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WHY USE MAZDA PARTS FOR THE NEW ELVA
™?
It is
impossible for such a small company to make every single part on
an automobile. In its day, Elva made almost every part but the
engine for its purpose-built racing cars, but when it came to
making an affordable street car, Elva, like Lotus, used many parts
from suitable road-going cars.
Elva used
engines from Ford or MG, and suspension parts from Triumph and TVR.
In the
same spirit of keeping the car affordable, we have chosen to use
as many parts as possible from one single donor car – THE MAZDA
MX5 (MIATA).
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The
front and rear double wishbone suspensions are perfectly suited for use
with a composite chassis as they are built on
removable sub frames.
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The
long production run of the MAZDA sports car has made parts widely
available, donor cars are inexpensive, and high performance upgrades can
be found for everything from brakes to superchargers.
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The
MAZDA donor car can conveniently be scavenged for a variety of other
needed hardware such as the windshield, top, side windows, door hinges and
latches, etc.
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What will NOT
be used from the MAZDA:
Certain parts of the
Mazda are stylistically very distinctive, and will therefore NOT be used
such as the pop-up headlights (or the later teardrop-style), the tail
lights, and the external door handles.
The Elva should have
its own look.
Isn’t it a sacrilege
to use Japanese parts?
Actually the MX5
MAZDA was designed by an ENGLISH company, IAD, and the inspiration for the
car was the LOTUS ELAN, after all. So although the MAZDA PARTS MAY BE
MADE IN JAPAN, there is a very strong lineage to the English sports car
design philosophy.
New Elva Chassis
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The ELVA trademark is owned in the U.S. by
Vantage Motorsports Inc.
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