Elfin book.

An unrepeatable story demands an unrepeatable book. So, it is fitting that – on the 60th anniversary of the company’s foundation – a very special new work is published, solely dedicated to the fascinating history of Elfin Sports Cars.

Elfin: The Spirit of Speed is a book on an epic scale. At over 700 pages and of imposing proportions, featuring hundreds of black and white and colour photographs, it is published in grand style, with the very finest quality stock and production values.

Four years in the making, exhaustive research has uncovered countless hitherto unknown facts about the marque. The author, David Dowsey, has conducted over 50 interviews with the individuals who know the history firsthand. Hundreds of high quality photographs – many previously unpublished – bring the story to life. Almost every model and variant has been professionally photographed, making Elfin: The Spirit of Speed worthy of museum-piece status.

Elfin: The Spirit of Speed is a comprehensive catalogue of every Elfin model produced by the company under all ownerships: Garrie Cooper, Don Elliott, Murray Richards, Bill Hemming/Nick Kovatch and Tom Walkinshaw.

Over the course of its incredible 704 pages, every model and all variants are described in accurate detail and are bolstered by specification tables and racing histories. Period and specially commissioned contemporary photographs add depth to the stories.

Many of the surviving Elfin employees that constructed the cars; the drivers who campaigned them with so much success; and the brave individuals who have owned the company over the years contributed to the book through revealing interviews that detail the aspirations and disappointments, the rivalries and jealousies, and the comradeship and can-do attitude that make the story of Elfin Sports Cars one of the most fascinating in the history of motorsport.

Elfin: The Spirit of Speed – The Editions

Elfin: The Spirit of Speed is available in three editions, each of the highest quality, but positioned at different price points to suit most budgets: The Standard Edition is for the fans; the Limited Edition has been designed for Elfin owners looking to personalise their book and connect it with their ownership experience; while the Ultimate Edition is for the Elfin aficionado who wants something that money generally can’t buy: a genuine connection with the marque and the car they own or may have owned. All books are 704 pages.

Standard Edition: An initial run of 1000 copies will be printed; hardbound with French-fold dust jacket and featuring a ribbon bookmark with special card marker. RRP $195.

Limited Edition: A run of 350 copies only will be printed with the following special treatments: Special cloth binding, embossed brushed aluminium-look slipcase, ribbon bookmark with special card marker, author’s signature and individually handwritten Limited Edition series number. Limited Edition books are available to special order only and will be issued complete with a replica Elfin chassis plate attached to the book’s front cover (strictly one book per frame number, never to be duplicated). The Limited Edition is to be offered exclusively in the first instance to the current owner of the allocated frame number (until 31 December 2019). RRP $425.

Ultimate Edition: A limited run of up to five books only to be printed, produced strictly to order. All are signed by the author and hand numbered, with special leather binding featuring the racing number and roundel of the purchaser’s choice. These very special books will be presented in a Mike Simcoe-designed aluminium display case made from a genuine historic Elfin body panel, from a crashed or repaired car, complete with the appropriate age and usage patina, and fixed with a replica Elfin chassis plate stamped with the purchaser’s choice of frame number (strictly one only for any frame number, never to be duplicated) and a selection of genuine bodybuilding tools, used by Garrie Cooper and John Webb at the Elfin Works in the making of Elfin’s aluminium-bodied cars. A double-page photo of the purchaser’s Elfin can be included inside the front of the book on request. RRP $2750.

$2750? Maybe I'll get two.