A Lola Mk2 leading an Elva 100, during the Historic Formula Junior Race at the 2023 Silverstone Festival
Frank Nichols' Elva 100 was one of the most successful British Formula Junior designs. Elva was one of the first UK manufacturers to embrace the formula, providing Bill de Selincourt with a landmark victory at Cadours, France in September 1959, the first occasion that an international FJ race had been won by a British car/driver combination. When the first race in Britain exclusively for Formula Junior cars was held at Brands Hatch in October that same year, Elva 100s took all three rostrum places. The Elva 100 FJs were powered by either a Weslake-modified BMC A-Series engine or a 980cc DKW three-cylinder two-stroke tuned by Gerhard Mitter. The gearbox was a BMC four-speed unit. Boasting a multi-tubular space-frame chassis and independent suspension all round, Nichols' creation would prove to be one of the most popular front-engined FJ designs, with approximately 200 sold worldwide. One of an estimated 75 delivered new to the USA, chassis number '100/34' was built in 1959 and fitted with one of Mitter's DKW engines. The car returned to Europe in 1980, passing to the immediately preceding owner in 1999, and for many years was on display at the Brooklands Museum, with occasional outings in Historic races. On file is a document written by a previous owner (who had bought the car in 1993), outlining its specification and usage in some detail: "in 1993 the car received a lot of attention to bring it up to spec to compete in the Lurani Trophy and was subsequently raced in the 1995 and 1996 seasons finishing in most of the races in which it was entered." In more recent years the Elva has raced throughout the USA and Europe, including at Spa Francorchamps and Monza in the Lurani Trophy races. Lola Mk2 is a racing car produced by Lola in 1962 for the new Formula Junior class. Lola Cars Company decided to build the Lola MK2 to compete in this newly created Formula Series. Using the knowledge and lessons learned from the MK1, a multi-tube chassis was created and enclosed in
Size: 3367px × 2761px
Location: Silverstone Circuit, Towcester, Northamptonshire, NN12 8TN
Photo credit: © John Gaffen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 100, 1100cc, 2023, action, armco, besley, charlie, circuit, de, elva, festival, formula, harindra, historic, junior, lola, loop, mk2, race, racing, red, silva, silverstone, single-seater, spectators, stand, towcester, white
