Description
I’m selling my Westfield XI which I built in 2009. I’d wanted to build one for ages as I just love the shape of these older cars. Westfield agreed to let me take the chassis down to Mike Brotherwood before it was powdercoated. Mike is a Lotus 11 specialist who fabricated the roll bar and strut for me. The whole lot then went back to Westfield for powdercoating.
I originally built the car with John Smirthwaite 1275 A series engine but that soon chewed itself up when one of the roller rocker pins broke. At this point I decided to investigate other engine options and decided on the very light Rover K series which I knew well from having build a Caterham in 1997.
The K Series was just too big to go straight in and needed throttle bodies to reduce the height, and a dry sump to increase clearance underneath. I used Jenvey Throttle bodies and the Caterham dry sump scavenged by the Titan Gold pump along with a 14 litre oil tank which runs at about half capacity. An Emerald ECU controls the injection. Mapping was done by BTEC racing in Shipton Under Wychwood on their rolling road with the engine producing 150bhp.
The power goes through a 5 speed type 9 gearbox with a Quaife semi helical gearset. The complete gearbox was supplied new by SP Components. It has a long first gear with the final drive being the same as a standard fourth gear in a type 9 box. There’s also a Quaife LSD and hardened half shafts taking the power to the wheels. The 155mm tyres haven’t really got much grip. Despite the lack of hard traction the car drives beautifully mainly thanks to the Nitron adjustable shocks with Nitron Springs.
The car weighs 520kg with a half a tank of fuel and will do eighty miles an hour in second gear. Lords know what it would do flat out in fifth.
There isn’t much in the way of driver comforts apart from the added security of the roll over bar and a plumbed in fire extinguisher. There’s no heater but you can stay pretty snug with the passenger tonneau in place. The passenger seat is a leather bench seat but the driver’s is a bespoke Lotus 11 seat built by Mike Brotherwood. The original red vinyl seats supplied by Westfield are just too narrow unless you have very slim hips.
One added bonus of this car is that there’s no annual road tax fee as it’s classified as historic. It’s just past its MOT so is valid until October 2018.
Here’s some more spec details;
Westfield XI chassis with bespoke roll bar and strut fabricated by Lotus 11 specialist Mike Brotherwood
1. 8 Rover K Series - MGTF 135
Caterham K Series dry sump
Custom made exhaust system in stainless steel
Jenvey Throttle bodies
Emerald ECU
150 bhp
5 speed type 9 gearbox with Quaife semi helical gears from SP Components
Quaife LSD
Uprated rear half shafts
Competition 13” wire wheels
Nitron adjustable shock absorbers
Michelin XAS-F 13x155 tyres
Removable steering wheel - Racetech boss
Original Westfield XI red bucket seats available.
Dark Red Leather bench seat and bespoke fabricated aluminium driver’s bucket seat.
This car benefits from being classified as an historic by the DVLA so £0 road tax
Original MG Midget Smiths gauges with updated electronic rev counter
GRP British Racing Green
Clubman rear body
Plumbed in Lifeline 2000 fire extinguisher
