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Elfin Sports Cars

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63-686: Shaun Baker Steven Baker Elfin Sports Cars Pty Ltd (formerly known as Elfin Sports Cars) is an Australian car manufacturer company that was founded by Garrie Cooper . It has been an Australian manufacturer of sports cars and motor racing cars since 1959. Elfin Sports Cars is currently owned by Young Timers Garage (YTG) after being purchased by the company in May 2023 from the Walkinshaw Group. It

126-503: A championship, and the British Grand Prix , for being the only championship race ever in which more than one female driver were entered (although both failed to qualify). The following teams and drivers contested the 1976 World Championship of Drivers and the 1976 International Cup for Formula 1 Manufacturers. The Drivers and Manufacturers titles were contested over sixteen races. There had been no impactful regulation changes over

189-437: A customer's car, Cooper died due to a ruptured aortic aneurysm . Drivers who raced Elfin cars as teammate to Cooper include John McCormack , Vern Schuppan , John Bowe, Larry Perkins , 1976 Formula One World Champion James Hunt , and Didier Pironi. 1976 Formula One season The 1976 Formula One season was the 30th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1976 World Championship of Drivers and

252-436: A dominant Ferrari 1–2, with Laffite taking his first podium. Lauda took pole with Regazzoni alongside on the front row again. Lauda led into the first corner, and was never headed again. Ronnie Peterson 's March got up to second, and allowed Lauda to pull away by holding up Regazzoni and the two Tyrrells. At one-third distance, Regazzoni went down an escape road because of oil on the track, and Peterson spun off and crashed on

315-479: A lot of potential. However, Elfin were finding out what others had found with ground effect in that it required stronger suspension components to cope with the higher downforce generated in the corners compared to the conventional F5000's with Bowe reportedly receiving a fright during a race at Sandown in 1981 when the front suspension broke on the car. Unfortunately the true potential of the Chevrolet V8 powered MR9

378-554: A new Formula Vee, the Crusader, and a Formula Brabham car. In 1993, Victorian Murray Richards acquired Elfin and set out to build a new generation Elfin Clubman called the Type 3 . In failing health, he sold Elfin to Bill Hemming and Nick Kovatch in 1998 who relocated the business to Melbourne, Victoria. Elfin subsequently began a collaboration with GM Holden, revealing a concept MS8 Streamliner at

441-450: A puncture but soon Hunt himself also had the same fate and had to pit. Andretti now led, with Alan Jones 's Surtees second, Regazzoni third, Depailler fourth and Hunt fifth. On old, worn-out tyres, Jones and Regazzoni were fighting just to save their tyres, and first Depailler, and then Hunt with just two laps left passed both of them. Andretti won, getting his first win in five years, with Depailler second, and Hunt's third place meant that he

504-556: A spin which dropped him well down the order, but he charged back up to fifth, and was back in third after Pryce's Shadow, and Jody Scheckter in the second Tyrrell retired after driveshaft and suspension failures respectively. Regazzoni went on to take a dominant victory, with Lauda completing the Ferrari 1–2, and Depailler third. As the European season began at the Jarama circuit near Madrid, there

567-479: A suspension failure. As a result, third place went to the consistent Lauda. With Hunt finishing fifth Scheckter was now second in the points for the world championship. The French round took place at the Paul Ricard circuit in the south of France, and 'normal service' was resumed, with Hunt on pole and Lauda second, with Depailler third, continuing Tyrrell's strong form. Lauda beat Hunt off the line as usual, and led

630-649: Is currently located in Keysborough, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. The company was founded in South Australia as Elfin Sports Cars in October 1959 by Garrie Cooper , who would go on to be a champion race driver as well as a successful designer and builder of Elfin racing and sports-racing cars. In 1983, following the death of its founder the previous year, the firm was bought by Tasmanian Don Elliott, racing driver Tony Edmondson and mechanic John Porter who re-established

693-536: The 1978 Australian Grand Prix at the fast Sandown Raceway in Melbourne , he suffered a broken leg in a high-speed crash while driving his own Elfin MR8 Formula 5000 . The car was destroyed after leaving the track and crashing into the horse track rails on the back straight at over 250 km/h (155 mph). Cooper's explanation for the high speed crash was that something broke on the car which sent him spearing into

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756-753: The MS8 Streamliner and the MS8 Clubman . Thereafter, in 2008, Elfin introduced what might be termed an entry-level model, the turbocharged four cylinder T5 Clubman. Engines for the MS8 cars were essentially standard production 5.7 litre Gen III V8s as supplied to GM Holden for their VZ-series Commodore vehicles. For the T5 Clubman, Pontiac-derived engines were supplied by GM Powertrain (USA). The MS8 cars have significant power (circa 255kW) for their size and weight, but are infamous for "spirited" handling. Some media regarded

819-677: The Netherlands , but with only one car for Regazzoni. It was Peterson who took pole at Zandvoort, beating pole king Hunt and Tom Pryce 's Shadow . Peterson led the early stages ahead of Watson, until Watson made a mistake which let Hunt through. Peterson then struggled and dropped behind Hunt, Watson and Regazzoni. Watson retired with a gearbox failure, promoting Regazzoni and Peterson, but the latter also retired when he lost oil pressure. Regazzoni now closed up on Hunt, bringing Mario Andretti with him, but Hunt held them off, with Regazzoni and Andretti within two seconds of him in second and third. After

882-709: The Singapore Grand Prix (1968), the Malaysian Grand Prix (1968, 1969, 1972), and the New Zealand Grand Prix (1973, 1974). Drivers of Elfin cars included 1976 Formula One World Champion James Hunt , and French F1 driver, Didier Pironi . Others included Australian F1 drivers Vern Schuppan and Larry Perkins , as well as John Bowe , Frank Matich , John McCormack , Bob Jane , Allan Grice , Peter Manton and Mark Mclaughlin. In 2006, Elfin began producing two related V8-powered sports cars :

945-489: The 1976 International Cup for Formula 1 Manufacturers . The two titles were contested over a sixteen race series which commenced on 25 January and ended on 24 October. Two non-championship races were also held during the 1976 season. In an extraordinarily political and dramatic season, the Drivers' Championship went to McLaren driver James Hunt by one point from Ferrari 's defending champion Niki Lauda , although Ferrari took

1008-566: The 1976 German Grand Prix was the last Grand Prix at the old Nürburgring- one of the most iconic, historic and legendary circuits in motorsport. The German Grand Prix moved further south to the Hockenheimring and Grand Prix racing did not return to the Nürburgring until 1984 on the newly constructed 2.8 mile (4.5 km) Grand Prix circuit. The news before the Austrian GP at the Österreichring

1071-460: The Dutch GP, with Hunt only two points behind Lauda, the championship seemed to be a cakewalk for him. But then came the news that Lauda was going to make an astonishing return for the last four races of the season (it was so unexpected that Ferrari had to run three cars for Lauda, Regazzoni, and Lauda's supposed replacement Carlos Reutemann ), just six weeks after his accident. As the event went on at

1134-448: The MS8 vehicles as somewhat disappointing, considering Elfin's motorsport history. Elfin vehicle production was officially in hiatus by March 2012, with ongoing enquiries at that time to be directed to the related Walkinshaw Performance business. The original company produced 248 racing and sports racing cars in 27 different models over a 25-year period. Garrie Cooper Garrie Clifford Cooper (22 December 1935 - 25 April 1982)

1197-692: The Manufacturers' trophy. The controversy began in Spain where Hunt was initially disqualified from first place, handing the race win to Lauda, only for the decision to be overturned on appeal months later. Ferrari did not enter the Austrian Grand Prix out of protest. Hunt won in France and, it seemed, in Britain , but the race had been restarted after a first lap pile-up and Hunt drove on an access road returning to

1260-707: The Melbourne International Motor Show in 2004. Limited production of two versions of the MS8 began in March 2006 and after the business was sold to Tom Walkinshaw (of HSV / Walkinshaw Performance) in December 2006, future limited production units were retailed Australia-wide via select HSV dealerships in each state. Following his death in December 2010, ownership of Elfin remained vested in the estate of Tom Walkinshaw ... but, there has been no further production of any Elfin cars since March 2012. In May, 2023, Elfin

1323-554: The South African race, the drivers assembled at Long Beach in the US for the third round. Regazzoni took pole position with Depailler second, forcing Hunt and Lauda onto the second row. The top four maintained their positions at the start, and almost immediately Regazzoni began to pull away. Hunt now tried to pass Depailler for second; they collided; Hunt was out, Depailler went wide, and Lauda sailed through to second. Depailler kept third until

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1386-465: The Swiss was up to third. Scheckter dropped off, and the top four of Peterson, Depailler, Regazzoni and Laffite ran closely. Hunt spun off while trying to charge up the field, and Depailler dropped back late on with engine trouble. Peterson took his first win in two years, with Regazzoni second, Laffite third, and Lauda an incredible fourth. The week-long North American tour started with the teams assembling at

1449-557: The barriers while trying to avoid him. This left Hunt with a big lead ahead of Carlos Pace in the Brabham , the Brabham team showing some speed. Soon, Scheckter was up to second, and Pace was passed by a recovering Regazzoni. Hunt eased to victory ahead of Scheckter, and Mass completed the podium by passing Pace after Regazzoni spun off (again). With Hunt's crucial victory at this longest of racing circuits, and after 49 years of Grand Prix racing,

1512-517: The burning car, and the race was stopped. It took the one helicopter (which was parked at the pits on one extreme end of the circuit) at the track an excruciating 5 to 6 minutes to get to the accident site, and Lauda was sent to hospital with serious burns and was fighting for his life. The race restarted, with the starting slots of Lauda, Ertl and Lunger left empty. Hunt led at the restarted race with Regazzoni up to second, but this did not last long as Regazzoni spun off and dropped back, and Depailler hit

1575-573: The car as it had only been completed before practice and did not set a qualifying time. Pironi and Cooper's Ansett Team Elfin teammate John Bowe each drove an Elfin MR8 in the race, with Pironi finishing in third place, four laps down on the Williams FW07B Formula One car of 1980 World Champion Alan Jones . John Bowe also drove the MR9 on limited occasions and felt that with the ground effects it had

1638-573: The decision to be overturned by the team's appeal. For the opening round of the season in Brazil at the 5-mile Interlagos circuit in São Paulo, James Hunt took pole position in his McLaren with reigning World Champion Niki Lauda alongside in his Ferrari (which set the tone for the season). Clay Regazzoni in the second Ferrari took the lead at the start. Regazzoni, Lauda, Hunt and Shadow 's Jean-Pierre Jarier battled. Regazzoni and Jarier collided, and

1701-543: The drivers decided to pit for dry tyres. This left Mass's McLaren leading from Gunnar Nilsson . On the second lap, Lauda lost control at high speed due to a suspected rear suspension failure and crashed into the barriers before bouncing back on to the track, and the car caught fire. The car was then hit by Harald Ertl 's Hesketh and Brett Lunger 's Surtees . The two drivers immediately got out of their cars, and soon Arturo Merzario stopped his Wolf–Williams as well and also Guy Edwards helped. The four pulled Lauda out of

1764-504: The early stages until his engine failed. Hunt now led with Regazzoni close behind, but Regazzoni's Ferrari engine also failed. With the Ferraris out, any challenge to Hunt evaporated, and Hunt went on to win with Depailler second. Scheckter ran third until he faded away with engine trouble, giving John Watson third and Penske its first podium. The British fans had found a new hero in Hunt, but it

1827-399: The end of the race, Mass had to retire with an engine failure. Hunt took his first win of the season, with Lauda second and Gunnar Nilsson 's Lotus third. After the race, Hunt was disqualified because his McLaren was found to be too wide. McLaren appealed, saying this was due to the expansion of the tyres during the race, and two months after the race, Hunt was reinstated. The fifth round

1890-499: The favour a few laps later. Hunt took the lead again with 14 laps left and went on to win, and Scheckter had to settle for second. The Marches were again unable to keep up the pace, and it was left to Lauda to take an astonishing podium, just beating Mass in the second McLaren. The championship was to be decided in Japan at the fast Fuji Speedway near Tokyo, and Lauda was leading Hunt by three points. In qualifying, Hunt took second, but Lauda

1953-639: The fence. In 1980, Cooper designed and built the first open wheel car in Australia to use ground effect aerodynamics , the Elfin MR9 (the MR9 remains the only F5000 ever constructed using ground effect). This car made its race début in Cooper's hands at the 1980 Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne's Calder Park Raceway . Originally to be driven by French Formula One driver Didier Pironi who had experience driving ground effects F1 cars, Cooper himself decided to drive

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2016-501: The first for the Tyrrell P34, with Mario Andretti 's Lotus second and Chris Amon an amazing 3rd on the grid in the Ensign . Andretti took the lead at the start, but went off with engine failure at around two thirds distance. The six-wheelers went on to dominate (much to the chagrin of some of the other teams) and finished 1–2, with Scheckter winning. Amon was robbed of a possible podium by

2079-527: The former had to pit for repairs. Lauda now led from Hunt and Jarier, but Hunt crashed out due to a sticking throttle, and Jarier did the same a lap later after driving on some oil in the track. Lauda thus started his title defence with victory, with Patrick Depailler second in the Tyrrell , and Tom Pryce completing the podium in the other Shadow. At the Kyalami circuit near Johannesburg, Hunt took pole position for

2142-594: The front, Hunt was leading but was soon challenged by Brambilla until the Italian spun out of contention. By mid-race, Mass had jumped up to second behind his teammate and acted as a protective buffer, but then crashed out. Hunt led from Depailler and Andretti, but then began to suffer from tyre wear, and both drivers passed with 11 laps left. This was still fine as Hunt was third and needed only three points to become World Champion, because he had more wins than Lauda. This became second when Depailler's tyres gave out, and he suffered

2205-411: The lead on the 10th lap, but then Watson was back in front. Scheckter battled until he crashed due to a suspension failure, and Peterson ultimately began to drop back. Watson thus won, the result being his and Penske's first win, and the podium was completed by Laffite and Nilsson. Lauda had begun his recovery, and was planning to race later in the season, and as a result, Ferrari were back in business in

2268-524: The lead with 15 minutes left, sending the home fans wild. Hunt went on to win, with Lauda hanging on to second and Scheckter third. After the race, Ferrari, Tyrrell and the Fittipaldi team appealed against Hunt being allowed to take part in the spare car. Ferrari took the matter to the FIA (which was hypocritical since their own driver, Regazzoni had started in a spare, although he retired), and two months later, Hunt

2331-466: The modified Monza circuit, Laffite took pole in qualifying, with Scheckter's six-wheeler alongside and Pace third. Lauda was fifth, and Hunt along with Watson and Mass were penalised and sent to the back because of supposed fuel irregularities. At the start, Scheckter led ahead of Laffite and Depailler with Lauda down in the midfield, but soon Peterson was on a charge and took the lead after 14 laps. Peterson's charge also brought Regazzoni with him, and soon

2394-457: The next lap due to the same reason. This left Scheckter second and Depailler third but Regazzoni charged back and passed Depailler. He, however crashed out with 5 laps left while chasing Scheckter, thus ensuring that both the six-wheeled cars were on the podium behind Lauda. Lauda now had a massive 33-point lead in the championship over Regazzoni and Hunt. Scheckter took pole in Sweden at Anderstorp,

2457-451: The next longest circuit on the calendar and 7 times longer than the Monaco street circuit and its size meant it was nearly impossible to manage it safely to 1976 regulatory standards- the organizers were not willing or able to provide up to 5 times the marshals, medical services and firefighters needed at this circuit than at any other F1 circuit. Ultimately, all the drivers decided to race, and it

2520-480: The pits, which was against the rules. He was eventually disqualified after an appeal from Ferrari. Lauda became the official race winner. Lauda had a massive crash at the Nürburgring in West Germany and appeared likely to die from his injuries, but managed to return after missing just two races. Going into the final race in Japan , Lauda led Hunt by three points. In the appalling weather conditions, Lauda withdrew from

2583-544: The prototype of his planned Formula Vee based road sports car. Opened in Melbourne on 16 August 2007, the centre features 24 current and historic vehicles and is open to the public. Elfin drivers have won 29 championships and major titles including two Australian Drivers' Championships ( 1973 , 1975 ), four Australian Sports Car Championships ( 1970 , 1973 , 1974 , 1975 ), three Australian Tourist Trophies (1966, 1976, 1978), and four Australian Formula Ford Series (1970, 1971, 1974, 1982). In addition Elfin cars also won

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2646-426: The provision of parts and service to existing owners. Cooper died suddenly on ANZAC Day (25 April) in 1982, at the age of 46, from a burst aorta, due to the vessel's weakness from medication he took to thin his blood after a mid-1970s heart valve operation. Cliff Cooper, Garrie's father, completed outstanding orders, including six new generation Formula Vees, before offering the business for sale as well as designing

2709-431: The race and Hunt finished third to take the championship trophy. This was the last championship for a British driver until Nigel Mansell in 1992 . The 2013 film Rush is based on this season, focusing on the rivalry and friendship between Hunt and Lauda. Other noteworthy events include the introduction of the six-wheeled Tyrrell P34 , the last race by Chris Amon , regarded as one of the best F1 drivers never to win

2772-482: The race was to be restarted. In controversial circumstances McLaren, Ferrari and Ligier had Hunt, Regazzoni and Laffite all take part in the restarted race in spare cars. There was no trouble in the restart, as Lauda led from Hunt and Regazzoni into the first corner. The top three were unchanged till mid-race until Regazzoni retired with a gearbox problem, promoting Scheckter to third. Lauda led comfortably until he too suffered from gearbox troubles, and home hero Hunt took

2835-515: The scenic Mosport Park track near Toronto for the Canadian Grand Prix . Hunt's disqualification from the British GP came after the Italian race, and as a result Hunt had only 47 points to Lauda's 64 with three races left. The Englishman took pole, with Peterson also on the front row ahead of March teammate Vittorio Brambilla . As usual, Hunt did not start well, and Peterson took the lead. But it

2898-402: The second time in two races, with Lauda alongside again. It was Lauda who led into the first corner, with Hunt dropping down to fourth behind McLaren teammate Jochen Mass and Vittorio Brambilla in his March . Hunt was waved through by Mass, and passed Brambilla to take second after five laps. Lauda led from start to finish to win again, with Hunt second and Mass third for McLaren. Well after

2961-454: The valve, Cooper had to take anti-coagulants, which caused concern from CAMS (the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport , Australia's motorsport ruling body), but after extensive lobbying from Cooper and countless letters supporting Cooper from his heart specialist, he was able to regain his racing license and continued his racing career. Early on Anzac Day (25 April) 1982, while working on

3024-451: The winter, but before the 1976 Spanish Grand Prix , a restriction was placed on the height of the air box to no more than 850 mm (33 in). This eliminated many eye-striking designs seen in the past years. It was also stipulated at that time, that an F1 car could not be wider than 215 cm (85 in). This caught out the McLaren team and James Hunt was disqualified, only for

3087-404: Was Lauda who took pole at Brands Hatch , beating the home hero Hunt into second, and Andretti showing Lotus's pace with third. At the start, Regazzoni began like a rocket and was immediately up to second, and was challenging Lauda. The two touched, and Regazzoni spun. He was hit by Hunt and Jacques Laffite but the rest of the field were away safely. However, there was too much debris on track, and

3150-570: Was a big talking point as the Tyrrell team entered a new P34 six-wheeler for Depailler. Depailler was on the pace and qualified third, behind Hunt and Lauda. Lauda once again beat Hunt off the line at the start and led for the first third of the race. Depailler, after a slow start, was running fourth behind Mass when he spun off and crashed with brake problems. Just before mid-race, the McLarens of Hunt and Mass found another gear and drove past Lauda, but towards

3213-474: Was a front-engined sports car. The prototype was completed in October 1959 and was followed by 22 production versions, the last of which was delivered in 1963. 248 Elfins of various models had been completed by 1983. Cooper won the 1968 Singapore Grand Prix and the 1968 Australian 1½ Litre Championship driving an Elfin 600 . He also won the 1975 Australian Sports Car Championship with an Elfin MS7 . During

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3276-588: Was at the Zolder circuit near the Dutch-Belgian border. Ferrari locked out the front row, with Lauda on pole from Regazzoni. Lauda motored away as the start, with Hunt up to second but, soon Regazzoni took the place back. The Ferraris raced away, and Hunt dropped to sixth, behind Jacques Laffite 's Ligier and the two six-wheeled Tyrrells, before eventually retiring with a transmission failure. Depailler also retired when his engine blew up. Lauda won, and Regazzoni completed

3339-480: Was disqualified and Lauda was given the win. Scheckter was promoted to second, Watson had another podium, and Two-time champion Emerson Fittipaldi got sixth place and a point. There were concerns by the drivers in the German GP held at the legendary Nordschleife about the safety of the track. The mountainous Nordschleife section of the Nürburgring was 14 miles (23 km) long – almost 3 times longer than Interlagos,

3402-453: Was in the US at Watkins Glen, New York, a circuit similar (and close by) to Mosport Park in that it was fast and scenic with a number of long, sweeping corners. Hunt took his eighth pole of the season, with the six-wheeler of Scheckter alongside, and Peterson third. As expected, Scheckter took the lead at the start, with Hunt and Brambilla following. The front two pulled away and battled, with Hunt passing Scheckter mid-race and Scheckter returning

3465-400: Was never reached and its racing life was limited to just one year as F5000 racing was phased out of Australian motorsport at the end of 1981. After limited appearances following the 1980 Australian Grand Prix, Cooper retired from racing following the 1981 season. Several years before, Cooper was admitted to hospital to have an artificial heart valve implanted. Due to the metallic material of

3528-462: Was no surprise that Hunt and Lauda were on the front row, the British driver on pole, with Depailler heading the second row. At the start, on a damp but drying track, once again it was Regazzoni who started off best, whereas Lauda was slow and lost a lot of places. Regazzoni was leading from Hunt but he spun and dropped to fourth. At the end of the first lap, over eight minutes after the race started most of

3591-473: Was not for long as Hunt retook the lead on lap 10, and soon both Marches dropped way back, and so Depailler was second and Andretti third. The top three of Hunt, Depailler and Andretti were unchanged for the rest of the race. Lauda was running fifth until handling issues dropped him out of the points, and Hunt had closed the gap to 8 points. The penultimate round and the second leg of the North American tour

3654-422: Was previously owned by businessmen and historic racing enthusiasts Bill Hemming and Nick Kovatch (who remains as technical director) who purchased it in 1998. Elfin is the oldest continuous sports car maker in Australia and one of the most successful with 29 championships and major Grand Prix titles. The original factory was located at Conmurra Avenue, Edwardstown in suburban Adelaide, South Australia. The company

3717-481: Was right behind in third as Andretti took pole for Lotus. On race day, it rained heavily, and the weather was dreadful with the track full of water and the rain pelting down. Hunt got a good start for once, and took the lead from Andretti. Some of the drivers protested, saying it was too dangerous to race. At the end of the second lap, Lauda came into the pits and withdrew, saying that the conditions were too dangerous. Emerson Fittipaldi and Carlos Pace also withdrew. At

3780-516: Was sold Shaun Baker, Steven Baker and Phani Bhogavalli of luxury car dealer, Young Timers Garage (YTG) , located in Keysborough, Victoria. YTG have announced plans to revitalise the brand after it sat dormant for 10 years under the Walkinshaw ownership. The Elfin Heritage Centre dedicated to Elfin Sports Cars including Garrie Cooper ’s first (Cooper Austin) and last (MR9 F5000) race cars, plus

3843-421: Was that Lauda's condition was no longer life-threatening, but there was a low attendance with Lauda not racing; and Ferrari were so shaken by Lauda's crash that they did not compete at all. Hunt meanwhile took pole, ahead of countryman Watson and Ronnie Peterson . Watson took the lead at the start ahead of Peterson and Hunt, but soon Peterson was in the lead. Scheckter was on a charge from the mid-field, and he took

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3906-661: Was the F1 World Champion of 1976. The 1976 World Championship of Drivers and the International Cup for Formula 1 Manufacturers were contested concurrently over a sixteen race series. Points were awarded to the top six classified finishers. The International Cup for F1 Manufacturers only counted the points of the highest-finishing driver for each race. For both the Championship and the Cup, the best seven results from rounds 1-8 and

3969-513: Was the founder of the highly successful Elfin Sports Cars and a competitive racing driver in his own right, winning the 1968 Singapore Grand Prix , the 1968 Australian 1½ Litre Championship , and the 1975 Australian Sports Car Championship - all in Elfin cars of his own design. Cooper established Elfin Sports Cars in 1959 with the help of his father Cliff Cooper. The first Elfin, the Streamliner,

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