Sports Car Illustrated 1958

Summing up, for the man who wants to drive his car on the street and race it on weekends and still have a chance at the hardware, the Elva Courier will be hard to beat. Admittedly some of the amenities of the full street or boulevard sports car are missing, but to the truly shriven the no-nonsense performance and maneuverability of the Courier will make up for any number of cigarette lighters, ash trays and fancy knobs. SCI 1958

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Wednesday, January 18, 2012

An Old Friend Returns

Today I received an unsolicited Facebook picture  on the Elva Courier Facebook page.   It is not too unusual to get a picture posted from someone's car photo archive or a recent picture of another Elva.

Elva Courier Facebook Page

This however is my first Elva and driving this car is the man who sold it to me.

The Courier is 100/106/L

A US Bound Elva Courier -
Robins Egg Blue original color - I have several pictures of the car after it being sanded down.


It was the 106th Courier made and probably sold out of Chicago - It had been painted several times - I would have imagined at least 8  - I remember a green and a yellow and this red  - no other color stands out in my memory.

Don Kopiske is the driver, and the guy who sold me this car 10 years later (1984)  -  The car had been wrecked and repaired but the frame was straight. and a lot of the body was still intact - Hey it even came with body molds.

This car I bought for $200 or so was buried in a farm yard in Plymouth Wisconsin - horses had chewed off the front left fender.   The radiator, suspension arms and the steering shaft were the only mechanical parts left on the car.   A bad Poloroid is all I have of the car at this part of it's life

It is here in the maintenance shed at the former Peshtigo County Insane Asylum - drafty and cold

Don loaded me up with spare parts from his garage - Windshields - Tops - Top bows  pedal boxes, brakes

I stopped and talked to Don quite often - he was making a new Courier to race and I made a body for it
and I gathered more folklore, information and advice.

This car set me on a journey to enjoy - without it - I would not have met Stirling Moss,  Carl Haas or Bobby Rahal (Elva Club members)

I would not have met and befriended Frank Nichols the Elva founder or Roger Dunbar

I preserved this car - saved it really - so that it could go on and race many another day -

I knew Don well   - his crew friends proudly represented in the victory V on the side of the car

Long live Elva and the memories of the people that love them


The same car 10 years later
Stirling Moss talking to Ray Hoepper - Circa 1997 
Posted by Elvacar at 7:41 PM 4 comments
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