it is viewable EVERYWHERE… it’s now below the “production unit”…
The Devillain DR6 is not exactly known for being a fast car, but in 1946, it held a speed record for some time: It was the fastest American car to run without leaded gasoline. While the engine was low-powered compared to some of the other cars of the era, only boasting 136 horsepower from a 4-liter Inline 6, it was built from the ground up to run lead-free.
The DR6 is as close to luxury as one could get on a mass-production scale. The two bucket seats are leather, with a high quality AM radio in the dash. There was an access panel just above the radio to make replacement of tubes easier, as Old Man Devillain himself believed that ripping the dash apart to replace one blown out vacuum tube was ridiculous. The interior is black, with small chrome accents around the gauges, the gear-shift, and the horn ring on the steering wheel.
Everything in this car is mechanical, giving a very satisfying feel to even the most mundane actions you’d take for granted in more modern cars. Turning on the blower fan to get some air moving in the cabin involves shifting the miniature three-speed gearbox in the dash to your preferred speed, which runs the blower fan from a drive pulley on the belts at the front of the engine. Turning on the heat involves turning a valve to bypass hot coolant from the engine into the heater core. Adjusting the mirrors from inside the car uses a crank and gears to swivel the mirrors despite them being out of your reach. A hand-throttle on the steering column acts as a primitive cruise control.
While 11.4 MPG sounds downright dismal, just keep in mind that you could just drive the Devillain DR6 to your local gas station and fill it up with any grade of gasoline. It was designed to run on 76 octane unleaded gasoline, so it will quite happily run on regular unleaded, which means you won’t have to worry about the DR6 gulping down your expensive leaded fuels needed for your other cars in the documentary. The engine itself has three single-barrel carburettors, allowing the engine to take the big swigs of gasoline it requires to avoid pre-detonation.
The gearbox is your fairly-average synchronized four-speed, with an open rear differential. Despite the low power, the DR6 will still spin the rear wheels quite easily through first gear, entirely due to the thin tires of the era, running on 125 mm medium-compound tires on 14-inch steel rims. The brakes are fairly-standard drums, a little oversize compared to a lot of cars of the same era, with some duct-work to borrow some ‘warm air’ off the radiator to help cool the brakes and reduce the brake fade. There’s still quite a bit of fade, but it’s better than it would’ve been otherwise.
While this particular car isn’t the one that ran the 1946 unleaded speed record, it is the car John Storm’s father owned, and has been in the Storm family ever since.
There’s also a myth behind the Devillain DR6, that those who drive one become rich and famous. It seems to have worked so far for the Storm family, with John Storm’s father owning a very successful logging company in the 40’s and 50’s, and John Storm himself founding a highly successful car company. There might still be a bit of luck behind the wheel of this old car. Many celebrities owned one in the late 40’s and early 50’s, so maybe there’s a bit of credit to the myth?
No matter how you look at it, the Devillain DR6 is a good choice for your documentary. It’s relatively easy to drive, it’s reasonably comfortable and prestigious, it’s safe, and it’ll run on modern unleaded pump gas without problems. They were also fairly common cars in the day, so if you choose to seek one out on your own, it’s highly likely that you’ll find one in good condition. While the DR6 isn’t the prettiest car in the world, nor the fastest, nor the easiest to maintain, it’s the jack of all trades.
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I want to use my Mott Works Aqueous but I dont think i designed that until 1948.
NMI Raven: A Postwar Sports Car Pioneer
In the immediate post-war period, there was a shortage of affordable sports cars on sale to the general public, and National Motor Industries sought to rectify that with their first two-seat convertible, the Raven. Due to the austerity of the time, it was decided that the Raven must be engineered and built in less than 48 months, as well being offered at <$25k even with a 100% markup. Another requirement was light weight and high performance for the era. To that end, it had a steel spaceframe and aluminum panels, and was powered by a 4-liter overhead-valve V8 fed by three single-barrel carburetors. Although the engine originally ran on regular leaded fuel, rather than super leaded, this means that in the present day, you can fill it up with 95RON premium unleaded without any major mechanical problems arising as long as the engine has been adapted for unleaded fuel beforehand; if it hasn’t, just convert it to unleaded fuel, fill it up with premium and drive away!
The Raven was first introduced in the first quarter of 1946, and with so many servicemen ready to return to civilian life, NMI soon found itself with a runaway commercial success; people began buying Ravens in droves after having found its combination of agility, pace, stylishness and reliability to be utterly irresistible. Unusually for a car of this era, it had double wishbone suspension at each corner, whereas most contemporary cars had swing axles or rigid axles at the rear. A four-speed manual gearbox with synchromesh was the only transmission available, although the open diff meant that there was some wheelspin during a standing-start launch, despite 155mm-wide tires. The only real weakness was the slight brake fade exhibited by the drum brakes at each corner. Even so, with a top speed of over 124 mph, and a 0-60 time of less than 10 seconds, both helped by a curb weight of less than a metric ton, it was one of the top performers of its day, and yet its fuel consumption wasn’t too high, especially for the era. Although the example shown above was finished in Stratosphere Silver, eight other colors were available at no extra cost.
The Raven’s premium interior featured high-quality leather and an AM radio, making it a comfortable place to spend time in for extended periods. In addition, an advanced safety system, combined with good drivability, gave both occupants peace of mind whenever they went for a road trip in one. Since it was a highly prestigious car for its time, it remained popular among domestic and foreign buyers for a decade; vast quantities were produced until 1955, and with good reliability for its time, it’s highly likely that you’ll find a mechanically sound one today, and surviving examples (of which there are well over 1000) can still be had for a reasonable amount of cash; they are also a common sight at historic events worldwide. It should be noted that the engine which powered the Raven could be stroked up to produce 10% more capacity, and this option, in combination with larger carburetors, was introduced from 1951, when a second body style (2+2 coupe) was added to the lineup. However, the Raven’s greatest legacy was that it inspired a wave of affordable early post-war front-engined, rear-wheel-drive sports cars around the world.
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Not without trashing the valves. The lead was both an anti-knock agent and a mild lubricant. Run an old engine made for leaded fuels without making the appropriate modifications to it on unleaded gas, well, it’s bad news for the car.
valve seats burn up 
yep, you need hardened valve seats to convert an engine for leaded to run on unleaded
on top of that, if the engine originally ran very near the octane rating of the leaded fuel, you will need to retard the timing a bit, as lead did act as an anit-knock like @Madrias has mentioned above.
is anyone here know every single country fuel ration policy in europe and US in 1946 in general? i know the UK only have 70 octane for public and 80 octane for very limited access meanwhile im not sure about US if they have super leaded rightly after the war end. and the other giant automotive country like italy, french, and german im not even know yet how they manage the fuel situation and the effect to post war production car.
did you mean RON or AKI???
because 70RON is… pretty much a diesel fuel for a gasoline engine…ish
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Aussie pump gas.
91oct reg
91oct e10 (10% ethanol blend)
95oct premium
98oct premium
98oct e10
104oct e85 (not very common non existant in rural areas)
Diesel
Diesel high octane
lpg
leaded fuel ban on vehicles made in aus in 1985, leaded fuel fazed out of sale in 2001
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i think is RON since UK using RON IIRC
@Darkshine5 are you know which fuel type the aussie government issued to public during post WWII period?
#1946 Handen Ebi (Shrimp)
Released for market use in 1947, the Shrimp was a rather strange Track Racer. It was made by one man, Jarent “Harrier” Handen, and a dedicated team of former military men in the backwoods of Oregon. Around 40 or so Ebi’s were made. Named after the Japanese word for shrimp (learnt from their tours after WWII) it was small, light, and rather well made (as you would expect from a team of Air Force Mechanics and Pilots). Many claimed the Ebi was un-patriotic in it’s name, and many took to just calling it “Shrimp.” There was never a defined value of how many were made.
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Does this mean all the no mass production parts and materials are not welcome or that competitiveness in some markets should be good enough?
limited production unit is allowed but it possibly to hurt your score
@Denta its bloody confusing with both England and the Us war efforts affecting the rationing this site explains it in detail better than I could. (this sorta stuff isn’t taught in Aussie schools)
https://www.awm.gov.au/journal/j36/petrol.asp
A wing on a 1946 car? A bit anachronistic.
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Note to self: building a drag rocket that goes around Green Hell faster than most sports cars of the 70s is probably not a great approach to this round 
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cant find what i really wanted though but at least i got the historical context
and strop strike again with his track time
eh you know what fuck it I don’t even care anymore, I can’t win this round, I’m just going to build a Mephistophele 
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Thats what i am doing. But i am designing in the lite campaign so if it doesnt make a huge profit (in fruinia) its not considered so far i have a 250cc budget sports or a 5l gt convertible. Decisions lol