1963 Elfin Mallala

The Australian-based company, Elfin Cars, was formed in 1957 for the purpose of creating sports cars and competing in motor racing. Their products have included racers for Formula Vee, Formula 5000, and sports car racing. They have won at least 29 championships and major titles.

David Mckay drove a newly created Elfin in its inaugural race to a victory at the Mallala circuit in South Australia. After the race, the name 'Mallala' was given to the car. The vehicle was later raced by Greg Cusack under the Scuderia Veloce banner. The Scuderia Veloce car, bearing chassis number S6311, was fitted with a Ford 116E engine. Chassis number S6315 was fitted with a Ford Consul engine. Chassis S6316 was given a Climax 2.4-liter engine, and chassis S6317 was given a Ford/Cosworth engine.

In total, there were five examples created beginning in late 1962 and continuing into 1963. The construction was handled by Elfin Sports Cars of Edwardstown Australia and built by Garrie Cooper. The chassis is constructed of a space-frame type using mild steel 18g tube in 32, 35, 19, and 16mm diameters. For chassis 6316 gauge increased by 16g, tubing size generally increased by 3mm.

The wheels were 13-inch in diameter and probably 4.75 and 5.5-inch rims originally, but with many exceptions.

The brakes were 240mm discs in the front and 216mm drums in the rear. The last three cars had discs on all four corners.
The engine was a Lotus Twin Cam 1600cc unit matted to a Hewland five-speed gearbox.

The top speed varied depending on the gearing. Chassis #3 using a 2.4-liter FPF Climax engine was timed at 142mph at Bathurst in Easter in 1964. Chassis #5 was timed at Kyalami in 1964 at 153 mph.

By Daniel Vaughan | Jan 2007