This Extremely Rare Supercar Is Awesome But Still A Miserable Failure

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Photo: eBay

The car plastered across your screen right now had huge ambitions. The Devon GTX was supposed to be a “quintessentially American” supercar powered by the 650-horsepower 8.4-liter V10 heart of a Dodge Viper. The car may have been a massive failure, but you can buy one of the only two in existence on eBay.

I know you’re probably sitting there wondering when you last heard of the Devon GTX. We last wrote about it in what, 2010?

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Photo: eBay

Devon Motorworks opened in California in 2008 and fired off only two cars before production halted in 2010. The two GTX prototypes disappeared, only to briefly pop up for sale a couple of times over the next 12 years. Now, the first prototype has resurfaced again and the car’s looking for a new owner, Silodrome notes.

The short history of Devon Motorworks is one of poor timing. It was launched by Scott Devon right into the Great Recession, one of the worst possible times to convince people to spend $500,000. But Devon wasn’t going to let that stop them. In 2009, the company published an optimistic press release: “Devon MotorWorks Introduces Next Great American Supercar.”

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Photo: eBay

The GTX sounded pretty awesome. The design was the work of former Ford designer Daniel Paulin. It’s a striking design, and it’s built out of carbon fiber. If you didn’t know any better, you might not know about its Dodge Viper bones.

The interior is a similar story.

Image for article titled This Extremely Rare Supercar Is Awesome But Still A Miserable Failure

Photo: eBay

The GTX has a similar layout to the Viper, and the materials are largely different with lots of leather and carbon fiber seats. That said, it looks like some Viper parts got carried over, like those wiper and light stalks.

Image for article titled This Extremely Rare Supercar Is Awesome But Still A Miserable Failure

Photo: eBay

Pop open the hood, and you see even more carbon fiber flanking the GTX’s 8.4-liter V10 lifted straight from a Viper. This engine is good for 600 HP stock, but some modifications get that number up to 650 HP here. The car was said to set unofficial lap records at California’s Laguna Seca and Willow Springs raceways, giving it some credibility.

Image for article titled This Extremely Rare Supercar Is Awesome But Still A Miserable Failure

Photo: eBay

As Autocar notes, Devon planned to make the whole thing into a lifestyle brand, selling jeans, jackets, watches and whatnot. That day would never come, and Devon would never build more than two examples of the $500,000 supercar. When Dodge announced the ZB II Viper’s 2010’s death, only one manufacturer lined up to buy the rights: Devon.

Ultimately, Devon’s $5.5 million bid was under Dodge’s $10 million reserve, and the GTX died with the snake. Back then, Devon said, from Autocar:

“The Viper platform being discontinued and the inability to amortize tooling costs are the key reasons.”

Image for article titled This Extremely Rare Supercar Is Awesome But Still A Miserable Failure

Photo: eBay

So this car you see before you is an orphan. Its parent is long gone, and with only one other out there, much of its parts are irreplaceable.

The eBay ad says that the car was restored but gives no details about how. It is noted that this car was sold in 2012 for $220,000 and again in 2017 with that same $200,000 price. For its third time around the seller is asking $250,000 or best offer.