Westfield SEIGHT | Spotted
The notion of a V8 in a tiny sports car was always beguilingly daft; perhaps now more than ever...
The joy of small, light cars is the circle of virtuosity that comes with them. Less weight needs less energy required to move it; less energy can come from a smaller engine, which in turn needs less fuel to create the energy. A lower overall mass puts less strain on other hardware, meaning smaller brakes, tyres and so on can be used and last longer. It's all very clever; one day the lightweight approach to making efficient cars might actually catch on.
Plus there's the other upside, naturally, of the additional involvement and engagement that comes with stripping away layers of flab from a sports car. Anyone who's driven a 660cc Caterham, the Alpine with a fairly humble 1.8 or a Lotus Elise with a Toyota Corolla engine will be well placed to talk about the considerable performance benefits that come with lightweight construction.
Moreover, it means that should the sports car powertrain be upgraded to something a little naughtier, the results are astonishing. Take the new Ariel Atom 4, for example; the 320hp VTEC turbo in a Civic Type R makes that a quick car, but in something less than half the weight it's absolutely ballistic. Same goes for the supercharged Caterhams.
That said, those cars are expensive new, and you might be waiting years to get hold of them. So what to do, for those coveting the thrill of a wildly over-engined British sports car?
Well, they could do a lot worse than looking at a Westfield SEIGHT. Perhaps the best known of the Westfield sports cars - primarily because a stonking Rover V8 avoided any Caterham comparisons - the SEIGHT was produced for almost 20 years by Westfield until 2010. So yes, a decade ago, it was possible to buy a new 3.3-metre long, c. 660kg sports car with a 3.5-litre V8 in it - madness. Glorious, glorious madness.
It promises an unforgettable experience, too, the sound and torque of the engine unlike anything else offered in comparable sports cars (save for the ultra low-volume and equally mental Atom V8). Indeed there's something of the concentrated TVR about the Westfield SEIGHT, with the drive dominated by the combination of little mass and Rover V8 muscle. Which is surely no bad thing.
This one looks a perfect example of what a SEIGHT can be. Registered back in 2004 but having covered just 6,000 miles since, it's been specified with a sports exhaust, sports seats and upgraded Gaz suspension. Predictably given the low mileage, this Westfield looks almost factory fresh.
At £17,895, there really is nothing else like it for combining the irrepressible appeal of a big V8 with the excitement of a dinky British roadster. Spend £20k on a TVR and you're likely looking at something older and with many more miles recorded. Of course, the flipside is that a Griffith or a Chimaera will be more accommodating (all things being relative) though it'll surely be hard to think of practical concerns when thundering through the countryside in a Westfield.
With regulations growing in severity seemingly every day - and potentially threatening the success of makers like Westfield and Caterham - creations like the SEIGHT increase in significance and appeal. Because nobody does loopy little sports car like Britain, and very few of them were (or are) quite as mad as the V8 Westfield. What are you waiting for?
SPECIFICATION | WESTFIELD SEIGHT
Engine: 3,950cc, V8
Transmission: 5-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): c. 200@4,750rpm
Torque (lb ft): c. 235@2,600rpm
MPG: Maybe not bad
CO2: Maybe not great
Year registered: 2004
Recorded mileage: 5,746
Price new: N/A
Yours for: £17,895
However a higher CR version with better gearing and maybe a wilder cam is a screamer of an engine. Obviously not the highest rpm, it is only a 2v per cylinder engine. You can make them rev high for race track use. But road use more around the 6000-6500rpm. But they are lovely and free revving.
This was my cammed 3.5 in my TR7 V8, obviously no SEIGHT, but the TR still only weighed just over a tonne. And was making approx 230hp on the dyno. Hitting just below 6500rpm before shifting.
I'm betting there is no weight saving running a Ford Pinto or even Crossflow over the RV8.
I suppose it depends how you define "expensive", as soon as you start tuning any engine you're into multiple thousands, in my experience. Getting 250hp from an Rv8 is going to cost 5k, easy.
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