Tony Ellis: 1933-2001

So we are already into 2002 after a shocking end to 2001. That year started with a wonderful trip for me down to New Zealand to experience the magic of such a beautiful country and the really delightful people.

It was a privilege to be able to spend some time with Tony Ellis, Bruce Sutcliffe and some members of the McLaren family and the kindness and hospitality was second to none. Having been treated like Royalty, it has been a pleasure to keep in touch following our return and it was therefore with the greatest of sorrow that I learnt of the death of Tony, who passed away at the end of the year.

Tony Ellis was a gifted engineer who contributed much to the Elva story by providing enthusiastic help and replacement parts to many Elva owners during the Sixties from his Eton Wick workshop, but Tony also conceived and built the potent Elva Cougar, the 3 litre V6 powered car that had so much potential.

Once Trojan Limited turned their attention to working alongside Bruce McLaren Racing, the Courier became the discarded toy and it was only the dedication of Tony and Ken Sheppard that kept the project alive for at least a little longer. But Tony had a dream that after much hard work eventually became a reality. The GT Courier was an attractive car but Tony realised that it needed to be completely re-engineered to make it into the fast, stable touring car that it desperately wanted and needed to be.

The Cougar was unique and very special and the fuller story can be found on elvacourier.com The prototype and only Cougar has long gone, and now we have lost Tony - a great car and a talented gentle man whose skills ranged from automobile engineering to the creation of micro breweries. I consider myself to be very fortunate in having been able to buy him a pint, and my thoughts and sympathies extend to all of his family and friends.

Roger Dunbar