Lotus or Westfield?

Author
Discussion

nao

Original Poster:

5 posts

86 months

Monday 30th January 2017
quotequote all
Can anyone tell if this is a Lotus or Westfield ?

http://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/228010...

Edited by nao on Monday 30th January 13:35

kambites

67,462 posts

220 months

Monday 30th January 2017
quotequote all
Well it says 1988 in the text and Lotus certainly weren't still making 7s in 1988.

It is a bit odd having a Lotus VIN plate though.

nao

Original Poster:

5 posts

86 months

Monday 30th January 2017
quotequote all
Then why is the caution plate of Lotus?
Is it a fake?
Is the only chassis genuine?

Edited by nao on Monday 30th January 09:02

nao

Original Poster:

5 posts

86 months

Monday 30th January 2017
quotequote all
Is the plate of 7's?

nao

Original Poster:

5 posts

86 months

Monday 30th January 2017
quotequote all
Is it possible that Westfield got the chassis of Lotus in some way and they have built a seven in their ways?

kambites

67,462 posts

220 months

Monday 30th January 2017
quotequote all
I don't know. The chassis number would make it an early S2 but I think the "Holbay" engine was introduced in the S3 so if they're genuine Lotus parts they come from at least two different cars.

crofty1984

15,830 posts

203 months

Monday 30th January 2017
quotequote all
Westfield make a car that's very similar to the Lotus 7. It's probably 100% genuine Westfield.
I'd hesitate to call it a "copy", but the Lotus 7 was a very unusual looking car, even in its day, so other cars based on the same engineering principles will look a lot like it. Fax, Westfield, Robin Hood, etc.
I guess you could argue that doesn't apply to Caterham, as they're more of a continuous development/continuation of the original Lotus 7 as built by Colin Chapman.

nao

Original Poster:

5 posts

86 months

Monday 30th January 2017
quotequote all
Can you guess why the plate is Lotus?

maffski

1,866 posts

158 months

Monday 30th January 2017
quotequote all
kambites said:
Well it says 1988 in the text and Lotus certainly weren't still making 7s in 1988.

It is a bit odd having a Lotus VIN plate though.
88 might be when it was first registered in Japan, in the same ways 'Model: Westfield' might be random rubbish in the Japanese registration system; I'd suspect there's plenty of imported cars in the UK where the registered model details sound like complete rubbish to owners in their native countries.

coppice

8,564 posts

143 months

Monday 30th January 2017
quotequote all
It isn't anything like a 1988 car (and it it were it'd be a Caterham of course) - it looks like an early 60s S2 - or an homage to one. Nothing like any Westfield I have seen.

Skyedriver

17,667 posts

281 months

Monday 30th January 2017
quotequote all
I'd say there is quite a lot of Lotus in there but something of a bitza.
Rear wings are Caterham as too wide, but rear lights early S2 L7 turned 90 degrees.
Engine bay looks rather like my old S2 L7 except my old car 985VPG (currently believed to be in France) had a twin cam in it replacing the older Anglia or BMC engine that it came with.
It's the master cylinder and throttle cable mounts that make me think S2. The dash is not S2 but more like S3 as the speedo is in front of the driver.

tivver500

369 posts

269 months

Monday 30th January 2017
quotequote all
Windscreen side supports are Lotus..... (Westfield use cast aluminium - not stainless steel!!)

HustleRussell

24,602 posts

159 months

Monday 30th January 2017
quotequote all
Contact Lotus with the chassis number?

If it's lotus then it's a much earlier car (60s) which has been modified rather unsympathetically.

There exists what is known as a 'pre-litigation Westfield' which is a pretty much exact rip-off of a Lotus...