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Little screamer

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Why you can trust SCMP

Little known but eminently successful, Elfin made cars and raced in various formulas in Australia for many years

Elfin Sports Cars built almost 300 sports and single-seat cars over a span of 40 years.

Even in its native Australia, however, the marque remained virtually unknown outside of local motor racing circles before its Adelaide workshop closed for good in 1989.

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Elfin began in the late 1950s when Cliff Cooper handed control of his truck body-building business to his only son, Garrie.

With the trucking industry in a slump, Garrie decided to build sports cars instead. It was not deemed a handicap that neither Garrie, nor any of his staff, had any formal engineering training.

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It certainly did not stop Elfin from being a successful venture, winning 29 Australian championships across varied formulas such as Formula Vee, Formula 5000 and sports cars.

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