| Westfield owners range in age from 14 to
84 years old and include a Megabusa owning Vicar! |
Most prospective owners now visit the factory prior to
purchasing |
Chassis are built on site |
Turbo powered XTR2 being prepared |
Ready for the road and the track |
| Westfield now produce over 500 cars a
year. |
The owner of Westfield Chris Smith races this 1961 Coventry Climax powered
Lotus 21 throughout the summer.
 |
I was looking forward to my trip to Westfield. After receiving the invitation
to their factory near Dudley in the Midlands, I dreamt of donning my shades and
taking to the hills in one of their fine creations. I would hoon through the
twisties enjoying the fine balance of the car, soaking up some rays and
delighting in the glorious sound of Britain's best musical export - the Rover
V8.
Sadly two of Britain's worst attributes - the weather and roadworks -
conspired against me arriving in petrolheaven. Rain following a dry spell would
certainly spell trouble on the roads and frustratingly it did. Numpties crashing
into each other on the M40 delayed me massively. More than an hour late, I
finally arrived in Kingswinford, West Midlands to find the place gridlocked. One
huge diversion and another half an hour later and I sheepishly presented myself
to the nice people at Westfield.
And what a friendly bunch they were. Any company that still employs a tea
lady gets my vote of approval!
After supping a quick brew we headed out to the car park where I was greeted
with the exciting sight of a Westfield Seight. That's 200bhp of Rover V8 in a
car that weighs little more than a damp teabag. I wouldn't describe a Westfield
as beautiful, but they are certainly elegant and purposeful looking. The Rover
V8 is an old friend and finding one in a car as lightweight as this was an
exciting prospect.
Slipping into the narrow cockpit I was very pleasantly surprised with the
quality of my surroundings. It was my first time up close and personal with a
Westie and calling it a kit-car would be a disservice. It is of course a narrow
cockpit with the bare minimum of creature comforts, but the seats were
beautifully trimmed and extremely comfortable. The seating position was ideal
with the small wheel placed perfectly in front. A simple series of switches are
laid out across the dash, with only the dash mounted indicators deviating from
convention. Fine trim, quality carpet and a tight feel to the whole car almost
made it feel luxurious - something I certainly wasn't expecting.
A quick turn of the key and the prop-forward of the engine world, the Rover
4.0 V8 fired into action. Gently revving the sweet sounding motor and I could
feel the Westie (and me) rock from side to side. Slipping the chunky feeling
gearbox into first and rolling the light steering around, I did a quick
five point turn and was out into the gridlock. Trundling across the devastated
road surface I could feel the whole chassis taut beneath me and the hard
suspension and skinny tyres doing their thing across the undulations. It's a very
firm ride but then you'd expect that in a car of this type. Not quite the ride
and handling test I had in mind, but there you go.
Unable to escape the gridlock that was the West Midlands that day, I made do
with some short sprints through the traffic. This version of the V8 may only
have 200bhp but the lovely fat gobs of torque coupled with the light weight
(until I got in) make it a devastatingly quick car in terms of acceleration (4.3
seconds to sixty). Cold brakes didn't inspire confidence and my attempts to warm
them up with twenty laps of the Esso forecout didn't work out.
A detour around an empty industrial estate did give me the chance to
enjoy some quick sprints. It's a glorious car to enjoy the most basic of
adrenaline rushes. Massive acceleration, the wind in your hair and sandwiched
tightly into the low chassis giving you sensory overload.
It
is of course a hopelessly impractical car too. If you use the side screens then
you'll constantly be peering under and over them to see around you and even the
rear view mirror obscures the front view. After an hour in the car you'll
certainly develope "
" a useful double jointed
afliction of the upper spine that lets you peer forwards and under the mirror
every time you pull out of a junction. Baggage space is minimal, so travel light and stay grubby if you plan a trip away.
It's a bit of a mad car to put a V8 in and the smaller capacity, higher
revving engines are more suited for track work. For blowing the cobwebs away
though, what could be better? Westfield Seight about to be added to my fantasy
garage!
Links: [links]Westfield|westfield[/links], Championship
Dates, Westfield
Owners
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