Wells Vertige - New British sportscar

[wibble cb]

Looks a bit like a shrunken Bristol Fighter, sort of…

[Whoozit]

PH User said:

That's an ugly little car, so it's a no from me.

To me it looks like a cross between an original Griffith and a Lotus Elan. With the butt of a Shelby Daytona Coupe, surely one of the best rear ends on anything that moves.

If your soul/right foot/banjo string doesn't twitch at that... are you a PHer or not?

[Ayahuasca]

He couldn’t find anything that appealed, and he built that?

No thanks.

[glazbagun]

I like it in a 90's kind of way, but can see no reason to buy this over a G40 or used Elise/ Elan/ MR2/ MX5 & all the mods you'd ever want.

[otolith]

Looks like fun.

[Esceptico]

glazbagun said:

I like it in a 90's kind of way, but can see no reason to buy this over a G40 or used Elise/ Elan/ MR2/ MX5 & all the mods you'd ever want.

In terms of weight and power it is equivalent to an S1 Exige. MX5 only comparable if turbocharged or supercharged (or you go the Rocketeer route and use a V6).

For me it would depend how it drives. The ingredients are good but that doesn’t mean the end product will be. Will they have the time, money and ability to fine tune the suspension and ensure that everything works in unison? And keeps working? If I were in the UK it would be worth a visit and test drive to see what it is like in the flesh and on the road.

[rodericb]

That's a cool little car! There are some bits that jar - i'd like to see the average pistonheader, with a thousand clones to give themselves 24,000 hours in the day to do everything, come up with something like this.

[LaurasOtherHalf]

I like it!

[covmutley]

It's by no means beautiful, but on 2nd look its got a lot of character.

As fir not funding something that fit the bill, ginetta g40 would have been similar??

[Truckosaurus]

glazbagun said:

I like it in a 90's kind of way, but can see no reason to buy this over a G40 or used Elise/ Elan/ MR2/ MX5 & all the mods you'd ever want.

Indeed. I can't see much of an advantage over an Elise with a hard top. The looks aren't too bad, would look better with some retro style wheels (similar to how things like Westfields look odd with larger wheels and low profile tyres).

Still, 850kg has to be applauded.

[coppice]

A far more interesting and appealing car than yet another overpowered, overtyred, overpriced hypercar . Shades of many 60s sports racers and so what if the dashboard isn't like a bloody Audi's ? If you drive a parping rocket hatch from VAG or MB this possibly isn't the car for you- but if you like Caterhams it just might be.

[take-good-care-of-the-forest-dewey]

coppice said:

A far more interesting and appealing car than yet another overpowered, overtyred, overpriced hypercar . Shades of many 60s sports racers and so what if the dashboard isn't like a bloody Audi's ? If you drive a parping rocket hatch from VAG or MB this possibly isn't the car for you- but if you like Caterhams it just might be.

I do like 7s and this is appealing... BUT... The bitsa comparisons are fair.

It's also over wheeled for the style, and it doesn't need to be because you can get brakes that'll fit under smaller wheels that are more than enough - even for track use.

40k seems a fair price though.

[Riley Blue]

samoht said:

I like the looks, like the size & weight. The looks remind me of the Vemac RD180 which I really liked, but seemed to evaporate without trace.

Riley Blue said:

the touch screen isn't needed at all.

It's a Sony head unit with Apple CarPlay. So you can listen to all your music and podcasts, take calls hands-free, and have navigation, up to date traffic, speed camera warnings etc.

For a couple of hundred quid / grams, that's a pretty useful set of functionality.

I would strongly argue that in a car designed for driving fun, it isn't necessary. If I want navigation and traffic info I'll use my phone, the rest I can drive without.

[PH User]

Whoozit said:

PH User said:

That's an ugly little car, so it's a no from me.

To me it looks like a cross between an original Griffith and a Lotus Elan. With the butt of a Shelby Daytona Coupe, surely one of the best rear ends on anything that moves.

If your soul/right foot/banjo string doesn't twitch at that... are you a PHer or not?

Oh I am yes, look at my user name ha ha.

To me it's just plain ugly.

[CoupeKid]

wibble cb said:

Looks a bit like a shrunken Bristol Fighter, sort of…

Just what I thought

[SpeckledJim]

Fair play to him. I'm not bowled-over with the styling, but it'll certainly be eye-catching on the road.

If he's got those beetle-wing doors to fit properly then that's an achievement in itself.

[FunkyNige]

Riley Blue said:

samoht said:

I like the looks, like the size & weight. The looks remind me of the Vemac RD180 which I really liked, but seemed to evaporate without trace.

Riley Blue said:

the touch screen isn't needed at all.

It's a Sony head unit with Apple CarPlay. So you can listen to all your music and podcasts, take calls hands-free, and have navigation, up to date traffic, speed camera warnings etc.

For a couple of hundred quid / grams, that's a pretty useful set of functionality.

I would strongly argue that in a car designed for driving fun, it isn't necessary. If I want navigation and traffic info I'll use my phone, the rest I can drive without.

I'm torn on the head unit - one one hand I'm with RileyBlue in that it looks out of place in a classic looking car like this and one of the 'fake traditional' head units like Blaupunkt's Bremen SQR 46 DAB would suit the rest of the interior better. On the other hand it's a cheap way of adding all the infotainment people expect in 2021 and is a handy place for a reversing camera to display.

Edited by FunkyNige on Friday 9th July 10:05

[V8 FOU]

I absolutely love it.
all the right bits.
Low weight - NA engine - built for strength and rigidity -different to the mainstream

I thought a light, RWD, manual sportscar was what everyone enated? Like the GT86.... oh.....err....

[Drive it fix it repeat]

I really like that. Side windows look a bit odd, would rather a normal window. I like the looks, can’t be doing with all the stick on tat with modern cars. Enough performance to be a lot of fun and should handle excellently. 40k doesn’t seem unreasonable when compared against other things either IMO. You’d think people on here would be more supportive, thought this was a car forum?

[PH User]

FunkyNige said:

Riley Blue said:

samoht said:

I like the looks, like the size & weight. The looks remind me of the Vemac RD180 which I really liked, but seemed to evaporate without trace.

Riley Blue said:

the touch screen isn't needed at all.

It's a Sony head unit with Apple CarPlay. So you can listen to all your music and podcasts, take calls hands-free, and have navigation, up to date traffic, speed camera warnings etc.

For a couple of hundred quid / grams, that's a pretty useful set of functionality.

I would strongly argue that in a car designed for driving fun, it isn't necessary. If I want navigation and traffic info I'll use my phone, the rest I can drive without.

I'm torn on the head unit - one one hand I'm with RileyBlue in that it looks out of place in a classic looking car like this and one of the 'fake traditional' head units like Blaupunkt's Bremen SQR 46 DAB would suit the rest of the interior better. On the other hand it's a cheap way of adding all the infotainment people expect in 2021 and is a handy place for a reversing camera to display.

Edited by FunkyNige on Friday 9th July 10:05

Its an obvious easy solution to lots of problems. It small cheap and light so why not. It would be very daft for them not to include it.