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 r...