series engine.
Originally based on the lightweight Crosley platform, the car was transformed in the 1950s with a Devin body—an innovation of Bill Devin, a California-based builder and engineer whose fiberglass sports car bodies helped democratize racing performance in postwar America. This example is powered by a 1,275cc MG engine, delivering more punch than the Crosley’s original modest powerplant while preserving the car’s nimble handling characteristics.
The roadster had been disassembled and left dormant for decades before Liberty Motorsports of California completed a full restoration, returning it to competition-ready form. Its rebirth underscores the enduring legacy of Devin’s work, which in the 1950s and 1960s allowed small-scale builders and privateers to create competitive sports cars at relatively low cost.
Bill Devin, who served as a Navy machinist during World War II, began racing Crosley Hotshots in events such as Pebble Beach and Palm Springs. His early experience with lightweight American machinery shaped his philosophy: prioritize low weight and efficiency over sheer displacement. By 1954, he founded Devin Enterprises, pioneering modular fiberglass bodies that could be adapted to a wide range of chassis.
The Devin Crosley highlights another milestone: Devin’s introduction of the toothed timing belt in the Devin-Panhard engine, a feature that later became ubiquitous across the global auto industry. While the belt was never patented, the innovation cemented his reputation as a forward-thinking engineer.
Today, Devin-bodied cars remain sought after in vintage racing, and this Crosley-based roadster stands as a rare, restored example of America’s grassroots ingenuity in sports car design.
