1964 Elva MkVIIA

This car is the first of 17 production cars built and is the product of development by two firms that devoted their capabilities to produce a new car blending the air-cooled rear engine and gearbox of Dr. Ferdinand Porsche with the sleek, lightweight chassis of Elva Cars, Ltd. The RS-1688cc engine was fitted with a horizontal cooling fan 'borrowed' from Porsche's F1 car. Elva 13-inch magnesium wheels and Girling disc brakes were used. These and other modifications made it necessary for Porsche to change the Spyder gearing and to allow for an increase in chassis stiffness and roll resistance. This car was raced in the 1964 US Road Racing Championship races at Augusta, GA; Pensacola, FL; Riverside & Laguna Seca, CA; Kent Washington; Watkins Glen; and Mid-Ohio.

The Elva Mark 7 was produced by the British company Elva and sold in high-demand throughout Europe and the United States. Most of the vehicles were equipped with a BMW 4-cyldiner engine or a Porsche Spyder 1700 cc flat-four engine. The Porsche version used dual 48 IDA Webers, twin plugs per cylinder, roller bearing crankshaft and a dual ignition system. The Mark 7 had a tubular space frame construction with glass reinforced plastic bodywork. Elva magnesium alloy wheels were fitted on all four corners, as were Girling disc brakes. The 2-liter engines coupled with a very low 970 pound weight made the vehicle a potent and effective race car. The handling was excellent thanks to the unequal length leading wishbones, coil spring dampers, and anti-roll bar front suspension. The rear suspension was comprised of unequal length trailing arms with single top transverse link and lower wishbones.

There were 19 examples of the specialty Elva-Porsche Mark 7S produced. One of the Mark 7S, driven by Charlie Hayes, won its 2-litre class at Augusta, Watkins Glen, and Luguna Seca. It went on to capture 3rd in class at Lexington, Mid-Ohio and Elkhart Lake. Hayes ended the 1964 season with 3rd overall in the United States Road Racing Championship, missing second place by a single point. The Mark 7's were highly successful in USRRC competition, the premier road racing series in the United States at the time.

The Mark 7 is not only a beautiful machine; it was a successful race car that used highly tuned engines with low vehicle weight and excellent weight distribution. The suspension and excellent braking made the vehicle suitable for all racing conditions.

By Daniel Vaughan | Mar 2006

1964 Elva-Porsche Mark VIIS

After the heydays of success with a series of Spyders in the 1950's, Porsche found itself in the uncharacteristic position of being beaten by a new generation of purpose built lightweight English racing cars in the early 1960's. With a very short development time, Porsche responded with a collaboration with Elva Cars Ltd by installing their proven 4-cam motors into these small tube frame and fiberglass cars. They found immediate success, and it can be argued that the Elva-Porsche started a long string of Porsche designed fiberglass bodied cars that carried well into the 1990's. This example shown is a 1964 team car, and competed in the USRRC Championship. It won best Performance Car and People's Choice at the 50th Porsche Parade in Hershey in 2005.