1961 Elva 300 FJ

This particular Elva 300 (chassis number 003), only 6 of which were built and only 4 are known to exist today, is the only car currently racing. It is 24 inches high and was named the lowest-ever single-seater race car by 1961. When Frank Nichols was searching for a new for his car, he settled on Elva, which was derived from the French phrase 'elle va' which means 'she goes.'

Just before this Elva 300 was made, Frank Nichols and his original company, Elva, went into liquidation after a blow to his finances shattered the smooth development and expansion of the company. A lot of Elva's income was down to the American market which thrived on new and exciting models during the 1950s and 1960s. However, it is believed that Elva's American distributor went bankrupt and owed a lot of money to Nichols, which then led to Elva's unfortunate liquidation. Elva was then denied a loan from the government which ultimately led to Carl Haas and Nichols forming a partnership. Haas financially backed Nichols, which led to the creation of Elva Cars 1961 Ltd.

Under his new company name, the Formula Junior '300' Series was born. Not many of these particular cars were created as they weren't as successful as other Formula Juniors at the time. This also could have been due to financial difficulties of Nichols and so couldn't afford to invest a lot of money into their development.

This was evident from the way he built the '300' series which had the old '200' series 15-inch wheels on. This is believed to have been done because he couldn't afford the more modern 13-inch wheels, so he used what he had left over from the cars that he had previously built.

However, Chuck Dietrich managed to get a number of successes in the '300' series Formula Juniors during 1961-1962:
- June 1961 SCCA Regional Waterford Race Circuit 1st place
- July 1961 SCCA Divisional Indianapolis 3rd place
- January 1962 SCCA National Daytona 1st Place

This particular Elva 300 #003 was briefly raced by Bernie Ecclestone in 1961 and Chris Ashmore in 1962. The car was seen at Bernie's car showroom in Bexleyheath, London, for sale and its next citing was to be with Bruce Mcaw in the 1990s when he restored it and kept it in his collection. In 2000, Professor John Monson bought the car and raced it for a couple of seasons before it was sold to Chris Drake at the Goodwood Revival within the Bonhams auction in 2002. Drake had decided to start racing and he completed his first-ever race at Cadwell park in March of 2003. Since then, Drake has taken it around the world, racing in North America, South Africa, Australia, and Europe. It won the UK Formula Junior Championship in 2009, was runner-up in the 50th-anniversary world series, and has achieved many class wins and podiums over the years.