The Salerno Special

1 The Salerno Special Salvatore Salerno’s Devin One Man’s Dream

3 The Salerno Special Salvatore Salerno’s Devin Geoffrey R. Hacker, Ph.D. — Undiscovered Classics — One Man’s Dream

4 PUBLISHED BY: Undiscovered Classics 6306 Memorial Highway Tampa, Florida 33615-4538 UndiscoveredClassics.com PRODUCTION: Authorship, Layout, and Design: Geoffrey R. Hacker, Ph.D. PHOTO CREDITS: Salvatore Salerno Collection; Roger and Barb Philipsek Geoffrey Hacker—Personal Photography © 2024 BY UNDISCOVERED CLASSICS PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. All rights reserved for all countries, including the right of translation. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photography, recording, xerography, computer scanning or any information or storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher, except where one wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, or broadcast. One Man’s Dream

5 Table of Contents OVERVIEW .......................................... 1 PART I— THE DESIGN The Devin Sports Car Body .................. 3 Finding the Right Chassis .................... 5 The Willys Hurricane Engine ................ 7 Sports Cars With Hurricane Engines .... 9 PART II— THE BUILD The Body and The Chassis .................. 11 Sectioning The Body ............................ 13 Dashboard and Cockpit ........................ 15 Body and Chassis Come Together ....... 17 Getting Ready For Paint ....................... 19 The Finished Devin Special .................. 21 Additional Photos ................................. 23 PART III— A SPECIAL CAR IS PRESERVED The Caretakers .................................. 25 Undiscovered Classics Acquires The Devin ............................ 27 Gasparilla Concours d’Elegance ....... 29 PART IV— A CAR IS REBORN Robin James—The Time is Right ....... 31 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance On The Field ................................... 33 Amelia Award .................................. 35 PART V— APPENDIX Technical Specifications ..................... 37 Dunedin Beach, Florida: 2024 ............ 39 Last Page ........................................... 48

1 OVERVIEW Salvatore Salerno started building a small, fast sports car with American power and European styling / handling in 1959. To achieve this, he acquired a mid-1950s Triumph TR2/TR3 frame, a Willys 6 cylinder F-head engine and a Borg-Warner 3 speed transmission with overdrive. Most importantly, he chose one of the most stylish bodies to wrap around his creation—the Devin sports car body which was derived from the Italiandesigned Ermini sports car. The Triumph chassis utilized an 88 inch wheelbase with a front/rear track of 45 inches which was a nice size for performance driving. Salerno altered the Devin body by glassing in the hood and made it a flip front which opened up at the cowl. This allowed the driver greater and faster access to the engine area. He also sectioned the body and made it taller. This had the effect of making the cockpit lower for the driver and passenger. A hood scoop was also added which tunneled fresh air into the cockpit and was operated with a vent control on the dashboard. He fitted his car with a tonneau cover—one that is still usable and with the car today. The Salvatore Salerno Special is a rare example of an unrestored, unmodified sports car that was built and finished in era making it one of less than ten known American Specials in original condition. It has a level of finished engineering that most handbuilt specials of the time did not achieve. It looks like a well-finished factory effort that would have been very practical for everyday use except for the lack of a top. And it has been fortunate that the Salvatore Salerno Devin had a list of loving owners that cared for it and never let it go into dis-repair - making it a true time capsule for all to appreciate. The only work completed on it after its long-term storage was maintenance to make it running and performing well. It’s as Salvatore left it for us to enjoy. The Salerno Special’s most recent appearance was at the 2024 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance where it received a class award for preservation and condition. It also appeared at the 2022 Gasparilla Concours d'Elegance where it won an award of distinction.

3 PART 1: THE DESIGN THE DEVIN SPORTS CAR BODY In the early postwar years, the handbuilt sports car movement was at the height of its popularity and was celebrated across America. Films like Universal Studios “Johnny Dark” celebrated the unique designs of handbuilt American sports cars. To the young men growing up in the 50s, seeing this movie was like throwing “gas on a fire”. Salvatore Salerno was part of this era. In the 1950s, it was estimated that once you had a body to build a car from, it took an additional 2000 hours to complete your “build”. That’s 50 weeks of 40 hour weeks and 2 weeks off for good measure—a full year. To estimate the cost today, if you use an hourly rate of $50, then 2000 hours of labor translates into $100,000—before you purchase the body, chassis or anything else to build the car. These cars represented a big investment to the owner. Companies that produced bodies included legendary names such as Glasspar, Wildfire, Victress, Byers and more. Handbuilt cars using these bodies were seen in magazines and on over 100 magazine covers during this time, but the most successful of these companies was Devin Enterprises founded by Bill Devin of Fontana, California. Devin started out with their first body in 1954. But his company took off in 1956 when they started to produce a new body based on an Ermini 357 Sport 1000—a design by Sergio Scaglietti of Carrozzeria Scaglietti near Modena, Italy. This elegant design was offered in nearly 30 styles—something for everyone. Which in this case, made it perfect for the sports car that Salvatore Salerno wanted to build. While well-known at the time, these cars and the effort it took to build them faded from memory for many years. But increasingly in the last twenty years, these cars have garnered favor with museums, exhibits, magazines and especially concours d’Elegance events. Handbuilt American sports cars were most recently recognized in 2023 at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance which included cars like Salvatore Salerno’s Devin in a class called “American Dream Cars of the 50s”.

5 THE TRIUMPH TR3 CHASSIS To build his Devin, Salvatore chose a mid 1950s Triumph TR2/TR3 chassis. This featured excellent handling with independent front suspension, an underslung rear axle which allowed the frame and body to ride closer to the ground and a lower center of gravity. Interestingly, he chose not to use the Triumph engine. In its place he used the Willys Hurricane F-Head 6-cylinder engine mated to its transmission—a Borg-Warner 3-speed manual with overdrive. Next, he moved the drivetrain backward for a more favorable 50/50 weight distribution making his Devin effectively a front mid-engine sports car.

7 THE WILLYS HURRICANE ENGINE The Devin was built with a Willys Hurricane F-Head engine and then custom fit to the chassis in order to gain a near 50/50 weight distribution. With the name “Hurricane” cast directly on the head, the engine had a displacement of 161 cubic inches (2.6 liters) and delivered 90 horsepower. Salvatore’s sports car was designed to combine two worlds—a sports car which had a European chassis, but was powered by an American engine with an American-built body.

8 To the left is Brook Stevens next to his Excalibur sports/ race car. Willys Hurricane F-Head engines were originally fitted to 3 of his Excalibur sports/race cars. To the left, Howard “Dutch” Darrin is shown next to his 1952 “Darrin Competition Sports Car” - a proposal built in late 1952 for Kaiser to consider as their sports car—which they did. Kaiser Darrin sports cars were built with a Willys Hurricane F head engine and a Willys 3-speed manual transmission with overdrive. To the right is a 1952 Woodill Wildfire—a proposal built in small numbers for Willys to consider as their sports car. Each was equipped with a Willys Hurricane F-Head engine.

9 SPORTS CARS WITH HURRICANE ENGINES The Willys F-Head Hurricane engine was an attractive engine to several small sports car manufacturers in the early to mid 1950s. Willys had just come back on the market with automobiles and it offered this engine as an option in their newly designed cars for 1952. On these pages are some of the cars that either came with, were offered with or were built with Willys Hurricane 161 engines. The Multiplex 186 sports cars utilized an Allied Swallow coupe or roadster body. Both were offered with the 2700 cc 161 cubic inch 6 cylinder F-Head Hurricane engine by Willys.

11 PART 2: THE BUILD THE BODY AND THE CHASSIS Note: Salvatore Salerno documented the build of his car from start to finish in a series of over 50 photos. Many of these photos are shown in Part 2 of this book. • On the left page are chassis photos. The Triumph chassis has been cleaned and painted with the engine and radiator shielding beginning to be built. Salvatore Salerno is shown in one of the photos—in his mid twenties. • The photos below show the Devin body—just a shell being positioned on the chassis. Once the initial fitting and support was complete, Salvatore moved on to body alterations and other features such as wheel wells, floor, cockpit, and firewall.

13 SECTIONING THE BODY • On the left page you can see where Salvatore stretched the front, side and rear of the Devin body. This allowed more depth in the cockpit and the driver and passenger could now sit lower in the body. • The photos below show the Devin body after these newly added areas were filled and body work to smooth these areas out had been started.

15 DASHBOARD AND COCKPIT The photos on these pages show Salvatore working on his Devin: • One photo includes a friend working on his Devin • Other photos show progress on shaping and strengthening the cockpit • Work on the dashboard is also progressing

17 BODY AND CHASSIS COME TOGETHER Fitting the body to the chassis/engine takes patience and time. You can see in the photos on both pages here that Salvatore was careful and exact in his approach in creating his Devin sports car. Things were coming along nicely.

19 GETTING READY FOR PAINT The photos here show the Devin in various stages of primer and getting ready for paint. Interestingly, the pin-up girls on the wall of Sal’s garage call out to a time in the 60s when the Playboy magazine was based in Chicago, Illinois (not far from Salvatore’s home). Also, in one of the photos you can see the personalized roller/ creeper in front of his Devin with his name “Sal” pained on it.

21 THE FINISHED DEVIN SPECIAL The photos shown on these pages were taken in 1970—and in cold weather. The car was fitted with a custom tonneau cover - a piece that is still with the car today.

23 ADDITIONAL PHOTOS • On the left page are photos of the car with Salvatore Salerno (Sal) and his wife Diana (Diane) in the 1970s. • The photos below show the final fitting of the dashboard and instrumentation. Speaker grills can be seen in the kick-panel area on each side of the car. The custom-carved stick shift with the overdrive button and cable next to it can also be seen in the photos.

24 Above and Below: Roger and Barb Philipsek Securing the Devin Special for Transport—1998

25 PART 3: A SPECIAL CAR IS PRESERVED THE CARETAKERS Salvatore passed away in the late 1970s at around 40 years old. He had been able to build his car and drive the finished sports car for nearly ten years, and I’m sure he had great fun driving his creation. His wife Diane kept Sal’s car for another twenty years. Having no children, Diane sought to find the best home she could for their car—these were her friends Roger and Barb Philipsek. Roger and Barb had met Diane years before thru mutual friends and in 1998 drove to Illinois and picked up Sal’s Devin. The two photos on the facing page show them loading the car and preparing it to travel to their home . To protect the interior, Roger used the original custom fitted tonneau cover during transport. Roger and Barb Philipsek With The Salvatore Salerno Devin Special—May 10, 2022

26 Above and Below: Preparing to Load Devin on Trailer for Trip Back home to Tampa, Florida—May 10, 2022

27 UNDISCOVERED CLASSICS ACQUIRES SALVATORE SALERNO’S DEVIN I met Roger Philipsek via our Undiscovered Classics website back in 2015. He had contacted me asking for help with several questions about his car, and I immediately put him in touch with good friend Kreg Jones who is a Devin sports car historian. Over the next few years, the three of us corresponded about the car helping Roger with questions and other issues to protect and appreciate Salvatore Salerno’s Devin. Then, in 2022 Roger asked if we would be interested in acquiring the car—which we were. The photos on these two pages show the day we acquired the Devin and transportation back to our home base—Tampa, Florida. From Left to Right: Roger Philipsek and Craig Johnson with Salvatore Salerno’s Devin—May 10, 2022

28 Roger Philipsek (second from right) with the Salvatore Salerno Devin Special Explaining the Car and its History: December 3rd, 2022

29 THE GASPARILLA CONCOURS D’ ELEGANCE Late in 2022 we had a chance to show the Devin at the Gasparilla Concours d’Elegance in Tampa, Florida and we excitedly embraced the opportunity. For us, it was a chance not to just show Sal’s car, but to invite Roger and Barb Philipsek to join us and see the crowd’s reaction to the car that they had safeguarded for nearly 25 years. Roger and Barb enthusiastically accepted the invite, and we had a great time talking about the car and its history. Most importantly, Roger and Barb had a chance to see how people appreciated Salvatore Salerno’s sports car and the care he took to bring it to fruition. For most of the day, Roger took lead in meeting with people and discussing the history of Salvatore Salerno and his car. Roger’s efforts were rewarded. Salvatore’s car won the Gasparilla Concours d’Elegance “Award of Distinction.” We couldn’t have been more proud of sharing this moment with them and we asked them to take the trophy home with them as a memory of the car and special day. From Left to Right: Barb and Roger Philipsek, Mike Puma, Craig Johnson and Paul Sable— all guests of ours at the Devin’s first showing at the Gasparilla Concours d’Elegance in Tampa, Florida on December 3rd, 2022

31 PART 4: A CAR AND ITS HISTORY ARE REBORN ROBIN JAMES—THE TIME IS RIGHT While we had continued to preserve Salvatore’s Devin in the way that Roger and Barb Philipsek had done, we had kept the car for “show” only. In late 2023 an opportunity to show Salvatore’s car at the 2024 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance was extended to us. We wanted to make its debut at the concours as special as possible. Robin James from Toronto, Canada made the trek to Tampa, Florida and had a plan. He wanted to bring the Devin back to running and driving condition. He worked with each of the systems in the car and replaced mechanical parts only where necessary. Fuel, brake, electrical and additional systems were addressed with the goal of bringing the car to safe running and driving condition for show. Over a period of weeks, Robin succeeded in bringing back Sal’s car to safe operating condition. Even the horns work again. Great job Robin and thanks for the effort.

33 Robin James was in command of the car for the day on the field of the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance. Cars are placed on the afternoon before or the morning of the event. By the time judging starts around 8am, cars and people are prepared for the judges and ready to go. Robin and the Devin were no exception. Photos of Amelia are shown on both pages here with the judges shown below talking with Robin and the history of Salvatore Salerno and his car. At the end of the day, we were informed that the Devin had won a trophy—the second one for Sal’s car on its’ first two outings. I’m sure Salvatore Salerno would be very happy. AMELIA ISLAND CONCOURS D’ELEGANCE 2024 ON THE FIELD Judging at the Amelia Concours: From Left to Right: Robin James discussing the Devin with Judges Donald Osborne, Lowell Paddock and Kip Wasenko

34 Salvatore’s Devin Received an Award of Distinction—a “Class Award” at the 2024 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance

35 AMELIA ISLAND CONCOURS D’ELEGANCE 2024 CLASS AWARD It was an honor for Salvatore’s Devin to be recognized with an award at Amelia. The judges were impressed with the originality and functionality of the car and it presented itself very well next to other cars on the field. Robin James did a wonderful job. Salvatore’s Devin Received an Award of Distinction—a “Class Award” at the 2024 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance

37 PART V: APPENDIX TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS Drivetrain: • 1952 Wills Hurricane 161 cu. In. engine • Willys 3-speed manual transmission with overdrive (cable and button operated at stick shift) • Triumph rear axle • Electric fuel pump • Single exhaust Body and Chassis: • Mid 1950s Triumph TR2 / TR3 chassis / suspension • Custom wheels built with offset specific to Salvatore Salerno’s Devin • Near 50/50 weight distribution when driver is seated in car making this car effectively a front mid-engine sports car • Triumph front and rear drum brakes • Chevrolet master cylinder • Devin sports car body Exterior: • Leather straps holding trunk and front clip down • Inner front fender rubber straps holding front clip down to firewall (behind front wheels) • Custom made bumpers—front and rear • Front of car is “flip front” or “clam shell” which allows easy and quick access to drivetrain • The front bumpers hold the painted surface of the front of the body safely away from ground when hood is open Hood and Trunk: • Hood & trunk prop hold panels up when needed • Trunk locks from inside cockpit with hidden trunk release (pull) knob behind driver’s seat • Trunk also can be accessed via hinged panel behind seats that is key-locked—nice added security feature for contents in car Interior: • Grab bar for passenger • Door springs hold door open when extended • Radio in dash with speakers hidden in the kick panels • Full dashboard instrumentation with oil, amp, temperature, gas, rpm and speedometer gauges • Hi-beam floor switch • Horn button on dashboard • Ashtray in center of dashboard with cigarette lighter next to it • Hood scoop is dedicated for cockpit ventilation with knob on dashboard to open / close vent • Driver’s convex rear view mirror expands what can be seen behind the car when driving • Dual exterior mounted side mirrors—made by Talbot Company Mirrors of West Berlin • Original tonneau cover fitted to cockpit Additional Features: • Wire wheel hubcaps • Wipers with dashboard control knob • Parking lights / turn signal lights • Emergency brake—pulled straight up to lock • New custom-built aluminum fuel tank • 12 volt electrical system

39 DUNEDIN BEACH, FLORIDA MAY 2024

48 THIS IS THE LAST PAGE Our Undiscovered Classics Team That Helped Make the Amelia Island Concours 2024 Event a Success. From Left to Right: Mike Puma, Robin James, Chris James, Brandon Murray and Craig Johnson

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