Of the many many dreamers out there that come up with a car concept to me the Devon GTX is one that really should have made it. Unfortunately bad timing due to bad luck caused it to be another project that was never to be.
The GTX was based on a complete Viper chassis but with an upgraded engine making 650 hp. This combined with a target weight of 3000 lbs. from its carbon fiber body would have given the Devon a better power to weight ratio than a Ferrari Enzo. That would explain why it was able to lap Laguna Seca (1:35.075!) and Willow Springs in record time for a production car! So it wasn't just a pretty face...there was some serious performance potential in there.
However...that's not why I liked this car so much. For me it was more about the design and the details. The whole car just screams concept car! Every detail looks like it belongs in a one off show car, and it was all supposed to be production ready.
In the end the threat of Chrysler selling of the Viper division as a complete entity due to their near bankruptcy made the whole project collapse. The fact that the cars were to cost $500,000 each certainly didn't help things. In total only 2 cars were built. One was kept by the company and the other was auctioned off for a low $200,000. Needless to say, money I would have spent in a second if I had it!
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