Lot details
Registration No: N/A
Chassis No: 100/66
Mot Expiry: N/A

Launched in 1958 as a replacement for the 500cc F3 cars, Formula Junior (FJ) helped formulate the careers of many top drivers, including future world champions Jim Clark, John Surtees and Jochen Rindt. The brainchild of the Italian Count 'Johnny' Lurani, it ran until 1963, providing fun, close racing for hundreds of drivers from Estonia to Australia and Macau to Cuba, and spanned the revolution from front to rear-engined single-seaters. Thanks to their robust nature and the stalwart support of people like Formula Junior Racing Association (FJRA) Co-ordinator Duncan Rabagliati, FJs these days star at such blue riband events as the Goodwood Revival and Silverstone Classic, while the formula's Golden Jubilee featured a series of races all over the world. Elva Cars (the name is a corruption of 'elle va') was formed by Frank Nichols in 1955 at Bexhill. His front-engined Elva 100 was the first mass-produced British FJ car and led the trend towards UK rather than Italian domination of the category. The 100 was powered by either a DKW two-stroke engine or BMC A-Series unit.

Chassis 100/66 is well known to the FJRA and was originally owned by Dutch driver Rob Slotemaker, who raced it in the 1960 European Series. In 1985 it passed to Hugo Studer of Switzerland, who campaigned it from 1987 to 1992, after replacing the original DKW engine with a BMC unit. Following a 10 year respite, the Elva was run by Martin and Jill Carter until purchased by the vendor in 2007. He has maintained the bright yellow car in full race condition, running it enthusiastically in the UK, the Monaco Historic Grand Prix and other international events. These days chassis 100/66 is powered by a recently overhauled Swiftune 1071 cc A-Series unit (it has only had four hours of race time) fed by a single 45DCOE Weber. It rides on original Elva wheels, is braked by 10-inch Alfin drums and features an extended roll bar and pedals adjusted for tall drivers. The car was rewired and a new extinguisher system installed in 2007, while the radiator has been recently refurbished. This smart little FJ comes complete with both HTP and FIA papers.