IMRRC to Celebrate Elva

The car whose name means “she goes” will be the focus of activities on April 21-22, 2011 at the International Motor Racing Research Center at Watkins Glen.

The Elva is described as “deceptively simple—and surprisingly competitive” by the publisher of an award-winning book about the marque, Elva: The Cars, The People, The History, by racing historian János Wimpffen.

Wimpffen will be the weekend’s keynote speaker, giving his talk at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 21, 2012, at the Center. On Sunday, activities move to Watkins Glen International, which will be hosting its 2012 season opening weekend. The talk is free and open to all.

Wimpffen will discuss the Elva company’s origins in the 1950s in the south of England, its successes and failures at the track and its influence on better-known marques. For example, Elva helped Bruce McLaren establish the seeds of a racing dynasty by building the first McLaren-Elvas. Among drivers at the helm of Elvas was Mark Donohue, whose first racer was an Elva Courier, with which he won the SCCA national championship in 1961.

Wimpffen’s book by David Bull Publishing was the winner of the Motor Press Guild’s Dean Batchelor Award for the best book of 2011. Copies of the book will be available for sale and signing throughout the weekend.

Saturday’s salute to Elva will include a display of the cars at the Center. The cars will be on display again the next day at the start/finish line and Victory Circle area at Watkins Glen. A few parade laps around the famed circuit are also planned.

Elva owners and enthusiasts are invited to participate in all activities. For more information or to register, interested owners should contact Racing Research Center Administrator Max Neal at (607) 535-9044 or at max@racingarchives.org.

The International Motor Racing Research Center is dedicated to the preservation of the history of motorsports. For more information about the Center, visit www.racingarchives.org.

[Source: IMRRC; photo credit: Ron Nelson]