To continue the story of Bexhill’s role as
the birthplace of British motor racing we travel closer to Beach Haven.
Hastings and Rye became a hotbed of engineering genius and innovation during the 1950’s. Much of it spun around the creation of the Elva racing car.
Hastings and Rye became a hotbed of engineering genius and innovation during the 1950’s. Much of it spun around the creation of the Elva racing car.
Frank G. Nichols, whose goal was to build a
low cost sports/ racing car, founded Elva in 1955. The name, which derived from
the French for ‘she goes’, perfectly suited the pretty little fast car.
Initially the car was bought by enthusiasts in the US but a new factory had to
be built at Hastings to satisfy demand for the ‘sports racer’ the
Elva Courier, first built in 1958.
By the 60’s the Hastings factory was
producing about 3 cars a week and had a staff of over sixty people. More than
400 Elva’s were made in Hastings until the early 60’s.
Unfortunately, the US distributor’s
financial problems resulted in the voluntary liquidation of the company with
cars in transit to and already on the dockside in New York.
A much smaller factory in Rye continued to
produce sports cars with Frank Nichols at the helm but once production moved to
Trojan in Croydon, he severed links with the car whose name was dropped once
links with Formula 1’s McLaren were established.
Harry Westlake with Dan Gurney who won the 1967 Race of Champions at Brands Hatch
Harry Westlake, another engineering
innovator was also based in Rye. He was a cylinder head specialist and was
instrumental in the Formula 1 V12 Eagle racing car which won in 1967 with
American driver Dan Gurney, the first driver to spray champagne on the winners
podium. Weslake and Nichols worked together on the Elva.
Bexhill Museum commissioned a
reconstruction of the Elva MKIII, which was aided by Alan Jenner who worked on
the original in 1958. This
beautiful looking car is now on display at the Museum to celebrate a bit of
local motoring genius.
Eddie Izzard climbs inside the Elva at the opening ceremony.
For more information on the wonderful story
of Elva go to www.elva.com
For details on Bexhill Museum, just over half an hour from Beach Haven,visit www.bexhillmuseum.co.uk
