Wednesday, 1 March 2023

40 Years ago: the end of Davrian

It's been almost exactly 40 years since Davrian Developments went into receivership. By that time in 1983 the Davrian Mk8 was in production and approximately 50 of these cars had been built of which only five were fitted with a Mini-engine, all of these having a chassis number starting with ‘DM’ for ‘Davrian Mini’.

The car on the picture below is one of them and I have had this shot for ages, but have never seen any other image of it, as I have never found out which of the Mk8s it is. Yes, that is a wild supercharger on the Mini engine! Another Wade like this one? Anyone who recognizes the car at all?

UPDATE 2 March: Pete Crudgington thinks it's Ian Hall’s car: "He is still around racing a V8 powered Darrian and prior to the Davrian he raced a Mini Jem and an Arkley Sprite. Graham Boulter shared another picture of the beast: "Photo credit to Andy Smart, location is Prescott Hillclimb" It's added below.


That's a wild Mini engine with big supercharger! The car is a Davrian Mk8
Picture Jeroen Booij archive

The same Davrian seen at the Prescott hillclimb, somewhere in the 1980s
Picture Andy Smart

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