Elva: The Cars, The People, The History
By Janos Wimpffen
This 500-page epic leaves no stone unturned nor archive unexplored as for the first time the author applies his characteristic exhaustive research methodology to a single marque. Underwritten by Elva enthusiast Bruce McCaw, this could be the most comprehensive history of any specialist constructor ever written, especially one with a finite history of barely more than a decade.
The Elva name originates from a sort of contraction of the French phrase elle va, which in English means “she goes,” an apt description for the speed equipment and automobiles that emanated from the mind of founder Frank Nichols. That those cars appeared during an era defined by continual breakthroughs in the fields of vehicular dynamics and construction techniques kept them on the ever-advancing edge of technology and earned the loyalty of their owners.
Wimpffen tells the tale of Elva from the beginning to its more or less absorbed-by-McLaren end in 1966, providing a great deal of education for the reader, be they Elva devotee or not.
Available for US$99.95 / £64.99 from enthusiast bookstores, or direct from publisher David Bull at www.bullpublishing.com
