Elfe
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Automotive |
| Founded | 1919 |
| Founder | M. Eugene Mauve |
| Defunct | c.1925 |
| Headquarters | Lavallois, Paris , France |
| Products | Automobiles (Elfe, Elfe-Anzani, Elfe-DeFrance, Mauve) |
The Elfe was a French-made automobile produced in Lavallois, Paris from 1919 until approximately 1925 by Ateliers Defrance Freres. The company was established by M. Eugene Mauve, who also founded the Bol d'Or race for cyclecars and motorcycles held at the Le Mans circuit. The marque competed in numerous events under several names such as ELFE, Elfe-Anzani, Elfe-DeFrance, and Mauve.
Types
Elfe vehicles are generally classified into four primary types:
- The initial monocar prototype, presented at the 1919 Paris Salon, was a single-seater with an aluminium and mahogany polished finish. It was equipped with a two-cylinder engine that powered the rear wheels through a motorcycle gearbox and belt-driven final transmission.
- Introduced during the 1921 Paris-Nice trial, the two-seat racing car or monocar featured an unconventional design with a U-shaped timber and steel frame and a rear-mounted air-cooled Anzani V-twin engine. Lacking both gearbox and clutch, the passenger was required to push-start the vehicle and quickly settle into the seat. This model came in variations including single-seaters and tandem two-seaters, notable for their gothic-arched dummy radiator cowls also found on other racing cyclecars.
- The two-seat racing cyclecar was displayed at Paris Salons in 1919, 1921, and 1923. It incorporated staggered seating arrangements, a range of air- or water-cooled engines, motorcycle gearboxes, and chain-driven final drives. Surviving race photographs reveal rapid development with diverse chassis and body configurations, including the signature gothic-arched radiator style. By 1923, the Defrance cyclecar was listed with a 900cc four-cylinder engine, a 2.5-meter wheelbase, and tires sized 700 x 75.
- The last Mauve-branded car was a standard two-seat sports model catalogued in 1923–24. This vehicle had a front-mounted inline engine paired with rear-wheel drive supported by semi-elliptic suspension on all wheels. It was powered by a water-cooled all-aluminium Anzani 1086 cc OHC engine delivering 31 bhp, connected via a longitudinal engine/gearbox assembly to the rear axle through a cardan shaft. Exhibited under the sub-350Kg cyclecar class at the 1923 Paris Salon, it featured a track width of 1.1 meters, a wheelbase of 2.3 meters, and a three-speed gearbox. Only one known example remains today.
Contemporary Reviews
In 1921, the French magazine Omnia (Revue Practique de l’Automobile) briefly covered the ELFE in its category of cyclecars weighing less than 350 kg. Dubbed as "M. Mauve’s flying laboratory," this model housed a four-cylinder engine with dimensions of 58mm bore and 98mm stroke (1036cc), magneto ignition system, multi-plate clutch, and a motorcycle-style three-speed plus reverse gearbox with chain final drive. It had a track width of 1.05 meters, wheelbase measuring 2.2 meters, brakes only on the rear wheels, and pneumatic tires sized 700 x 80. Period advertisements also highlighted ELFE variants fitted with various V-twin and four-cylinder powerplants sourced from Anzani, Vapor, as well as ELFE’s own manufacturing.
Survivors
A restored 1921 Elfe racing cyclecar has been reconstructed by L'atelier des Pionniers museum located in Galardon, France; this restoration incorporates an original Anzani engine. The vehicle has been exhibited at events such as the Vintage Revival at Montlhery. To date, only one known surviving two-seat racing cyclecar exists; it appeared for sale on Leboncoin.fr in July 2012 and later was auctioned by Richard Edmonds in the UK in November 2017. Furthermore, one remaining Mauve cyclecar was documented during the Vaucluse Vintage Rallye held in France in 2008.