Amongst all the people who had an important input into the ELVA story, I had the pleasure of making contact with David McMullan M.B.E. who was the Sales Manager overseeing the production and sales of the ELVA Couriers built at Croydon by Lambretta-Trojan.
David worked alongside, and formed a friendship with, Jeff Smith who was responsible for the Lambretta-Trojan Design and Engineering Department. Both were under the supervision of Chief Engineer Ian Williams and worked on the Trojan Kart racing projects plus the development of the Trojan designs applied to the Mk.3 and Mk.4 variants of the ELVA Courier.
David and Jeff shared a dream of some day producing their own car and while working for Lambretta-Trojan during the day, the evenings were spent in a nearby garage where the worlds first convertible Mini was designed and completed. As the emphasis at Lambretta-Trojan became focused on the McLaren-Elva customer car builds, it was time to follow the dream leading to the formation of Crayford Engineering; later Crayford Auto Developments, which resulted in a series of superbly engineered and sought after convertibles developed on various prestigious vehicles.
David pointed me towards his book ‘The Crayford Story’ which details the history of this extremely impressive, inspiring and successful business, and the people involved .. the seeds having been sown by the engineering team at Croydon.
Once the “Trojan era” Courier production had been curtailed, David and Jeff were able to concentrate on their plan to utilise their expertise on the top quality convertible conversions and the Crayford Story began …
An excellent book … highly recommended.
https://www.crayfordconvertibleclub.com ... e-now.html