Elfin MS8 Clubman Streamliner

Elfin MS8 Clubman Streamliner

The Elfin MS8 Clubman represents the finest work of Garrie Cooper, Australia's most celebrated racing car constructor. Built in Adelaide from the early 1960s, the MS8 Clubman was a lightweight, open-cockpit sports car in the mold of the Lotus Seven but with distinctly Australian engineering character. Using various BMC and Ford engines, the MS8's extraordinary light weight gave it a power-to-weight ratio that could embarrass far more expensive machinery.

Garrie Cooper founded Elfin Sports Cars in 1957, building racing and sports cars from a small workshop in Adelaide. The Clubman series became the backbone of Australian club racing, and the MS8 Streamliner variant with its enclosed bodywork was particularly successful. The cars were hand-built to order, with customers able to specify different engine and transmission combinations.

The Elfin's construction was straightforward but effective: a tubular space frame chassis clothed in lightweight fiberglass bodywork, with a simple but well-sorted suspension layout. The cars were phenomenally light, often weighing under 550 kg, which made even modest engines feel potent. With a tuned 1.5-liter engine producing 100 horsepower, the MS8 could achieve a power-to-weight ratio comparable to a contemporary Porsche 911.

Elfin cars became the dominant force in Australian club racing throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Garrie Cooper's untimely death in 1982 was a devastating loss to Australian motorsport, but the Elfin brand continues under new ownership. Original Cooper-era cars are highly prized by collectors and historic racers.