Elfin joins the HSV club

Elfin, which produced the two Holden V8-powered club racer models that debuted at the 2004 Melbourne motor show, is set to ramp up production after it was sold to performance-car king Tom Walkinshaw.

Plans are under way for the MS8 Streamliner and MS8 Clubman sports cars to be sold through some HSV dealers and for up to 100 cars a year to be built at the company's Melbourne factory. Walkinshaw Performance chief executive Chris Payne says the change of ownership won't rob Elfin of its independence and adds that the 50-year-old company isn't about to be absorbed into HSV.

He says there is considerable export potential for the brand once local demand is met.

"The opportunity for us is to expand the (Walkinshaw) business portfolio beyond what it has been," Payne says. "Elfin cars are not about to become HSVs, though.

"We recognise it is its own brand with a very long and proud history, which we want to build upon. The vision Tom has for the business is for it to become not just an Australian company, but a worldwide business and for the product portfolio to expand in five years time to quite a different spread of cars. But the essence will be the same."

The Elfin brand adds to Walkinshaw's growing portfolio in Australia, which includes management of the Holden Racing Team and HSV-Dealer V8 Supercar teams, in addition to HSV and a new Holden after-market tuning business. The two MS8 cars were developed by previous owners Bill Hemming and Nick Kovatch from a design by Michael Simcoe, the man responsible for the Monaro.

They are powered by the same 245kW 5.7-litre GEN III V8 engine as the previous Commodore SS but, at 875kg (Clubman), weigh only half as much. The car's 0-100km/h acceleration of just 4.4sec is comparable to that of a Lamborghini or Ferrari. Production of Elfin's two MS8 models began in March, with 13 cars already finding homes and a further five available for Christmas. But Elfin lacked the resources and clout to become an effective low-volume manufacturer — until now.

"It was a long, hard road to get it to this stage with the limited resources Bill (Hemming) and I had," says Kovatch, who remains with the company as a technical director.

"We started talking to Tom (Walkinshaw) and he showed interest. It took about 12 months to get the deal together. It's exactly what Elfin needs, someone with the manufacturing experience and export focus, because it is very important for the brand to export cars."

The boost in production has helped reduce costs, with Clubman now priced from less than $100,000 — with the Streamliner under $120,000.

That's a healthy $10,000 cut from the original price expectation, says Kovatch. Elfin's next priority is to produce a four-cylinder club car in the tradition of its earlier Type 3 model, that could sell for about $40,000.