LAVA (LINE-Alu-VNTR-Alu-like) elements are non-autonomous retrotransposons specific to gibbons and may have influenced their evolution. These elements contain segments from various primate repeats. We tested if a full-length LAVA element, LAVAC, can be mobilized by human LINE-1 proteins in HeLa cells. Results show L1 proteins mobilize LAVAC over 100 times more than processed pseudogenes and three times more than human SVAE retrotransposition. Only the SVA-derived portions are active, and truncating the 3’ L1ME5 part boosts retrotransposition rates by at least 100%. Tagged insertions matched findings in the gibbon genome, suggesting new models for the LAVA retrotransposon's evolution.