Elva

Elva was a sports car manufacturer based in Hastings, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1955 by Frank G. Nichols. The name comes from French elle va ("she goes"). After financial problems caused by failure of the US distributor, the company was sold to Trojan in 1961 when production moved to Rye, Sussex and again in 1966 to the main Trojan factory in Croydon. Production ended in 1968.

Frank Nichols's intention was to build a low cost sports/racing car and between 1954 and 1959 a series of models were produced. The original used Standard front suspension and Ford Anglia rear axle with an overhead valve conversion of a Ford 10 engine. This went through various changes up to the 1958 Mark IV with 1100 cc Coventry-Climax engine and independent rear suspension with inboard brakes. The Mark V was designed for Formula Junior events and had a DKW engine in a tubular steel chassis. It was very successful until the Formula was taken over by rear engined cars in 1960. Over 150 engines were made.

The main road car, introduced in 1958, was called the Courier and went through a series of developments throughout the existence of the company.

The Mk 1 used a 1500cc MGA engine and transmission in a ladder chassis with lightweight 1500 lb. 2 seater open glass fibre bodywork. The front suspension was ELVA designed utilizing the Alden and Alford (Herald) Uprights, Elva designed A arms, a Morris Minor steering rack placed behind the wheel centerline , adjustable Armstrong shocks. The front suspension is very similar to the Lotus Elite of the same period. The rear suspension is an ELVA design around the solid rear axle from the Riley 1.5 using a 4 bar linkage, panhard rod and adjustable armstrong shocks. The rear end is similar to the Morris Minor, A35 and Spridget sharing the same 3rd member and multiple ratios. Braking was by Lockheed utilizing the large Sedan brakes found on the  Morris Oxford Front  and Hillman Minx Rear. The pedal box is an Elva race derived unit with separate wheel cylinders and bias bar. The car was built to be a weekend race car for racer that needed transportation during the week.

The Mk II was the same car with a strengthened chassis, a curved glass windscreen, a raised section of the body to allow better attachment of the folding top, A revised instrument panel, revised front signal lighting and  the larger 1600 cc MGA engine. It was produced in kit form for the english market but as a complete car for the european and american markets. Approximately 400 Couriers were made by ELVA.

In 1961 with a shipment of Couriers bound for the states - the US distributer went bankrupt. with no way to get the cars back - Elva was forced into receivership. To get the company back on solid ground - Frank Nichols sold the rights to build the Courier to Trojan and with the Help of Carl Haas in the US - started building race cars again

With the Trojan takeover the Mk III was introduced in 1962 and was sold as a complete car. The chassis was now a box frame moulded into the body. Triumph rack and pinion steering and front suspension was standardised. A closed coupe body was also available with either a reverse slope Ford Anglia type rear window or a fastback. The MGA engine was used at first to be followed by the MGB version and later the Ford Cortina GT unit was available. The final version, the fixed head coupe Mk IV T type used Lotus twin cam engines with the body modified to give more interior room. It could be had with all independent suspension and four wheel disc brakes.

There was also a GT160 which never got beyond production of three prototypes. It used a BMW dry sump engine of 2 litre capacity with bodywork styled by Englishman Trevor Frost (also known as Trevor Fiore, and who also designed the Trident) and made by Fissore of Turin. It weighed 11 cwt and had 185 bhp so would have had very impressive performance but was deemed too costly to put into series production.

There was another Elva car company that lasted for one year, 1907, and was based in Paris, France.

External link

 * Elva.com