The Westfield XI originally appeared back in 1982 and was the first product to wear the Westfield badge and by the time production ceased in 1987 the company had sold 162 of them most of which were sold to Japan and the USA leaving around 40 here in the UK. Including a fine example on display in the Haynes Museum in Sparkford. The fact that the car is accepted in such august surroundings is indicative of the esteem that it’s held in within the rarefied historic car circles.
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| Quite simply BEAUTIFUL |
Although a possible return had been mooted many times over the interim 17-year period it had always been resisted by Westfield. The company had been building up their range and reputation and logistically just couldn’t find a production slot for it, despite a whole raft of genuine enquiries. Then SVA came along and that was it. Well sort of. One day the management sat down and reckoned that actually it might be a good idea to bring the XI back. They decided that it would be done properly and in true keeping with Colin Chapman’s original fifties sports racer, so despite the obvious temptation there’d be no bike engine installations and the original donor base of MG Midget would be retained. The Kingswinford-based company had gone down this route before with the XI’s successor the Sports, which was a slightly more diluted version with CVH-power and as a consequence acquired ‘lumps and bumps’ on its flowing body. Before long though they moved onto a replica of a Lotus 23 of which 10 were sold.
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| Side profile featuring Le Mans 'hump' |
This all brings us back to today and the first limited run of 50 special edition Westfield XI’s all featuring a signed dash plaque by Westfield founder Chris Smith. Response to the announcement of the car’s return has been phenomenal with 34 of the first 50 already allocated and although the intention was to make just this batch, if demand is there then I think you can be certain of obtaining an XI kit regardless of whether you are customer 51 or 201.
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| In 1956 the 'hump' was fitted to the Lotus Eleven Le Mans models designed for serious competition use. |
The car is warmed up and ready for my test drive and despite it being a bitingly cold and miserable January morning, it immediately puts a smile on my face. The term rakish could almost have been created specifically for the Eleven shape I reckon and the delicacy of the outline and its low body height is instantly apparent. Our test car is classically finished in British racing green and poppy red interior with a superb level of trim and finish. Just what you’d expect of a Westfield in fact. The low back bucket seats are ideal as they rest against the rear bulkhead, which in turn acts as support for the occupants and it’s a simple job getting in. The little doors are bottom hinged and drop down enabling one to clamber in. They shut with a reassuring clunk as I find out just how much of a Tardis the XI is. There’s plenty of width for bigger people and loads of legroom and with two up, there’s never any question of lack of space or inconvenience for the driver.
The driving position is quite simply fantastic as are the pedals, which are situated exactly where your feet rest. The rest of the controls are sourced from the donor Midget and provide a suitably period look, and give all the major read outs you need. These are coupled with a grouping of toggle switches controlling operation of lights and indicators.
A turn of the ignition key aided by a smidgen of choke on this cold, damp morning and the little 1275cc A-series 4-cylinder motor burbles into life and sounds unsurprisingly very MG Midget-like although with a slightly deeper baritone courtesy of the bespoke exhaust. This one will severely test my abilities, as there’s a Midget donor sourced four-speed gearbox. With no synchro on first it means that any heavy handedness will result in painful sounding graunching, so slow deliberate changes are called for aided by a bit of double de-clutching, which will help ease the changes a bit. I soon find that it’s easy to engage the gears although had a couple of ‘moments’ initially to be honest. If this prospect bothers you then there is the option of fitting a Ford Type 9 five-speed ‘box instead. Sure, it’s a bit more sophisticated but it depends on where you stand on purity I suppose.
Power from the engine is a tame 65bhp in standard guise, which this one is in and although miniscule when judged against even the most modest small hatchbacks equipped with 100bhp, don’t be fooled. There’s plenty of power on tap considering she weighs in at just 500kg, and I found the car perfectly capable of keeping up with traffic, and I’m told later by Chris Smith that it’s geared for 125mph. The original Lotus was always capable of punching above its weight and a spell behind the wheel of the Westfield soon convinces you that cornering and roadholding are first class.
I was lucky enough on occasions to find a stretch of clear road and could find out a little more about the XI’s performance levels. Although you really need a heavy right foot to wring out the best from the little four cylinder, progress was swift enough for the conditions and regardless of terminal velocity the sheer purity of the car is enough to make one laugh out loud. Such is the feeling the car instils, 30mph feels extremely fast and just like a handful of other quality period replicas it manages to transport you back to an earlier ‘Boys Own’ time. It takes a genuine car to be able to do that.
Braking comes via the Midget components and Chris warns me not to expect four-pot caliper cross drilled and vented stopping power as per my BMW, but frankly in such a lightweight car I find the anchoring ability to be first class. Each time I ask the question of the middle pedal, I find no unsettling dramas whatsoever.
I’m also extremely impressed with the way that the XI handles the worst of modern-day UK roads, complete with uneven road surfaces and pot holes and it copes better than most modern cars in this respect. This was to be honest one of the areas I expected to be let down by. I mean you can be smitten by the way a car looks or performs but if the road manners are useless it ruins the overall experience. No such worries here I can report.
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| Period interior |
Whatever your opinions on Colin Chapman, I think it’s plain to see that he was a genuine legend of car design and the XI must rank as one of his greatest achievements of all. When fifties car enthusiasts first saw that shape it must have looked like a bloody spaceship, such was the streamlined profile of it. The beauty of the Westfield XI is that it keeps faith with the original concept. It would have been so easy to bung a spiteful bike engine into the demonstrator and have ripsnorting performance, but the fact they’ve kept true to the origins should be applauded.
I think we’ve all been a bit corrupted by huge BHP figures frankly. I mean when you’ve got Mitsubishi and Subaru producing four door family saloons that can take part in World Championship rallies and Mercedes churning out SLs packed with 600bhp surely the world has gone crazy hasn’t it? I mean I love a Cobra replica with 500 snarling BHP, and dismissed the notion of a measly 65bhp with disdain. However, having experienced the Westfield XI for a couple of hours I realise that in fact there is another way. The fact that passers by were waving and smiling was a sure sign that actually it’s a beautiful classic shape that moves people. The other point of note is that I didn’t want to bring the car back, in spite of no heater and a minus-10 degree windchill factor that meant I lost the feeling in my ears! It’s a real charmer.
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| It's in there somewhere! A little 1275cc A-Series provides the power. |
The kit costs £8950 inc VAT and you get a lot for your money. The package includes powder coated chassis, all GRP bodywork, which is handily pre-fitted, aluminium panels (likewise), wishbones and trailing arms, steering column, dampers and springs, fuel tank and filler cap, dash panel, seats, carpet set, light set, exhaust and pedal box.
The donor choice is either MG Midget or Austin Healey Sprite from which you’ll need the A-series engine, gearbox and ancillaries, front uprights, brake caliper, disc and steering arm; steering rack, instruments, radiator, handbrake assembly, rear axle, wheels, propshaft and rubber mountings for engine and ‘box. Spridgets (Sprite or Midget) were available in several engine strengths. Both were available with 948cc, 1098cc and 1275cc units with the Midget only also being fitted with the 1500cc engine. None were sprinters but all will give you the sort of performance ideally suited to the Westfield, especially if the 1275cc was anything to go by.
You can expect to pay £400 for a donor vehicle (Richard Smith says he can lay his hand on at least 10 at any one time) and another £1000 to refurbish the required parts listed above. If you don’t want to use the donor wheels and tyres then another £400 will sort you out with items similar to the demonstrator. Another £1000 for a paint finish and you’ve spent somewhere around £11,750 for a car that will never lose its value and indeed will probably fetch £15,000 all day long on the open market.
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| Stylish wheel and Avon CR322 tyres combination |
The demonstrator we tested was fitted with the more popular Le Mans ‘hump’, although the original ‘flat-back’ version is a no cost option, should you prefer.
Although they are acknowledged as pioneers of our industry with a slick professional operation and fantastic market-leading products Westfield have worked wonders with the re-born XI. They’ve stayed true to the car’s origins and retained the original branding and deserve immense credit for that. As I said to Richard and Chris it would have been easy to miss the point here and recreate a modern interpretation of the XI although to me that would be sacrilegious and barking up the wrong tree. It’s great to see it back and I hope it remains on their price lists for a long time.
If I drive a car this year that charms me as much as the Westfield XI did on a damp and bitter January morning then I’ll consider it to be a vintage year for the kitcar industry. Forget neck-snapping acceleration as I promise you this little sweetheart will tug at your heart strings…
For more information on the Westfield XI contact:
Westfield Sports Cars Ltd; Unit 1, Gibbons Industrial Park, Dudley Road, Kingswinford, West Midlands DY6 8XF
Tel: 01384 400 077
Website: www.westfield-sportscars.co.uk
A BIT OF HISTORY
Announced in 1956 the Eleven was developed by Colin Chapman and Mike Costin as a direct descendent for the Mk IX. The streamlined body was underpinned by a chassis of 18 or 20-gauge thickness with 1in diameter main steel tubes. It had a swing front axle and Girling coil springs. The head fairing as per the Westfield demonstrator gave a stabilising effect for serious track activity. There were three models available to customers: The Le Mans was for real competition use and could be ordered with a choice of Coventry Climax engines – FWA 1098cc (in either 75 or 85bhp strengths) or FWB 1460cc (100bhp no less). This version had de Dion rear suspension located by a pair of radius arms and if the FWB was purchased an MG gearbox was fitted because it was more robust. Costings were £1337 for Le Mans 75, £1387 for the Le Mans 85 or £1587 for the Le Mans 1500.
Next up came the Club model, which was aimed at amateur clubman racers and started at £1083 and featured a Ford live rear axle located by parallel trailing arms. With this option a full width screen and frame could also be specified.
Finally there was the Sports, which was mainly intended for road use with the occasional bit of track work. The only difference over the Club model was the engine and the Sports did without the Coventry Climax and used a Ford 1172cc sidevalve unit instead, boasting just 36bhp. This version came only in kit-form at £872 thus avoiding Purchase Tax.
The Eleven was the first Lotus to race at Le Mans (in 1956).
1957 saw a Series Two Eleven unveiled complete with F2-style double wishbone and coil spring front suspension and the availability of the new Coventry Climax FPF 1475cc twin-cam engine, which were known as Le Mans 150 models.
The Eleven was superseded by the 15 in 1958 after 270 had been sold and if you can find an original for sale today you’ll be looking at a price tag of £60,000, although Chris Smith tells me that several owners of original cars have sold their originals in favour of a Westfield version, because it looks identical, costs a quarter of the real thing and drives better….
Gearbox and other tasteful upgrades:
If you fancy ditching the synchro-less 1st and reverse experience, which can be a bit tiresome around town to be honest, then Frontline Costello do a Ford based five-speed conversion package that includes the following:
SUPPLIED AS STANDARD:
• fully reconditioned gearbox
• new bellhousing (or adaptor plate on 1500cc models)
• spigot bush
• clutch plate
• clutch plate cover
• clutch release bearing
• new clutch arm pivot
• new propshaft
• chassis cross member and strengtheners
• speedometer cable
• standard gear lever
• gear lever gaiter
• transmission tunnel cover and carpet
• nuts and bolts
Prices are as follows:
948cc £1084.64
1098cc £1044.57
1275cc £1057.50
1500cc £1029.06
All prices inc VAT.
The company also do suspension and other modifications that are still in keeping with the overall package. Visit www.mgcars.org.uk/frontline for more details.
Words by Steve Hole
Photos by Carol Hardy
© 2005 CAR PR Ltd and totalkitcar – ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
