Though the Petersen Auto Museum on Wilshire is currently closed for renovation, (more on that soon) we found ample opportunity to get our vintage car fix online. One of the Petersen’s famous stars, the 1948 Davis Divan was featured on Jay Leno’s Garage, an online YouTube Channel in which Leno tests out and talks about everything automotive.
In this clip, Leno interviews Petersen Auto Petersen Museum curator Leslie Kendall about the world’s only three-wheeled production car. Only 17 of these cars were built and it is believed this is the only one to survive.
Gary Davis designed and built it “to be unique and get attention” Kendall says. Its spaceship lines looked to the sky for inspiration. Davis drove around country to get public interest, but the three-wheeler was never put into real production beyond the 17 cars built.
The car is not very steady with only a single wheel in the front. In the video Petersen Museum curator Kendal warns “It’s a little tippy in the corners” as Leno speeds down an LA street with one hand on the wheel and the pedal to the metal. The Davis Divan seats four across the front, boasts a Hercules engine, engine, and has “three on the tree” transmission.
Best part, Leno and his passenger break down on the side of the road – unsure why the car wasn’t getting fuel to the engine. The mystery is solved by the end of the 26 min episode, giving us a lesson in the temperamental needs of vintage cars. As the gray-haired Leno says “When you hang around old cars and old people, you learn a lot of stuff.”
The Petersen Museum is doing a crowdfunding campaign via IndieGoGo to raise money for the restoration of the 1948 Davis Divan. Donors will receive everything from a T-shirt to a ride in the automobile.
