Elva Couriers
Hi Will:
I'm not an Elva expert by any stretch of the imagination, and I expect
you'll get better info, but here's my nickel's worth:
They were a somewhat limited production car, built in England by some guys
who thought they could do better than someone else. They apparently were
available with more than one drive train and suspension. A friend of mine
here used to race one in the 60's which had an MG engine and transmission,
and a Triumph rear end. He doesn't have that car any more, but he has a
picture of it racing at Sebring. The Triumph rear hub broke after about six
hours and the wheel came off. The car was still driveable, in that the hub
didn't drag the ground, but the wheel wound up on one side of the track and
the car on the other. The driver had to get back to the pits unassisted,
which meant he had to run across the track while the race was on, get the
wheel and run back to the car. Then he drove back to the pits where the hub
was replaced. Six hours or so later, it broke again! This time the driver
followed the wheel, drove up next to it and grabbed it! The picture of the
car and driver, with the driver holding the wheel outside the car, made the
front page of many newspapers.
The couriers were only one version of the Elva, there were various "Mark
XX" types also. The name, supposedly, comes from the French phrase "Elle Va"
or "She goes."
Hey, do you read Victory Lane? If so, check out the picture at the bottom
of page 27 in the July '94 issue. The third car up from the bottom of the
picture is me in my big Healey! The second car up from bottom is an Elva
Courier.
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