AUTOCARS SPEED AND GALLERY: Devon GTX

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Devon GTX Reportedly Axed

Supercar lovers hoping for the Devon GTX would lead to a Dodge Viper revival may have had their dreams dashed. Chrysler's decision to kill off the Viper is forcing the niche automaker to eliminate their Viper-based GTX, according to published reports.

Devon Motorworks has not officially confirmed the death of their supercar, possibly because the company wants to make one more attempt to purchase the Viper model from Chrysler.

The GTX would have used an 8.4-liter 650-horsepower V10-engine capable of delivering impressive speed to the supercar. During testing, the GTX unofficially crushed the lap time record at the Laguna Seca, posting a 1m 35.075s time. That is roughly 4.5 seconds faster than the Nissan GT-R.

Unveiled in August at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, the GTX was supposed to go on sale this year. 36 units were expected to be produced annually.

Devon GTX Nurburgring Record

This is the Devon GTX. An all-new American supercar that is due to be unveiled at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in California this weekend. It’s purpose? To dethrone the Radical SR8 Supersport’s production-car record at the Nurburgring. It has been spotted at the Nordshcleife with endurance racer Justin Bell - son of Le Mans hero Derek - behind the wheel. Not much is available on the technology under the car but reports suggests that its V10 powerplant will produce around 650bhp and that a significant amounts of carbon-fiber will be employed around the car.

According to our source, chasing the Radical’s ‘Ring record is still a long ways away as the GTX can apparently only lap California’s Laguna Seca circuit one tenth of a second faster than a Viper ACR. To put that into a ‘Ring context, the ACR managed to lap the Nordschleife in 7min 22sec, so Devon’s target of 6min 55sec looks like a tough task for now.

On top of that, Devon could be facing an even lower lap-time target, as Radical is heading back to the Nurburgring with the SR8LM, a significantly updated version of its SR8, with the aim of beating the 380bhp SR8 Supersport’s time that it set back in 2005.

“It’s several years since we last went for the record, and we’ve carried out a huge amount of development work on the SR8 in the meantime,” said Radical’s Mick Hyde. “The aerodynamics have been considerably improved, now creating more downforce and less drag. The new-for-2009 chassis is much safer having passed the FIA production sports car crash tests, and the engine is also improved, producing 460bhp and driving through our in-house designed six-speed transmission.”

Behind the wheel of the Radical will be Dutch sports car racer Michael Vergers. Watch this space this weekend as we bring you all the details of the Devon GTX.