Australia's legendary sports car maker, Elfin, will kick off its golden anniversary celebrations this year by unveiling a limited edition model - including a one-off supercharged bitumen burner for the track - at the 2007 Melbourne International Motor Show.
Elfin will build just 5 of the 50th Anniversary collector's cars, each equipped wityh special features and painted in a unique color called 'Cooper Gold' - named in honor of Australian racing driver Garrie Cooper who laid the foundations for Elfin back in 1957.
One of the specially handkrafted 50th Anniversary Streamliners will be equipped with an optional supercharger fitted by Elfin's new sister
company, Walkinshaw Performance, lifting the already scintillating performance to new levels.
Power from the 5.7 litre Gen III V8 engine is expected to be boosted to at least 350kW at 5600 rpm, with peak torque of about 660 Nm at 4400 rpm. The V8 Elfin is already classed as one of the fastest accelerating road cars in the world, the special show car will have the capacity of reaching 100km/h in 3 seconds, and shares the same power to weight ratio as a V8 Supercar.
Elfin CEO Chris Payne said the Elfin 50th Anniversary model would honour the vision of Garrie Cooper and the achievements of the company he created.
"Elfin is now the oldest continuous sports car maker in Australia and the most succesful," he said. "It's efforts on the track, winning 29 championships and major Grand Prix titles, speak for themselves."
"Now backed by the power of Walkinshaw Performance, Elfin is going from strength to strength, with tremendous products, a
newly-appointed dealer network with representation in every state plus New Zeeland, and well-advanced plans for exports to the UK."
"Two Elfin MS8s have been air-freighted to the UK for export evaluation and sales homologation, and an office had been established at Chipping Norton, north of London.
Payne said Elfin's point of difference in the UK market was its big V8 power, producing
supercar-like performance. UK deliveries are expected to begin in time for the European summer, and the company will announce shortly the appointment of at least 2 Vauxhaul Dealers to act as Elfin Agents.
Althought only one of the 5 50th Anniversary Limited Edition specials will be supercharged, all will feature a unique scoop which is designed to accomodate the Walkinshaw Performance supercharger atop the 5.7litre V8.
The new removable hardtop is also now optional for Streamliner models, providing winter driving comfort and greater security. It will also greatly enhance the efficiency of the air conditioning in the Streamliner.
The 50th Anniversary Elfin MS8 Streamliner will retail for approximately $128,500, plus on-road costs. Supercharging is about $12,000 extra, depending on the level of mechanical enhancement required.
