1960 Elva 200 Formula Junior. Chassis #004

History

This Elva was originally raced by Chuck Dietrich in the U.K. in 1960. He drove the Elva to a third place finish out of 30 cars in the 1960 British Empire Trophy race held at Silverstone. Dietrich finished behind the Lotus 18’s of Henry Taylor and Peter Arundell, and ahead of Trevor Taylor and Denny Hulme. Dietrich also raced the car in the Stuart Evans Trophy race at Brands Hatch in October of 1960, but suffered a DNF.

Many years later the car was discovered in the U.S. in Indiana. In 2005 a full restoration was undertaken. The car has since been campaigned in historic races along with two other Elva 200’s.

Only 20 of these cars were built, and there appears to be only three left in the U.S. The total number of remaining survivors is unknown.

Description

The Elva was originally fitted with a BMC engine which was later converted to a dry sump Ford 105E engine (which was permitted in period). The car can be reverted back to BMC power without much trouble, if desired. 

The Ford engine has a billet steel crank, steel rods, forged pistons, steel main caps, ARP bolts and head studs, electronic ignition, and a lightweight steel flywheel.  It is also equipped with a Titan dry sump pump, and dual 40mm DCOE Weber carburetors. Cooling is handled by an aluminum radiator.

The engine’s power is delivered by a 7.25″ Tilton clutch through the VW four speed gearbox. 

The Elva is equipped with cast iron drum brakes at the rear and finned aluminum drum brakes up front. An ATL fuel cell is fitted inside an original-style aluminum tank. The harness dates are current and the car has an FE-36 fire system.

The Elva has unequal length A-arm front suspension, and independent rear suspension with coil over dampers all around. The rear suspension uses the half shafts as the upper control arms just like the Lotus 18 and Lotus 20 Formula Juniors.

The car rides on aluminum 15″ Elva wheels with good Dunlop L-series tires.  

The next worldwide Formula Junior anniversary racing series is in the works. Get this drum brake Elva 200 now to be ready to compete in the drum brake class worldwide. It raced at Silverstone in period, and therefore should be an excellent candidate to run at Goodwood when the drum brake FJ class returns there as a featured race.

All vehicle descriptions are accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of writing. Corrections, and supplemental information, are always welcome. Buyers are responsible for confirming vehicle histories, condition, and authenticity to their own satisfaction prior to purchase. Motorsports Market is not the owner of the vehicle and assumes no liability for errors and omissions.

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Photos

Video

This video is from when the Elva was powered by a 1000 c.c. single Weber BMC engine. The car now has the same twin Weber Cosworth 1100 c.c. engine that you see in the Lotus 22’s in the video. Now the Elva has handling AND the power.

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