After Four Years of No-Shows, Is The Devel Sixteen Hypercar Really Happening?

Like the Range Rover that doesn’t break down and the C8 Corvette that sells for MSRP, the Devel Sixteen seems more myth than reality.

First revealed almost eight years ago at the Dubai Motor Show, promising 5000 hp from a 16-cylinder engine and a top speed of 348 mph (560 km/h), the Devel Sixteen reappeared in 2017, supposedly in production form.

But four years on, we’re yet to hear of anyone taking delivery of the $2.2 million two-seater, let alone hitting that record-busting top speed. And although footage exists of it moving under its own steam, you never get to see it make a hard pull through the gears. All of which has led many observers, us included, to believe the Sixteen will never happen.

Donut Media and presenter Nolan Sykes are skeptical too, but in this video about the Sixteen also remind us that there are, or at least have been, some very credible names attached to Devel’s supercar project.

One is Paulo Garrella, who spent many years at Pininfarina and most recently created the SCG-003 with Jim Glickenhaus and the battery-powered Aspark Owl hypercar.

And the other is Steve Morris Engines, which creates around 100 big power motors each year for select clients, and whose Michigan-based shop has a 4500 hp dyno. The Devel was supposed to come in three forms, starting with a 2000 hp twin-turbo V8 for $1.6 million, which could be upgraded to a 3000 hp version, or the track-only W16 with 5007 hp.

But while Morris delivered as promised, as long ago as 2018 we reported that work had stalled as key people left the project, which was suffering from serious cooling and aerodynamic problems.

Devel’s web pages for the Sixteen remain live however, and the car’s official Instagram page has been updated several times this summer with pictures and video footage of the car in action, telling us ‘the countdown is ON’ and to ‘stay tuned’. We reached out to Devel for a comment but have yet to hear back.

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But even if Devel does somehow get the car to a saleable state, our gut feel is that the Sixteen has missed its window of opportunity. A decade ago every start-up and his dog seemed to want to launch a monster-power gasoline hypercar, but electric cars like the Rimac Nevera and Lotus Evija would make the Sixteen pretty dated, and for those that do want an authentic ICE hypercar experience, the similarly priced Aston Martin Valkyrie looks like a much more sensible place to sink $2m.

Are you still hoping Devel comes good with the Sixteen? Leave a comment and let us know.