Aussie sports car brand Elfin is coming back from the dead

Remember Elfin Sports Cars? After lying dormant for a decade, the iconic Australian race car turned road car manufacturer is making a comeback.

Young Timers Garage (YTG), a Keysborough-based classic, prestige and collectible car dealer in Melbourne’s south east, announced its purchase of the historic Australian manufacturer from the Walkinshaw Group this week.

“We believe that Elfin Sports Cars has enormous potential and we are excited to work with the brand’s passionate community of devoted fans, owners and previous custodians / customers to develop new and exciting products, so the Elfin legacy will continue to live once more,” said Shaun Baker, YTG founder and Elfin managing director.

“We would like to thank the Walkinshaw Automotive Group for entrusting us with this iconic brand, and we look forward to the opportunities that lie ahead.”

Elfin Type 5

From its first rebirth in 2006, Elfin produced a pair of V8-powered sports cars – the MS8 Streamliner and MS8 Clubman, both featuring a version of the 5.7-litre Gen III V8 out of the VZ-series Holden Commodore.

Pictured here is the last vehicle the company produced, the Type 5, an entry-level, turbocharged four-cylinder open wheeler that looked somewhat like a Caterham Seven.

Elfin dates back to 1959, when it was originally founded by Garrie Cooper as an Australian motorsports manufacturer.

The Aussie firm has a collection of 29 driver’s championships in numerous categories, with entries in Formula 1, Formula 2 and Formula 3 as well as Formula Ford and Group A racing.

Drivers in the brand’s motorsports history include F1 champions James Hunt and Didier Pironi.

YTG showroom

YTG hasn’t said exactly what its “exciting plans” for the Elfin brand are just yet, but it’s understood from the company’s media release that it plans to “produce high-quality, high performance road and track cars that are true to Elfin’s racing pedigree in the future”.

Whether that involves brand new models, or re-starting production of the brand’s trio of most recent models is yet to be seen.

You can find out more about Young Timers Garage here, and the Elfin Sports Cars website is here.

Stay tuned to CarExpert for all the latest, and leave us your thoughts in the comments!