Davrian cars were built at 65 North Street, Clapham in London, England from 1967 to 1976, in
TregaronTregaron is a market town in the county of Ceredigion, Wales, lying on the River Brenig , a tributary of the River Teifi. According to the 2001 Census, Tregaron's population was 1,183 of whom 68.8% spoke Welsh fluently, including 100% of the 15-year-old age group.Notable buildings in the town...
, Dyfed, Wales from 1976 to 1980 and
LampeterLampeter is a town in Ceredigion, South West Wales, lying at the confluence of the River Teifi and the Afon Dulas.-Demographics:...
, Dyfed, from 1980 to 1983.
Adrian Evans (d. 1992), a structural engineer and the car's designer, built a series of cars called Davrian from 1965 using the aluminium alloy
Hillman ImpThe Hillman Imp is a compact, rear-engined saloon car that was manufactured under the Hillman marque by the Rootes Group from 1963 to 1976...
engine based on the
Coventry ClimaxCoventry Climax was a British forklift truck, fire pump, and speciality engine manufacturer.-History:The company was started in 1903 as Lee Stroyer, but two years later following the departure of Stroyer, was relocated to Paynes Lane, Coventry, and renamed to Coventry-Simplex by H...
.
In 1967, the design had settled to a 2-seat glass fibre
monocoqueMonocoque, from Greek for single and French for shell , is a construction technique that supports structural load by using an object's external skin as opposed to using an internal frame or truss that is then covered with a non-load-bearing skin. Monocoque construction was first widely used in...
coupé, officially called the
Davrian Demon or
Davrian Imp and series production started with a company being formed called Davrian Developments.
Davrian cars were built at 65 North Street, Clapham in London, England from 1967 to 1976, in
TregaronTregaron is a market town in the county of Ceredigion, Wales, lying on the River Brenig , a tributary of the River Teifi. According to the 2001 Census, Tregaron's population was 1,183 of whom 68.8% spoke Welsh fluently, including 100% of the 15-year-old age group.Notable buildings in the town...
, Dyfed, Wales from 1976 to 1980 and
LampeterLampeter is a town in Ceredigion, South West Wales, lying at the confluence of the River Teifi and the Afon Dulas.-Demographics:...
, Dyfed, from 1980 to 1983.
Adrian Evans (d. 1992), a structural engineer and the car's designer, built a series of cars called Davrian from 1965 using the aluminium alloy
Hillman ImpThe Hillman Imp is a compact, rear-engined saloon car that was manufactured under the Hillman marque by the Rootes Group from 1963 to 1976...
engine based on the
Coventry ClimaxCoventry Climax was a British forklift truck, fire pump, and speciality engine manufacturer.-History:The company was started in 1903 as Lee Stroyer, but two years later following the departure of Stroyer, was relocated to Paynes Lane, Coventry, and renamed to Coventry-Simplex by H...
.
Davrian 1967-1983
In 1967, the design had settled to a 2-seat glass fibre
monocoqueMonocoque, from Greek for single and French for shell , is a construction technique that supports structural load by using an object's external skin as opposed to using an internal frame or truss that is then covered with a non-load-bearing skin. Monocoque construction was first widely used in...
coupé, officially called the
Davrian Demon or
Davrian Imp and series production started with a company being formed called Davrian Developments. The cars were sold in
kitA kit car is an automobile that is available in kit form, which means that the client buys a set of parts and needs to assemble the car themselves. Usually many major mechanical parts such as the engine and transmission are taken from one or more donor vehicles...
form. A variety of power units were offered including
MiniThe Mini is a small car that was produced by the British Motor Corporation and its successors from 1959 until 2000. The original is considered an icon of the 1960s, and its space-saving front-wheel-drive layout influenced a generation of car-makers...
,
Volkswagen BeetleThe Volkswagen Type 1 is an economy car produced by the German auto maker Volkswagen from 1938 until 2003. It used an air cooled rear engined rear wheel drive ....
and
Ford FiestaThe Ford Fiesta is a small front wheel drive supermini car designed by the Ford Motor Company and built in Europe, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela, China, India and South Africa...
. Over the years a series of improvements led the cars to go through Marks 1 to 8. They proved very popular in amateur hands as rally and circuit racing cars.
In 1980, the Mk8 was offered as a complete car called the
Davrian Dragon. This was mid-engined and used Ford Fiesta components and engine. The company was not sufficiently capitalised for this operation and unfortunately went into receivership in 1983. This car was subsequently relaunched as the
Corry and the earlier more basic versions continued being made in the same premises but under new ownership as the
Darrian.
Corry 1983-1985
The rights to the Dragon were bought by Will Corry and production transferred to
LisburnLisburn is the third-largest city in Northern Ireland. It is situated south-west of Belfast on the River Lagan, which forms the boundary between County Antrim and County Down...
, Northern Ireland, to be built by the newly founded Corry Car Company. The body was restyled by Tony Stevens and the name changed to the Corry Cultra. Ford engines and were used and the suspension was based on that of the Mk III Cortina.. The cars were mostly sold for competition use but a few road going versions were made.
Darrian 1986 onwards
The Darrian was a revival of the original Davrian in the old factory. The body was considerably modified and the car became mid-engined. Like the Davrian, the Darrian is built using a glass fibre composite monocoque body construction. The engine was usually from a
FordThe Ford Motor Company is an American multinational corporation based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury brands, Ford also owns Volvo Cars of Sweden, and a small stake...
, but the
RoverThe Rover Company is a former British car manufacturing company founded as Starley & Sutton Co. of Coventry in 1878. After developing the template for the modern bicycle with its Rover Safety Bicycle of 1885, the company moved into the automotive industry...
V8 or
VauxhallVauxhall Motors is a British automobile company owned by Magna International and General Motors. Most current Vauxhall models are right-hand drive derivatives of Magna's Opel brand; however, production of left hand vehicles also takes place for export to other parts of Europe and certain marginal...
16 valve units were options.
In 1996, Swansea Institute Team Darrian (SITD) took outright honours in the Privilege Insurance
British GT ChampionshipThe Avon Tyres British GT Championship is a sports car racing series currently based in the United Kingdom, although they have had select races outside of Britain in the past few years...
.
The company also built a limited number of replicas of the Renault
Alpine A110The Alpine A110, also known as the "Berlinette", was a sports car produced by the French manufacturer Alpine from 1961 to 1977. The A110 was powered by various Renault engines....
rally car, known as the Monte Carlo MC220 Berlinette.
Now based in Llangybi, near Lampeter and owned by Tim Duffee, Darrians continue to be built and raced with great success, performing many giant-killing acts. The current model is the Darrian T90GTR, usually fitted with the Millington 2.5 16v 4 cylinder racing engine producing 300BHP, mated to a Hewland tranaxle.
External links