1964 Elva Mk VIIS - BMW FIA HTP

Designed by Keith Marsden, the Elva Mk VII was built during 1963 and proved to be a great success, showcased by a fantastic win for the 'out-of-the-box' Porsche-engined car at Elkhart Lake for the Road America 500. There were 19 Elva-Porsche cars built, but other engines were fitted including Climax, Ford DOHC, Ford 1,100 & 1,600, and Osca, with two cars being supplied without engines.

The Mk VIIS was the upgraded car for 1964 when the BMW power unit became the engine of choice, and this included modifications to the chassis (particularly to strengthen the engine bay area), larger brakes with Girling AR calipers, wider wheels to 6" and 7" rims, modified bodywork to accommodate, and various other mods. The build list suggests 15 BMW-powered cars were factory-built, however, a number of earlier cars have subsequently been modified to BMW-power and to Mk VIIS spec. The BMW engine was developed in conjunction with BMW by Nerus Engineering under the control of Frank Webb based on the 1,500 unit. It was offered as a race engine in 1,600cc and 2-litre format, the dry sump system being designed by Ted Martin. Only one 1,600cc appears to have been factory fitted, for a hill climb car, the rest being the 2,000cc units which generated around 182bhp initially but are now rated at more than 220bhp when carefully built by engineers like Lester Owen.

Offered here at Race Retro 2026 is this outstanding Elva Mk VIIS, professionally prepared by Valley Motorsport, presented today in excellent, race-ready condition, and benefitting from current FIA HTP papers, valid until December 2026. According to the original factory build sheet, chassis #70/024 was completed on 17th August 1963, originally powered by a Ford 1,600cc engine mated to a Hewland MkIV gearbox. It has since been sensibly upgraded and is now fitted with a Laranca-prepared 1,991cc BMW engine, again coupled to a Hewland gearbox.

The Elva is understood to be the ex-Alain Mahé/Quinlou Szyndelman car and enjoyed a highly successful period of competition until 1997. A comprehensive rebuild followed, after which it returned to competition with immediate success, securing a class win at the Oldtimer Grand Prix at the Nürburgring in 1998. A sustained and competitive career continued thereafter, including further class victories at the Spa Six Hours, the 2000 Jarama 12 Hours in Spain and a second overall finish at the Gran Premio Storico at Jerez. As such, the car is eligible for many of the most prestigious historic racing events, including the HSCC Guards Trophy, Goodwood Members’ Meeting, Masters Historic Racing and numerous other Blue-Riband fixtures.

Our vendor, a seasoned historic racer, acquired the Elva relatively recently through one of our competition car auctions with the intention of campaigning it, however clashing commitments limited its use to just a handful of track days. We are informed that, on circuit, the car is extremely quick and performs faultlessly. It will be offered for sale fully spanner-checked and prepared, ready to be enjoyed immediately by its next custodian.