1963 Elva Mk VII Lotus Twin Cam

Elva, whose name is derived from the French phrase "elle va" (she goes) was founded in 1955 by Frank Nichols in Bexhill, Surrey. Nichols always took the approach that it was better to sell racing cars than race them himself. Even with drivers such as Stuart Lewis Evans and Archie Scott Brown driving for Nichols in Europe against 'works' teams such as Lotus, it was hard for the early Elvas to compete and, consequently, they looked to America where the SCCA provided a much more level playing field.

However, it was the Mk VII introduced in 1962, that enjoyed success on both sides of the pond. Porsche supplied engines to Elva, a rare instance of the German firm supplying another manufacturer, and a Porsche-engined Mk VII took a debut win in the 1963 Road Atlanta race, one of the most important on the American calendar. In Europe, Herbert Muller drove a Mk 7 to second place in the European Hill Climb Championship whilst Tony Lanfranchi regularly beat the Lotus 23s and Brabham BT8s en route to the 1964 Autosport Championship.

This lovely Elva Lotus Mk VII (70/003) is just the third to leave the Elva works in a production run of only 29 cars. It has been campaigned both in the USA and the UK and is accompanied by a very well documented history file containing its FIA/HTP papers Class-TSRC10 (current until 2026) and a giving a fascinating account of its race history, refurbishments, race entries and the successes of recent years.

Prepared by historic race car specialists, TTP, it was raced in 2016 by Robi Bernberg and Andy McKenna in the Madgewick Cup at the 2016 Goodwood Revival and had outings at various other events which included an outright win at Mallory Park, three class wins at Donington, and another at Castle Combe, clearly showing its race potential as a leading contender for a host of events in the future.

Finished in Sunshine Yellow with sky blue and red stripes, this very pretty little Elva appears superbly prepared and is patently competitive. With its current FIA/MSA paperwork, this is a fabulous opportunity to be invited to all the best historic events in the UK and worldwide. Simple to run, these little sports racers are pretty well guaranteed to punch way above their weight, as they always have done.