Wednesday 18th March

Last-registered Westfield SEiGHT for sale

Looking for a true V8 throwback on a 74-plate? Look no further...

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Westfield Sports Cars, you may or may not know, is back in business. Granted, it doesn’t go by that name any longer - officially it’s Westfield Chesil Ltd, now located in Bicester rather than Dudley - but it not only has what seems like a healthy pulse, it also has a new car. Launched last year, the Se.NA, available in three trim levels, twins a naturally aspirated 2.0-litre motor with the Seven-on-steroids look we’ve long been accustomed to. Naturally, we wish it well. 

We mention its resurrection because it means this SEiGHT is likely not the only Westfield you can buy on a 74-plate. But it will be one of very few, we’d wager - and the vendor’s deceleration about it being probably the last V8 version registered is likely true. It’s not like the model, powered by the harbinger of old school that is the Rover V8, was ever a mainstream choice, even when new. Especially when Westfield was a dab hand at finding interesting sources of power, including the bike-engined Megabusa and Megablade variants. 

Nevertheless, the 3.5-litre unit remains the real draw. The advert doesn’t quote an output, though it does suggest V8 was installed by Chessman Motorsport of Coventry and certified as new. Power is mostly by the by, of course: the Rover motor was always about character first and foremost. Almost certainly the Se.NA, with up to 255hp available, would be quicker around a circuit. But that isn’t the point either. 

Having said that, it’s not like someone hasn’t thrown the kitchen sink at our hero - the car gets Protech adjustable dampers, ride-height adjustment, wide-track suspension, ARP four-pot front callipers with vented discs, 15-inch Revolution Minilite-style wheels and Toyo tyres. It looks the part, too - and the suggestion that it sounds ‘absolutely phenomenal’ via a stainless steel exhaust is virtually a given. 

This goes a long way to explaining the price: £34,995 is proper money for anything wearing a Westfield badge, especially if your mental picture of the marque is old kits, crossflows and half-finished projects. It’s also the sort of budget that opens the door to all sorts of seriously quick, like-minded rivals, high among them various iterations of Caterham Seven, Westfield’s forever nemesis. 

But you won’t find any that feature a V8 (the bonkers Levante is even rarer than the SEiGHT and hugely more expensive) and that really is the point - even for Westfield, a company famously unafraid of the question ‘what if’, the car was an outlier in silliness terms, and comes from that blessed age when a lightweight body and supersized engine could easily masquerade as a business plan. The latest incarnation of the firm will need to be cleverer than that - let’s hope it manages to be as likeable, too...

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See the original advert

[TTimTurbo]

Remove the tacky printed number plate and that is perfect. Wonderful machine.

[Maccmike8]

Going to Le Man in the late 90s and early 00s would see so many great cars like these. Committed to driving one to France to camp, fair play to them. And copious amounts of TVRs. Great times.

[Tubbycharged]

I seem to remember, in the dim and distant past (late 90's probs), when the back pages of EVO magazine were the bible on contemporaneous new performance car sales, the review said something like 'spits neat fuel at you'! Always made me smile!

[jenkosrugby]

I finished my Seight build in 2022 (which is currently up for sale), and thought that might be the last one, but a 24 plate trumps it.......Im certainly not aware of any more unbuilt kits lying around from the forums, but you never know. The Seight had a slightly different chassis to the standard 4 pot Westfields. They really are an absolute joy to drive. Most weigh around the 700kg mark which for a westfield is on the higher side, but still very light for anything with that much torque.

[biggbn]

So much want for this...

[hairy vx]

Tubbycharged said:

I seem to remember, in the dim and distant past (late 90's probs), when the back pages of EVO magazine were the bible on contemporaneous new performance car sales, the review said something like 'spits neat fuel at you'! Always made me smile!

I remember reading a road test that said something like that - not one for smokers then!

[GTRene]

love those crazy builds, yes a fats 4 pot may be faster on a track, but the V8 sound, still lightweight car, the sound and the way it goes because of the low down torque, sounds like DF Driving-Fun.

[Ecosseven]

I remember the original road test in car magazine if the time. I was Caterham mad at the time and yet this thing had a 3.9 litre V8 with 270 bhp. It would have been around 1991 from memory as the car was an 'H' registration. The original car was dark blue with the light blue interior.

[stereophoney]

Almost great, but those rear lights look like they've been taken from a truck and without any modification or effort to make them look like they belong there, and the spare wheel and subsequent number plate placement just looks off.

[GTRene]

Ecosseven said:

I remember the original road test in car magazine if the time. I was Caterham mad at the time and yet this thing had a 3.9 litre V8 with 270 bhp. It would have been around 1991 from memory as the car was an 'H' registration. The original car was dark blue with the light blue interior.

how are those in the footwell enough space for normal shoes? I thought the SE models are a bit wider?

also, imagine a TVR Griffith 400/430 (1992 type) qua power, with just 700kg instead of the Griffith 1080 kg FUN and sounds in spades?

[nismo48]

TTimTurbo said:

Remove the tacky printed number plate and that is perfect. Wonderful machine.

4D plates

[sideways man]

Had a passenger ride around castle Combe years back in a se eight, just a fantastic thing.
Currently own a k series Caterham , but I d consider a swap for this.

Edited by sideways man on Wednesday 18th March 17:50

[jenkosrugby]

stereophoney said:

Almost great, but those rear lights look like they've been taken from a truck and without any modification or effort to make them look like they belong there, and the spare wheel and subsequent number plate placement just looks off.

Possibly not the best angle, but those lights are a big improvement on the standard offering..this is my car and you can see they do actually contour the body…:

[5lab]

£35k isn't a bad price either, considering all the new westfields start at £50k

[AlandSoph]

Tubbycharged said:

I seem to remember, in the dim and distant past (late 90's probs), when the back pages of EVO magazine were the bible on contemporaneous new performance car sales, the review said something like 'spits neat fuel at you'! Always made me smile!

Yes, i remember Clarkson drove one and commented the same.. said 'Smoking is absolutely not an option here' after referring to the 'sheets' of unburned petrol sprayed on the windscreen!

[Om]

It's good that the seats are pre-browned.

[Fastlane]

5lab said:

£35k isn't a bad price either, considering all the new westfields start at £50k

Blimey, just checked their website and they go up to £75k!

I think they'll struggle selling many cars at that price, when you can get a Caterham or an Atom, both of which are better cars with way better residuals.

[blueST]

Often wondered how you are meant to pronounce the name. Is it:
S E I G H T
Seight (a bit like sate)
S Eight
S E Eight

Anyone in the Westfield world know?

[Quinten]

I believe it is written as SEiGHT and pronounced as S Eight

[Deranged Rover]

I think the petrol-spitting one was the SEiGHT 330 which had a 4.3 V8 with 330bhp on quad carbs.

As I recall, the reviewer said it sprayed petrol in the windscreen when you accelerated, threw flames out of the exhaust when you lifted off, was terrifying in anything less that third gear in the dry and damn near undriveable in the wet. He said he never been scared so much by any car in his life.

Obviously he loved it!